[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Dallas as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-2-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-1]
This article shall be known as the "Dallas Township
Nuisance Ordinance."
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Dallas, by authority granted to it as specified in the Pennsylvania
Second Class Township Code, being the Act of May 20, 1957, P.L. 74,
as amended by the Act of March 21, 1968, P.L. 66, No. 22, § 1,
53 P.S. § 66529, hereby enacts this article.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Dallas finds and deems that it is in the best interests of and for
the general health, safety and welfare of the citizens and residents
of this Township to prohibit the unreasonable, unwarrantable or unlawful
use of private and public property which causes injury, damage, hurt,
inconvenience, annoyance or discomfort to others in the legitimate
enjoyment of their rights of person or property.
As used in this article, the following terms,
phrases and words shall have the meanings given herein. Any personal
pronoun shall be construed so as to mean either the masculine, feminine
or neuter gender, as the context may require; and the word "shall"
is always mandatory.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Dallas, Luzerne
County, Pennsylvania.
Any person employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or
serving the Township of Dallas whose sworn duty as a law enforcement
officer is to preserve peace, make arrests or enforce the laws of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the ordinances of the Township.
Any unreasonable, unwarrantable or unlawful use of public
or private property, or injury, damage, hurt, inconvenience, annoyance
or discomfort to any person in the legitimate enjoyment of his or
her reasonable rights of person or property. The definition of nuisance
shall include, but not be limited to, any use, activity, or condition
upon property within the Township, other than on an occasional or
infrequent basis, which shall cause or result in:
[Amended 7-7-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-2]
Unreasonable annoyance or discomfort to persons beyond the boundary
of such property;
Interference with the health and/or safety of persons beyond
the boundaries of such property or of persons who could reasonably
be expected to enter upon such property; and/or
Disturbance or interference with the peaceful use and enjoyment
of persons or surrounding property of others within the Township.
Specifically, nuisance shall be deemed to include, but not be limited
to, the following:
Loud playing of radios, televisions, amplifiers, other sound
devices or creating or operating any noise source so as to be heard
beyond the property where the same is located;
Except in case of emergency, carrying on any building or road
construction, excavation or trenching or the operation of heavy equipment
or trucks in connection therewith at any time on Sunday or any legal
holiday or on any other day of the year at any time between 7:00 p.m.
and 7:00 a.m. without a special permit issued by the Zoning and Code
Enforcement Officer. Such special permit shall be issued only if it
is shown that the construction work must proceed as a matter of emergency
or that it can be carried on in a manner or in such a place that the
public or residents will not be annoyed or disturbed by such construction
work.
Any act which creates or permits light or glare to escape the
originating premises in any manner or intensity which interferes with
the reasonable enjoyment of adjacent and surrounding properties.
A person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge of any
premises within the Township.
To suffer, allow, consent or let; to give leave or license;
or to acquiesce by failure to prevent or to expressly accept or agree
to the doing of any act.
Any natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
The Township of Dallas, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
It shall be unlawful for any person to dump,
store or accumulate or cause or permit the dumping, storing or accumulation
upon any public or private property within the Township of Dallas,
or to create or maintain any nuisance as hereafter declared. Subsections
A and/or B shall not apply to any duly licensed facility operating
under a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection. Subsection
A shall not apply to any permitted commercial or commercial/industrial
establishment for the repair, maintenance or restoration of motor
vehicles.
A.
Inoperable, unregistered and/or uninspected motor
vehicles which are not confined within a permitted structure.
B.
Junk material, including but not limited to unused,
discarded or abandoned machinery, vehicle parts, equipment or appliances,
which are not confined within a permitted structure.
C.
The burning of garbage, trash, tires, tar products,
non-wood materials or any material which produces noxious or offensive
smoke, fumes or odor.
D.
The pushing, shoveling or otherwise depositing of
snow or any other material upon the road and/or traveled portion of
any public highway, road, street or Township right-of-way which is
maintained by this Township or by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
and allowing the same to remain thereon.
E.
The creating, maintaining or continuing of any use, activity or condition
upon property within the Township which is defined in this article
as a nuisance.
[Amended 7-7-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-2]
A.
Method of serving notice. Prior to the issuance of a citation or the filing of a private criminal complaint for a violation of § 55-5A and/or B of this article, it shall be necessary to serve written notice upon the owner in one of the following ways:
(1)
By mailing a copy of the notice to the owner by any
form of mail requiring a receipt signed by the owner;
(2)
By personal delivery of the notice to the owner;
(3)
By handing a copy of the notice at the residence of
the owner to an adult member of the family who resides within, but
if no adult member of the family is found, then to an adult person
in charge of such residence; or
(4)
By fixing a copy of the notice to the door at the
entrance of the premises in violation.
B.
Form to be provided. Notice required under this section
must be given on a form prescribed and provided by the Township.
C.
