No owner shall cause, suffer, allow or permit a vehicle, motorized or
otherwise, to remain abandoned upon the public highway or in any other public
place within the Township of Bethlehem.
[Added 9-21-2000 by Ord. No. 336-2000]
No person, including the owner or occupier of any lands or premises,
shall leave or maintain any inoperable motor vehicle or any part thereof on
any private lands or premises for more than 90 days, whether consecutive or
not, unless such vehicle is located within a fully enclosed structure.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ABANDONED
Any vehicle which has been left unattended in excess of 24 hours,
whether or not said vehicle bears valid registration tags.
HIGHWAY
The entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly
maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes
of vehicular travel.
OWNER
A person who holds the legal title to a vehicle; or if a vehicle
is the subject of an agreement for the conditional sale or lease thereof,
with the right of purchase upon performance of the conditions stated in the
agreement and with an immediate right of possession vested in the conditional
vendee or lessee, or if a mortgagor of a vehicle is entitled to possession,
then the conditional vendee, lessee or mortgagor shall be deemed the "owner"
for the purpose of this chapter.
It shall be a valid affirmative defense for the owner to prove that
the vehicle in question was stolen at the time of the abandonment.
[Amended 2-7-1991 by Ord. No. 255-91]
Any owner convicted of an offense hereunder shall be subject to the penalties provided by §
1-15 of Chapter
1, General Provisions. For purposes of this chapter, each twenty-four-hour period or part thereof shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.