[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Whitpain 7-2-1990 as Ord. No. 198, which
ordinance adopted the provisions herein as Ch. 94 of the Township Code. The
provisions were renumbered as Ch. 103 to preserve the alphabetical sequence
of the Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the "Whitpain Township
Anti-Litter Ordinance."
A.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms,
phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein.
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include
the future, words used in the plural number include the singular number, and
words used in the singular number include the plural number. The word "shall"
is always mandatory and not merely directory.
B.
GARBAGE
LITTER
PARK
PERSON
PRIVATE PREMISES
PUBLIC PLACE
REFUSE
RUBBISH
VEHICLE
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
Putrescible animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling,
preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
Garbage, refuse and rubbish as defined herein and all other waste
material which, if thrown or deposited as herein prohibited, tends to create
a danger to public health, safety and welfare.
A park, reservation, playground, beach, recreation center or any
other public area in the township owned or used by the township and devoted
to active or passive recreation.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company
or organization of any kind.
Any dwelling house, building or other structure designed or used,
either wholly or in part, for private residential purposes, whether inhabited
or temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant, and shall include any
yard, grounds, walk, driveway, porch, steps, vestibule or mailbox belonging
or appurtenant to such dwelling, house, building or other structure.
Any and all streets, sidewalks, boulevards and alleys; parking, loading
and unloading areas of commercial, industrial, shopping center and institutional
establishments; or other places to which the public has access; and any and
all public parks, squares, spaces, grounds and buildings.
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes, except body wastes,
including garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned
automobiles and solid market and industrial wastes.
Nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and noncombustible
wastes, such as paper, wrappings, cigarettes, cardboard, tin cans, yard clippings,
leaves, wood, glass, bedding, crockery and similar materials.
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may
be transported or drawn upon a highway, including devices used exclusively
upon stationary rails or tracks.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in or upon any street, sidewalk
or other public place within the township except in public receptacles, in
authorized private receptacles for collection or in official township dumps.
Persons placing litter in public receptacles or in authorized private
receptacles shall do so in such a manner as to prevent it from being carried
or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public place
or upon private property.
No person shall deposit litter, refuse, garbage or other waste materials
into any public streets, sidewalks, cartways, stormwater sewers, swales or
other public places within the township or otherwise permit the accumulation
of said materials from any building or lot or other public or private sidewalk
or driveway into said public streets, cartways, sidewalks, curbs, gutters,
stormwater sewers, swales or other public places or rights-of-way.
It shall be the duty of every property owner to keep the sidewalk adjacent
to his home free of litter, refuse, garbage or other waste materials. Failure
to clear said areas after notice by the township may be considered a violation
of this chapter and result in commencement of enforcement actions or penalty
provisions.
No person, business, fictitious name, corporation or other business
entity owning or operating a place of business shall sweep into or deposit
in any gutter, street or other public place within the township the accumulation
of litter from any building or lot or from any public or private sidewalk
or driveway. Persons owning or occupying places of business within the township
shall keep the sidewalk in front of their business premises free of litter.
Failure to clear said areas after notice by the township may be considered
a violation of this chapter and result in commencement of enforcement actions
or penalty provisions.
Each person, business, fictitious name, corporation, landlord or tenant
or other business entity of parking lots, loading and unloading areas, common
driveways, shared open space, common passageways situate in multifamily residential,
commercial, industrial, shopping center, office or office park usage within
the township shall be responsible to keep said areas litter free. Failure
to clear said areas after notice by the township may be considered a violation
of this chapter and result in commencement of enforcement actions or penalty
provisions.
No person, while operator or passenger in any vehicle operating on any
highways, streets, parking areas, common passageway or common driveways, whether
public or private, shall throw or deposit litter, refuse, garbage or rubbish
upon such areas and public places or on any private property anywhere within
Whitpain Township.
No person, firm or corporation shall place or cause to be placed along
any highway, right-of-way, sidewalk area or occupied or unoccupied private
property any empty or filled milk cases, bread cases or shopping carts.
No person shall drive or move any truck or other vehicle within the
township unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded as to prevent any
load, contents or litter from being blown from such truck or motor vehicle,
nor shall any person drive or move any vehicle or truck within the township,
the wheels or tires of which carry onto or deposit in any street, alley or
other public place mud, dirt, stick substances, litter or foreign matter of
any kind.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any park within the township
except in public receptacles and in such a manner that the litter will be
prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any part of
the park or upon any street or other public place. Where public receptacles
are not provided, all such litter shall be carried away from the park by the
person responsible for its presence and properly disposed of elsewhere as
provided herein.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any fountain, pond, lake,
stream, bay or any other body of water in a park or elsewhere within the township.
No person shall throw, deposit or permit to accumulate any litter on
any open or vacant private property within the township, whether owned by
such person or not.
The enforcement of the provisions of this chapter shall be undertaken
by the Department of Police.
Any person who or which shall violate any of the provisions of this
chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not
less than $10 nor more than $300 for each and every such offense, at the discretion
of the District Justice, together with the costs of prosecution. All prosecutions
for violations of this chapter shall be by summary proceedings and brought
in the name and for the use of the Township of Whitpain before a District
Justice. Each day of failure to correct a violation, following written notice,
shall be considered a separate violation.
