[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Steelton 5-20-1976 by Ord. No. 76-4, approved 5-20-1976. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ABANDONED
Any motor vehicle which is found unattended without the current
year's registration or identification markers as required by law,
has been continuously parked in any public street, public land or
private property for a period of 10 days and is so disabled as to
be incapable of being operated under its own power or is without one
or more tires.
JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLE
Any motor vehicle which is no longer in actual use as a motor
vehicle or which is wholly unfit to be operated or has been discarded
for use or otherwise abandoned.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any vehicle which is self-propelled, as defined by the Vehicle
Code of Pennsylvania.
It shall be unlawful for any person to cause
a motor vehicle to be abandoned upon any public or private lands in
the Borough of Steelton or upon any public street, except that nothing
herein contained shall be deemed to prohibit any person from parking,
storing or repairing a motor vehicle upon private or public property
where authorized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or the laws of the Borough of Steelton, and nothing shall be deemed
to prohibit the placing, keeping or storing of any motor vehicle in
an enclosed garage or other building.
No person shall place, keep or store any junked
automobile on any public or private property within the Borough of
Steelton or upon the public highways in the Borough of Steelton.
All abandoned motor vehicles shall be removed
by the owner or operator thereof or by the owner or occupant of the
private property on which the said motor vehicle is abandoned. Upon
the failure of the owner or operator of any abandoned or junked motor
vehicle to remove the same within 24 hours after receiving notice
from the Steelton Borough Police Department to remove the same, such
notice being given either by personal service or by certified mail
to the owner or operator of such abandoned motor vehicle or to the
owner or occupant of the private property on which the said abandoned
or junked motor vehicle is found, the Steelton Borough Police Department
may remove the same or cause the same to be removed.
In removing any such abandoned motor vehicles,
the Steelton Borough Police Department shall cause the same to be
towed and stored by such garages or towing services as are designated
by the Chief of Police of the Borough of Steelton to be approved storage
garages or pounds for the storage of such vehicles.
Any designated storage garage, prior to engaging
in any towing away and/or storing of any vehicle hereunder, shall
file a surety bond with the Borough, said bond to indemnify the Borough
and the owner of any impounded vehicle against loss thereof or injury
or damage thereto while any vehicle is in custody of such garage.
Specific towing and storage charges to be made
under this chapter shall be fixed, from time to time, by the Borough
Council in accordance with the prevailing rates in the Borough, and
such charges shall be posted in the Municipal Building.
The Chief of Police or someone at his direction,
within 12 hours after any vehicle has been removed and impounded,
shall notify the owner of record or the operator of any such vehicle,
either by personal service or by certified mail, or the owner or occupant
of the property from which any such vehicle has been removed, in like
manner, of the fact that such vehicle has been impounded, the place
from which it was removed, the reason for its removal and impounding
and the place where the vehicle has been impounded.
The owner or operator of any impounded vehicle
shall be entitled to recover possession of such vehicle upon the payment
to the Borough of the towing and storage charges as above set forth.
The payment of such towing and storage charges,
unless made under protest, shall be final and conclusive and shall
constitute a waiver of any right to recover the money so paid. In
the event that the towing and impounding charges are paid under protest,
the offender shall be entitled to a hearing before a District Justice or a court of record having jurisdiction, as in the case
of a prosecution as in other cases of summary offenses under the Motor
Vehicle Code of Pennsylvania, and the said District Justice or court
of record shall proceed in accordance with Paragraph 1103 of the Motor
Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
In the event that the Police Department shall
be unable to ascertain the ownership of an abandoned motor vehicle
found upon private property, the Chief of Police or someone at his
direction, within 12 hours after the vehicle has been found by the
police, may notify the owner or occupant of the private property,
by certified mail, that such vehicle exists, and thereafter the said
owner or occupant of the private property shall cause the abandoned
motor vehicle to be removed to an authorized junk or scrap yard within
48 hours.
If the owner or occupant of such private property shall fail to remove the abandoned motor vehicle, as set forth in §
109-11 hereof, the said owner or occupant shall be subject to the penalties provided in §
109-14 of this chapter. Each day that the motor vehicle is permitted to remain shall constitute a separate and distinct violation.
Where an abandoned motor vehicle is removed
under the provisions of this chapter and it remains unclaimed for
a period of 15 consecutive days without being removed by its owner
or any other person duly authorized to remove same, the Chief of Police
shall be authorized to report or cause to be reported such abandonment
to the Department of Revenue of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
as provided in the Vehicle Code.
Any person who shall violate the terms of this
chapter may be prosecuted and shall, upon conviction in a summary
proceeding therefor, pay a fine not exceeding $300. In default of
the payment of such fine, such person may be imprisoned in the county
jail for a period not exceeding 30 days.