[Adopted 3-4-1986 by Ord. No. 145]
Unless otherwise expressly provided, the following words shall, for the purposes of this article, have the following meanings:
BICYCLE PATH
The asphalt paved or crushed stone portion of any parcel of real property which is designated by the Township as a bicycle path and is customarily used both by bicyclists and pedestrians.
[Added 12-3-1996 by Ord. No. 256; amended 1-16-2018 by Ord. No. 386]
OWNER
Any natural person, partnership, firm, corporation or other legal entity, including singular and plural, male and female, owning any private road; and, in the case of a land subdivision or land development containing undedicated private roads granted approval by the Board of Supervisors pursuant to Chapter 153, Subdivision and Land Development, the developer thereof. Owner shall also include any natural person, partnership, firm, corporation or other legal entity, including singular and plural, male and female, owning any parcel of real property located in Doylestown Township.
[Amended 12-3-1996 by Ord. No. 256]
PARTY IN CONTROL
The party in control of the parcel of real property shall be the tenant or occupant of said real property; or in the case of real property that is unoccupied, the party in control shall be the owner of said real property.
[Added 12-3-1996 by Ord. No. 256]
PRIVATE ROAD
A strip of land, be it a street, alley or right-of-way, paved or unpaved, but limited to the cartway thereof, and intended for general public use as a means of vehicular and pedestrian circulation to provide access to three or more dwelling units, office units, commercial units, industrial units or any combination thereof. The term includes any thoroughfare intended for public use.
SIDEWALK
The hard or paved portion of any parcel of real property which is customarily used by pedestrians in the regular course of travel over the parcel of real property.
[Added 12-3-1996 by Ord. No. 256]
From and after the effective date of this article, it shall be the duty of the owner of any private road that connects three or more dwelling units, three or more office units, three or more commercial units, three or more industrial units, or any combination thereof, to commence removal of, at his expense, snow or ice from such private road by snowplowing, snowblowing, cindering or salting within a period of four hours after the conclusion of any fall of snow or accumulation of ice.
Following the initial removal of such snow or ice as required by § 151-11 above, it shall be the further duty of such owner during any period of continued snowfall or ice accumulation to continue to plow, cinder and salt such private road and to maintain such private road in at least the same condition as Township roads are maintained during such periods.
It shall be a violation of this article if the owner, during the removal of snow or ice as required by this article, shall plow or deposit or shall cause to be plowed or deposited said snow or ice from the private road onto a public street, alley or right-of-way so as to leave an accumulation of the same on a public highway.
In the event of snow accumulation in excess of one inch or such ice accumulation as, in the opinion of the Doylestown Township Police Department, causes hazardous driving conditions and noncompliance by the owner of any private road with §§ 151-11 and 151-12 above, the Doylestown Township Police Department shall notify the owner to remove such snow or ice as herein required. In conjunction with such notification, it shall be the responsibility of all owners of private roads in Doylestown Township to register with the Doylestown Township Police Department the name, address and telephone number of such owner or his agent to whom notification is to be given by the Police Department pursuant to this section. Thereafter, telephonic notification or the bona fide attempt thereat by the Police Department shall constitute sufficient notice of the purposes of this article. The failure of the owner within four hours after notification by the Police Department or after the bona fide attempt at notification by the Police Department to remove said snow and ice in accordance with §§ 151-11 and 151-12 of this article shall constitute a violation of this article.
From and after the passage of this article, it shall be unlawful for the owner of any private road affected by the provisions of this article to permit the accumulation of snow and/or ice in violation hereof, and all such accumulation is hereby declared to be a nuisance and detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of Doylestown Township, and such nuisance may be abated as provided in § 151-16 hereof.
A. 
