[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Lower Providence 12-10-1962 by Ord. No. 42. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
BOARD
JUNK
JUNK DEALER
JUNKYARD
PERSON
Definitions. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following
words and phrases shall be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings
herein set forth:
The Board of Supervisors of Lower Providence Township.
Any discarded material or article, and includes but is not limited
to scrap metal, scrap, abandoned or junked motor vehicles, machinery, equipment
and building material. It shall not include any garbage, organic waste, paper,
rubbish, rags or other flammable articles or material, except lumber.
Any person who shall engage in the business of selling, buying, salvaging
and dealing in junk and who maintains and operates a junkyard within Lower
Providence Township.
Any place where any junk as hereinabove defined is stored, disposed
of or accumulated.
Any natural person, partnership, association, firm or corporation.
B.
Word usage. As used herein, the masculine singular shall
include the plural as well as the feminine and neuter, singular and plural.
[Amended 6-16-2005 by Ord. No. 526]
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer in the Township
of Lower Providence without first having obtained a license from the Supervisors,
for which license a fee as established by Township resolution shall be paid
for each calendar year.
The license provided for in this chapter shall be issued by the Board
upon written application setting forth the owner or owners in full of the
premises used for the junkyard, the name of the junk dealer, the address of
the junkyard and the size of the tract or lot upon which the junkyard is located.
The license shall state the name of the person to whom the license is issued
and the premises on which the business is to be conducted or the junkyard
maintained. The license shall be posted conspicuously upon the licensed premises.
With the application, applicant shall submit a plot plan of the premises,
drawn to scale, with the placement of all buildings, watercourses and area
or areas to be devoted to the storage of junk.
No person licensed under this chapter shall, by virtue of one license,
keep more than one place of business within the township or maintain more
than one junkyard for the purpose of buying, selling and dealing in junk.
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer in any place other than
the place designated upon his license or maintain a junkyard in any place
other than the place designated upon his license.
[Amended 6-16-2005 by Ord. No. 526]
In the event that the Board shall approve the transfer of license, the
transferee shall pay to the Township Treasurer a fee as established by Township
resolution.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall provide and maintain
a book in which shall be recorded in the English language at the time of purchase
of any junk a description of the articles or materials purchased or received
by him, the date and hour of purchase or receipt and the person from whom
such articles or material were purchased, received or handled by such person.
This record shall be subject to inspection by the Board of Supervisors or
any township official designated by the Board.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall keep and retain upon
the licensed premises for a period of 48 hours after the purchase or receipt
thereof all junk received or purchased by him, and he shall not disturb or
reduce the same or alter the original form, shape or condition until such
48 hours shall have elapsed, with the exception of automobiles scrapped with
proper certificate of title.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall constantly maintain the
licensed premises in the manner prescribed by this chapter as follows:
A.
Such premises shall at all times be maintained in a manner
not to create a nuisance or menace to the health of the community or the residents
nearby nor to create a place for the breeding of rodents and vermin.
B.
No garbage or other organic waste and no paper, rubbish,
rags or other flammable articles or materials, except lumber, shall be stored
in such premises.
C.
Weeds and vegetation shall be maintained at a maximum
height of six inches in the area actually used for the storage of junk and
a height not in excess of 12 inches above ground surface in the area within
the junkyard property not actually devoted to the storage of junk.
D.
The manner of storage and arrangement of junk and the
drainage facilities to the premises shall be such as to prevent the accumulation
of stagnant water upon the premises and to facilitate access for fire fighting
purposes.
E.
Not more than one vehicle or its equivalent shall be
burned in any junkyard at one time. No oil, grease, tars, gasoline or other
similar material that might be dangerous if set on fire or tend to produce
obnoxious smoke or odors shall be burned within a junkyard at any time. Burning
of vehicles must be attended and controlled.
F.
Junkyards shall not be open for business nor shall any
work be done therein in connection with the storage, processing and transporting
or removal of junk at any time on Sunday or on any other day of the week before
7:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m., prevailing time, with the exception that emergency
calls due to highway accidents may be served at any time.
G.
Where a junkyard adjoins or lies across a public road
from property actually used for residential purposes, whether or not the latter
is owned by the junkyard owner or another person, the Supervisors may require
the owner of the junkyard, as a condition of the issuance or reissuance of
the license, to erect a tight wall or fence not in excess of eight feet in
height along the side of the junkyard adjoining the property devoted to residential
use and/or along the public road, as the case may be. The Supervisors shall
allow a reasonable time for the erection of such wall or fence, during which
time the use of the junkyard may continue.
[Amended 3-14-1983 by Ord.
No. 295]
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, be subject to a fine of not
more than $300 and the costs of prosecution; provided that each day's violation
of any of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense.
In addition to the remedies provided in the preceding section, any continued
violations of this chapter which shall constitute, in the opinion of the Board,
a nuisance in fact, may be abated by an appropriate proceeding against the
violator in equity.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to enlarge the uses permitted within the several districts by Chapter 143, Zoning. In the case of other ordinances of the township relating to junkyards or the accumulation of rubbish and garbage, the same are, with the exception of Chapter 143, Zoning, as amended, repealed to the extent necessary to give effect to this chapter, and where there is a conflict between earlier ordinances and this chapter, the latter shall be controlling.
