[Adopted 10-26-1959 by Ord. No. 319 (Ch.
12.08 of the 1992 Code)]
For the purposes of this article, the following
terms and phrases shall have the meanings set forth in this section,
unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:
Includes any brush, hedge, shrubbery, tree, or other plant
life and/or any land, rock, fence, wall, or other structure or obstacle
situate in or over or intruding upon or enclosing any Borough right-of-way
or portion thereof.
Includes all public streets, roads, avenues, highways, lanes,
alleys, public places, ways and easements of the Borough, including
those dedicated but as yet unaccepted, for the full width thereof,
whether or not the same are now or may hereafter be actually in use
for a lesser width than the established width thereof.
The Mayor and Council of the Borough may, by
a majority vote, declare any encroachment, obstruction or encumbrance
in, on, over or upon any Borough right-of-way that impairs the public
safety or welfare of the Borough or its inhabitants a nuisance and
order the same to be abated by the removal of the encroachment, obstruction
or encumbrance in such manner and to such extent as they may designate.
Whenever the Mayor and Council aforesaid shall
declare any obstruction, encroachment or encumbrance in, on, over
or upon any Borough right-of-way a nuisance, they shall cause the
Borough Engineer or his agent or deputy to give written notice to
the owner or tenant of the lands in, on, over or in front of which
any such obstruction, encroachment, or encumbrance is located to abate
the nuisance in the manner set forth in such notice. The notice is
to be mailed to the last known address of the owner or tenant or left
at the owner's or tenant's residence with a member of his family above
the age of 14 years.
Should the aforesaid owner or tenant fail to
abate the nuisance within 30 days after receiving the written notice
and in the manner set forth therein, the Borough, through its agents,
servants and employees, may abate the nuisance and charge the cost
thereof against the premises in, on, over or in front of which the
encroachment, obstruction or encumbrance is located. The cost shall
be certified to the Mayor and Borough Council, and if found correct
they shall cause the cost as shown to be charged against the lands,
or in the event that the Mayor and Council deem such cost to be excessive,
they shall determine a reasonable amount thereof to be charged against
the lands. The amount so charged shall forthwith become a lien upon
such lands and shall be added to and become and form part of the taxes
next to be assessed and levied upon such lands, the same to bear interest
at the same rate as other taxes, and shall be collected and enforced
by the same officers and in the same manner as taxes.
A.
Any person who refuses or neglects, after written
notice as above set forth, to comply with the demands therein made
with respect to the abatement of a declared nuisance within 30 days
after receiving the written notice shall, upon conviction thereof,
be liable to a penalty not to exceed a fine of $25, and each and every
day in which the owner or tenant refuses or neglects so to abate the
nuisance shall constitute a separate offense.
B.
The imposition and collection of any fine or penalty
prescribed by this section shall not bar the right of the Borough
to collect the cost of the abatement of the nuisance as specified
in this article, and the remedies shall be cumulative.
