[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Franklin
Township 1-7-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-01. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated, unless a different meaning clearly appears from
the context:
The legally titled or equitable owner or owners of property,
and any tenant or other occupier of a structure or property who has
been legally or by appearance delegated the duty, authority and/or
responsibility to maintain the property or structures.
Any piece, parcel, lot, or tract of land.
Anything constructed or erected with a fixed or ascertainable
location on the ground or in the water, whether or not affixed to
ground or anchored in the water, including but not limited to buildings,
walls, fences, platforms, docks, wharves, billboards, signs, and walks.
Franklin Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, and its authorized
officers (including but not limited to the Board of Supervisors, the
Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and the Code Enforcement Officer).
The purpose of this chapter is to establish minimum requirements
applicable to structures and properties in the Township to assure
that the health, safety and welfare of the Township is preserved and
protected from dilapidated, unsound, dangerous, or otherwise unsafe
structures, from pests and disease carrying animals and insects, and
from noxious vegetation.
A.
General. No owner of any property or structure shall fail to take
steps and to perform such maintenance as is reasonably necessary to
ensure that the property and/or structure is safe, structurally sound,
sanitary and secure and does not present a health or safety threat
or hazard to surrounding properties or to the general populace.
B.
Securing unoccupied structures. No owner of any unoccupied structure
shall fail to assure that the structure is securely closed so as to
prohibit the entry into it of vermin, feral animals, human trespassers,
vectors, or other undesirable inhabitants.
A.
Objectionable materials and substances. No owner shall allow the
accumulation of garbage, refuse, paper, scraps, tires, or any other
material on a property which could serve as a refuge for rodents,
vectors, insects, stagnant waters or other fluids, or which could
subsequently be scattered by natural elements and weather to other
parts of the property or to the property of another.
B.
Fluid collection sites. No owner shall permit any well, cistern,
pond, sedimentation and/or stormwater facility to contain fluid, such
as water, that is likely to become stagnant or otherwise serve as
a site for insect or other noxious-entity breeding ground. Further,
such sites shall be fenced or otherwise secured where it is likely
that children or the general public may have access to the area and
such access would be a threat to their safety and welfare.
C.
Rodents, vermin and vectors. No owner shall permit or allow the infestation
on his property of rodents, vermin and/or vectors. Upon notice from
the Township of such an infestation, the owner shall immediately take
such steps as are necessary to eradicate the infestation within 14
days of the notice. The notice may be by a writing mailed by first
class mail to the owner, or an oral notice delivered personally to
the owner or any occupant of the property.
D.
Outside appliances. Any appliance that is stored outside of an occupied
structure shall have doors or other enclosures removed to prevent
the entrapment of any person or animal inside of the appliance.
E.
Cutting of grass, weeds and other vegetation.
[Amended 7-2-2020 by Ord.
No. 2020-01]
(1)
No person, firm, partnership or corporation, owning or having a present
interest in or occupying any real estate or any lot where houses inhabited
by humans are closer than 300 feet to each other and including any
land within a 150-foot radius from each of these dwellings, also to
include 150 feet on each side of any public road right-of-way which
lies within the above-described radius, shall permit any grass or
weeds or other nuisance-type vegetation not edible or planted for
some designated or ornamental purpose, to grow or remain on such premises
so as to exceed a height of eight inches or to throw off any unpleasant
or obnoxious odor or to conceal any debris. All such nuisance-type
vegetation is hereby declared to be a nuisance and detrimental to
the health, safety, cleanliness and comfort of the inhabitants of
the Township; provided, however, that weeds or grass intermingled
with growing cultivated crops on agricultural land, or land in agricultural
use, shall not come within the provisions of this section. As an exception,
wood lots, wetlands and swamp areas are not considered to be lands
to which this section shall apply.
(2)
The owner of any such premises, whether occupied by the owner or
not, shall be responsible to remove, trim or cut all such vegetation
growing or remaining upon such premises in violation of the provisions
of this section. Both the owner and the occupant, in the case of premises
occupied by other than the owner, shall be jointly responsible for
the compliance with this section.
(3)
In addition to the penalties as hereinafter imposed, the Township
Supervisors, or any officer or employee of the Township designated
thereby for the purpose, is hereby authorized to give notice in writing
by U.S. certified mail to the owner or the occupant, or either of
them, of a violation of the terms and conditions of this section,
directing and requiring such occupant or owner or both of them to
remove, trim, or cut such grass, weeds, or vegetation, so as to conform
to the requirements of this section, within 10 days after issuance
of such notice.
(4)
If any such owner and/or occupant shall neglect to comply with such
notice within the period of time stated herein, the Township authorities
shall have the following remedies:
(a)
They may remove, trim or cut such grass, weeds or vegetation
so as to comply with the provisions of this section; and the reasonable
cost thereof, together with an additional penalty of 10% of reasonable
costs, may be collected by the Township from such owner or occupant
as a penalty under the provisions of this section, or in any other
manner provided by law. This right as herein vested in the Township
shall be in addition to penalties prescribed by the provisions of
this section for the conviction of the owner or occupant as aforesaid
to comply with the terms of this section.
(b)
They may initiate summary proceedings against any person, firm
or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this section,
who shall, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before a District
Justice in the manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses
under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall be sentenced
to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of
payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed
90 days. Each day that a violation of this section continues or each
subsection of this section which shall be found to have been violated
shall constitute a separate offense.
If the owner of a property does not correct any violation of
this chapter within 30 days after having been provided with the required
notice of the violation, then the Township may make such corrections
as it deems necessary to abate the hazard. If the Township determines
that the violation presents an existing threat to the health, safety
and/or welfare of any person or property, the Township shall have
the right to enter upon the property of the violator to cause such
corrections to be made. The cost of such corrections, plus 10%, shall
be the liability of the owner of the property. The Township shall
be entitled to place a municipal lien on the subject property to cover
such costs, plus 10% and reasonable attorney fees, and to cause execution
on that lien.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000,
plus reasonable attorney fees. Each day that a violation exists shall
be a separate offense.
In addition to the remedies provided in this chapter, the Township
is authorized to pursue any and all other remedies available at law
or in equity. The Township is further authorized to seek reimbursement
of reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Township in the enforcement
of the provisions of this chapter. The remedies available to the Township
shall not be deemed exclusive, and two or more remedies may be pursued
simultaneously.