Content of notice. The notice shall set forth the
name and address of the owner, if known; the nature and extent of
the violation or offense; the period or periods of time over which
the nuisance has occurred; the identity of the person giving notice;
the date and time of the sending or posting of notice; and a statement
to the effect that a citation shall be issued or a private complaint
filed if the nuisance is not abated within 14 calendar days from the
date of receipt or posting of notice.
D.
Duration of notice. Any notice given pursuant to this
section shall be valid for a period of six months; within six months,
no additional notice need be given prior to the issuance of a citation
or the filing of private complaint.
The provisions of this article shall be enforced
by a law enforcement officer instituting summary proceedings by citation
as provided by law or, when the affiant is not a law enforcement officer,
the affiant shall institute a criminal proceeding by filing a complaint
with the District Justice as provided by law.
Any person who violates or permits a violation
of this article shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought
before a District Justice under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal
Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable
by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default
of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that
such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate offense, and each section of this article that is violated
shall also constitute a separate offense.
[Adopted 6-19-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-5]
This article shall be known as the "Disorderly House Nuisance
Ordinance."
A.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
DWELLING
OWNER
PERSON
TOWNSHIP
Whether or not capitalized, the following words terms and phrases
used herein shall have the following meanings:
The Board of Supervisors of the Township.
A house or other structure in which one or more persons resides.
This shall include any house or other structure arranged, designed
or used, in whole or in part, to provide living facilities for one
or more individuals and includes a building, a part of a building,
a tent, a mobile home, or another enclosed space that is used or intended
for use as a human habitation.
Any and all persons having a legal or equitable title to
the dwelling recorded in official governmental records for such dwelling
and includes the guardian of the estate of any such person and the
executor or administrator of the estate of such person.
Any individual, corporation, firm, partnership, organization
and/or other similar entity.
The Township of Dallas, which is located within the confines
of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
B.
Singular words shall include plural and masculine words shall include
feminine and neuter. The words "and" and "or" shall mean "and/or"
whenever reasonably applicable.
A "disorderly house nuisance" is a dwelling at which any of
the following has occurred within a consecutive three-hundred-sixty-five-day
period:
A.
Two or more felony and/or misdemeanor arrests, arising out of separate
and distinct facts and circumstances, as defined by the statutes of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and/or the ordinances of the Township
of Dallas, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania;
B.
Two or more violations of both Titles 18 and 47 relating to alcoholic
beverages arising out of separate and distinct facts and circumstances;
C.
Two or more violations relating to animals and fowl arising out of
separate and distinct facts and circumstances;
D.
Two or more violations of Title 35; the Drug, Device and Cosmetic
Act; or
E.
A combination of two offenses from any of the above categories, arising
out of separate and distinct facts and circumstances.
A.
No owner of a dwelling shall allow or permit such dwelling to be,
or become, a disorderly house nuisance.
B.
An owner shall be deemed to have allowed or permitted a dwelling
to be, or become, a disorderly house nuisance, if:
The police and/or Zoning Officer of the Township may commence
prosecution alleging a violation of this article by following the
Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure General Procedures in Summary
Cases.
A.
Any person who violates this article shall, upon conviction in a
summary proceeding brought before a District Justice under the Pennsylvania
Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall
be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution.
In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that
such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate offense.
B.
In addition to any proceeding on any other remedy at law or equity
for a violation of a provision of this article, the Township may assess
a civil penalty for the violation. The penalty may be assessed whether
or not the violation was willful or not. The civil penalty so assessed
shall not exceed $10,000 per day for each violation. The Township
shall consider the scope of the nuisance in assessing such penalty.
C.
When the Township proposes to assess a civil penalty, it shall inform
the person of the proposed amount of the penalty. The person charged
with the penalty shall then have 30 days to pay the proposed penalty
in full, or if the person wishes to contest the amount of the penalty
or the facts of the violation to the extent not already established,
action shall proceed as defined by the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil
Procedure. The amount assessed shall be payable to the Township and
shall be collectible in any manner provided by law for the collection
of debts, including the collection of interest or the penalty amount
computed in accordance with Section 6621(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 (P.L. 99-514, 26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.) from the
date of assessment of the penalty.
D.
If any person liable to pay any such penalty neglects or refuses
to pay the same after demand, the amount, together with interest and
any costs that may accrue, shall constitute a debt of such person
when a notice of lien incorporating a description of the lien is located.
The Prothonotary shall promptly enter upon the civil judgment or order
docket, at no cost to the Township, the name and address of the person,
as may be appropriate, and the amount of the lien as set forth in
the notice of lien. Upon entry by the Prothonotary, the lien shall
attach to the revenues and all real and personal property of the person,
whether or not the person is solvent. The notice of lien, filed pursuant
to this section, which affects the property of the person shall create
a lien with priority over all subsequent claims or liens which are
filed against the person, but it shall not affect any valid lien,
right, or interest in the property filed in accordance with established
procedure prior to filing of a notice of lien under this section.
The remedies provided herein for the enforcement of this article,
or any remedy provided by law, shall not be deemed mutually exclusive;
rather they may be employed simultaneously or consecutively, at the
option of the Board of Supervisors.