In the event that the owner of any private road within the provisions of this article fails, after notice or attempted notice pursuant to § 151-14 hereof, to comply with provisions of §§ 151-11 and 151-12 hereof, the Township may, at its sole option, plow, cinder and/or salt such private roads in such fashion as the Township shall deem necessary. Such action by the Township shall not relieve the owner of the penalties for violation of this article. The Township may, thereafter, by proper accounting means, compute the costs of such corrective action on its part and either file a lien against the property from which the nuisance was removed or by which it is caused or proceed by civil suit against such owner for collection of such cost.
B. 
If the Township, pursuant to this section, shall plow, cinder and/or salt such private road and the private road is part of a land subdivision or land development containing undedicated private roads granted approval by the Board of Supervisors pursuant to Chapter 153, Subdivision and Land Development, the Township may charge the costs of such plowing, cindering or salting against any escrow accounts maintained by said owner with the Township, which said payment shall be made promptly upon such notice to the escrow holder. For the purpose of this article, "escrow account" shall mean any agreements wherein any financial institution or the Township is holding and maintaining funds to guarantee the completion of any public improvements required as a condition of the subdivision or land development approval of any property in the Township.
[Added 12-3-1996 by Ord. No. 256]
A. 
Removal of ice, snow and sleet from sidewalks.
(1) 
Within 24 hours after each fall of snow or sleet or within 24 hours after ice is formed on any sidewalk in Doylestown Township, it shall be the duty and obligation of the party in control of the real property on which said sidewalk is located to clear and remove all such ice, snow or sleet from the aforesaid sidewalk and to keep the area free of ice, snow and/or sleet. For the purpose of this section, it shall be the responsibility of the owner to remove all snow, ice and/or sleet from the sidewalk of any parcel of real property that is used or occupied by more than one residential or commercial tenant. The party in control shall clear said sidewalk to a minimum width of 36 inches, regardless of the width of the sidewalk. Snow, ice and sleet removed from a parcel of real property shall not be deposited on a public or private street.
[Amended 1-21-1997 by Ord. No. 257]
(2) 
Removal by Township; costs. In any situation where the owner or party in control of a parcel of real property has failed to comply with the terms and conditions of this article and the Township Manager determines that it is in the public interest to have the Township cause the ice, snow or sleet to be removed from the sidewalk, then the Township shall be free to do so and the costs of the same shall be entered as a municipal lien against said real property in such manner and such time as municipal liens are, in such cases, made and filed and such municipal lien when so filed shall be a valid lien upon such real estate.
B. 
Removal of ice, snow or sleet from bicycle paths. It shall not be the responsibility of owners or parties in control of property to remove ice, snow and sleet from the Township bicycle paths. Removal of ice, snow and sleet from bicycle paths shall be undertaken by Doylestown Township in accordance with Township policy for bicycle paths and, where it is deemed necessary or desirable by the Township to clear such paths, clearing shall be commenced by the Township only after the Township has completed ice, snow and sleet removal from public roadways, parking areas around essential Township buildings and facilities and any other area that must be cleared to protect public health, safety and welfare.
[Amended 11-4-1991 by Ord. No. 208; 12-3-1996 by Ord. No. 256]
A. 
If any party in control or the owner of any real property located in Doylestown Township shall neglect or refuse to clear and remove all such ice, snow or sleet as aforesaid within the required period or shall deposit the same in the street, he, she, it or they shall be liable, upon conviction thereof, to the following fines and costs:
(1) 
For a conviction resulting from a first offense during any calendar year, a fine not exceeding $20, plus costs of prosecution, including reasonable attorney's fees for each separate lot or parcel of real property.
(2) 
For each subsequent offense during a calendar year, a fine not exceeding $50, plus costs of prosecution, including reasonable attorney's fees for each separate lot or parcel of real property.
B. 
It shall be considered a separate offense for each day the owner or person in control fails to comply with the provisions of this article.
C. 
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article, after issuance of a notice of said violation by the authorized representative of the Township, setting forth the amount of the fine as heretofore provided may, within 5 days, at his election plead guilty to the violation by signing such notice and paying said fine without the costs of prosecution.