As used in this chapter, the following words
or phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section:
ABANDONED
Any item located for two weeks or more outside an enclosed
structure with no known or apparent owner, or which is inoperable,
without current registration plates, certificate or inspection, or
is in such a condition as to be inoperable.
APPLIANCE
Any stove, refrigerator, television, furnace, water heater,
water softener, washer, dryer or mangle or household articles used
to perform any of the necessary work in or around a household, and
article used in business to increase production or to speed, ease
or eliminate work.
BOAT
Any vessel capable of transporting a person on any river,
stream, creek, lake or ocean.
BULK RUBBISH
All rubbish which is too large to bag, can or bundle, including
furniture, scrap wood, large appliances, bricks, stone, furnaces,
automobile tires and automobile parts.
GARBAGE
Any accumulation of animal, fish, fowl, food, fruit or vegetable
matter arising from the preparation, use, cooking, dealing and/or
storage of meat, fish, fowl, food, fruit or vegetable or any other
organic substance or substances subject to fermentation or decay,
including condemned foods, tin cans and bottles, broken glass or crockery
and cooking utensils.
JUNKED
Items sold or to be sold for scrap, being stripped or being
used or sold for parts.
NUISANCE
Any abandoned boat, trailer, vehicle or appliance, bulk rubbish,
garbage, household furnishings, rubbish or waste that is located in
an open area or improperly stored or the carrying on of any offensive
manufacture or business.
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership, association, firm or corporation.
RUBBISH
All rags, paper, grass cuttings, household refuse, straw,
excelsior and such other refuse as may result from ordinary household
pursuits. Parts of trees, bundled, not more than four feet in length
and two inches in diameter are to be included as "rubbish."
TRAILER
A wheeled device used as a means of carrying, hauling or
conveying any vehicle, person, animal, object or boat.
VEHICLE
An automobile, motorcycle, motorbike, minibike, bicycle,
go-cart, truck or other wheeled means of conveyance, motorized or
self-propelled.
WASTE
All garbage, rubbish, bulk rubbish, dead animals, junk or
abandoned vehicles.
It shall be unlawful for any person to accumulate
or store any junked or abandoned vehicle, trailer, boat, appliance
or household furnishing or to otherwise maintain a nuisance on private
or public property within the Township of West Deer, Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania.
[Amended 4-20-2016 by Ord. No. 408]
Any person, owner or tenant who allows to accumulate
or causes to be dumped any rubbish, bulk rubbish, garbage, dead animals,
junk, abandoned vehicles or other waste material in or on any dwelling,
cellar, lane, alley, yard or vacant ground or otherwise maintains
a nuisance in the Township of West Deer shall, after notification
in writing by the Building Code Official or any police officer of
the Township, cause such dwelling, cellar, building, lane, alley,
yard or vacant ground to be cleared of any such material within 48
hours of receipt of such notice, and thereafter keep the aforesaid
dwelling and ground clear and free from the same.
[Amended 4-20-2016 by Ord. No. 408]
A. If any person, upon receipt of notice pursuant to §
166-3 hereof, fails to clear any property in compliance with such notice, then the Building Code Official or any police officer of the Township shall notify such person in writing of such failure, and if the nuisance is not cleared within 48 hours after receipt of this second written notice, the Building Code Official or police officer of the Township shall impose a civil penalty as set forth in Subsection
B upon the violator and may take such other action as may be required to clear such nuisance, the reasonable costs of which shall be assessed against such violator by means of a municipal claim.
B. Any person,
partnership or corporation who or which has violated or permitted
the violation of any provision of this chapter, upon being found liable
therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township,
shall pay a judgment of not more than $600, plus all court costs.
No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied or payable until
the date of the determination of a violation by a Magisterial District
Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment,
the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable rules
of civil procedure, at which time, in addition to any penalties, the
violator shall be liable for any attorneys’ fees and costs incurred
by the Township. Each day that a violation continues or each section
of this chapter which shall be found to have been violated shall constitute
a separate violation.
[Amended 4-20-2016 by Ord. No. 408]
All civil prosecutions under this chapter shall
be brought in the name of the Township of West Deer before the Magisterial
District Judge and shall be commenced by complaint and summons and
shall be directed to and be served by a constable or other proper
person.
[Added 9-21-2022 by Ord.
No. 448]
The Township of West Deer, Allegheny County, Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, does hereby adopt the Code known as the "International
Property Maintenance Code," 2021 version, as published by the International
Code Council as the International Property Maintenance Code. Copies
of the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code are presently
on file in the West Deer Township Office located at 109 East Union
Road, Cheswick, PA 15024, and are hereby adopted as though fully set
forth at length herein with the insertions, deletions, and revisions,
prescribed as follows:
A. Section 101.1: Insert: "Township of West Deer."
B. Section 103.1. Insert: "Township Code Enforcement Department."
C. Section 302.4. Insert: "eight inches."
D. Section 304.14. Insert: "May 1 to October 15."
E. Section 602.3. Insert: "September 1 to May 31."
F. Section 602.4. Insert: "September 1 to May 31."