The purpose of this chapter is to protect the health, safety,
morals and welfare of the citizens of the Borough by causing the removal
of abandoned, illegally parked, stored, wrecked, junked or stripped
motor vehicles from private property and to abate public nuisances
caused by the storage or parking of an accumulation of such motor
vehicles which are detrimental to the health, safety, morals and welfare
of the citizens of the Borough.
Any vehicle found upon a public highway or public property in
the Borough of Colwyn in violation of any ordinance of the Borough
of Colwyn shall be removed upon the orders of the police or the Mayor
of the Borough of Colwyn.
The property owned by the Borough at Fifth Street and Thatcher
Avenue, Colwyn, is hereby designated as the pound.
The Borough pound shall be bonded in a sum not less than $20,000,
indemnifying the Borough and the owner of any impounded vehicle against
the loss thereof or injury or damage thereto while in the custody
of such poundkeeper.
The charges for the removal and towing of motor vehicles shall
be $65 for a wheel lift tow and $85 for a flatbed or rollback tow.
The charges for storage and impounding of such vehicles shall be $35
for every day or fraction thereof. Such charges shall be paid by the
owner of such motor vehicle or by the person who is found to have
caused the violation of this chapter.
Within 12 hours from the time of the removal of any motor vehicle,
notice of the fact that such motor vehicle has been impounded shall
be sent by the Borough of Colwyn Police Department to the owner of
record of such motor vehicle, designating the place from which said
motor vehicle was removed, the reason for its removal and impounding
and the pound in which it has been impounded.
The payment of any charges imposed under this chapter, unless
such payments shall be made under protest, shall be final and conclusive
and shall constitute a waiver of any right to recover this money so
paid.
In the event that the removal, towing, storage and impounding
charges are paid under protest, the person so paying shall be entitled
to a hearing before a District Judge, in which case said person shall
be proceeded against and receive such notice as is provided by the
Motor Vehicle Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The period
of time in which the information under said Motor Vehicle Code must
be filed shall be computed from the date of the removal or towing
or the date of payment under protest, whichever is later.