[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Franklin Township 6-7-1990
as Ch. 13, Part 1, of the 1990 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Zoning — See Ch. 175.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as “Franklin Township
Junk Dealer and Junkyard Ordinance.”
Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following words
or phrases shall be construed in this chapter to have the following meanings:
The Board of Supervisors of Franklin Township.
Scrap, copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber,
debris, waste, iron, steel and other old or scrap ferrous or nonferrous material,
including wrecked, scrapped, ruined, dismantled or junked motor vehicles,
or parts thereof, but not including farm machinery, provided said farm machinery
is used in connection with a bona fide farm operation.
Any person, as hereinafter defined, who establishes, maintains, uses
or operates a junkyard, as hereinafter defined, within the Township of Franklin.
Any outdoor establishment or place of business or activity which
is maintained, used or operated for storing, keeping, buying or selling junk;
for the maintenance or operation of a garbage dump, sanitary landfill or scrap
metal processor or for the storage of 10 or more junked vehicles.
The permit granted to a junk dealer.
A natural person or an association, partnership, firm, corporation
or other business entirety.
The use of any natural objects, plantings, embankments, fencing,
walls or structures or a combination of any of these which will effectively
hide any deposit of junk so as not to be visible from the road, street or
highway, at all times of the year, by an occupant of a motor vehicle viewing
from a height of 4 1/2 feet above the pavement.
Franklin Township, Adams County.
No person shall engage or continue to engage in business as a junk dealer
or establish or operate a junkyard in the Township except as authorized by
this chapter and without first having obtained a license therefor from the
Board or Code Enforcement Officer. The license shall be issued for a term
of one year beginning January 1 and ending December 31 the same year, and
shall be renewed annually on or before the first day of January of each year.
Such license shall state the name of the person to whom the license is issued
and the location of the junkyard premises used or intended to be used, and
shall be posted conspicuously upon such premises.
Application for a license or any renewal thereof shall be made and filed
in writing by the proposed licensee with the Secretary of the Board or Code
Enforcement Officer on a form supplied by the Board or Code Enforcement Officer.
The application shall include the following information:
A.
Name, address and length of residence at such address
of the applicant.
B.
Address of the premises upon which such business is to
be conducted or upon which such junkyard is to be established or operated.
C.
Name of the owner or owners of said premises if other
than the applicant.
D.
Whether applicant has been convicted within a period
of three years prior to the filing of such application of any crime involving
the unlawful taking, receipt, use or other disposition of a motor vehicle
or a part or parts thereof.
E.
Statement that applicant will comply with the provisions
of this chapter and any regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter.
F.
(For renewal applications). Statement that applicant,
during the preceding term of his license, complied with and maintained his
premises in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.
H.
If the applicant is a partnership or association the
applicant shall furnish the above information for every member thereof. If
the applicant is a business corporation, the applicant shall furnish the above
information for each officer and director therefor. The application shall
be signed by the applicant, if an individual, by all members if the applicant
is a partnership or association, and by the President and Secretary if the
applicant is a business corporation.
The Board or Code Enforcement Officer, upon receipt of an application for license under this chapter, shall determine whether or not a license shall be issued or a renewal thereof shall be granted after an examination of the application and upon the fullest consideration of the suitability of the premises proposed to be used for the purposes of the license, the character of the property adjacent thereto and the effect of the proposed use, taking into consideration the health, welfare and safety of the residents of the Township and any potential hazard which may result to adjacent properties and structures thereon or to the citizens of the Township. No license shall be issued until the requisite license fee has been paid, as established in § 96-6 of this chapter. Such license shall be issued upon the condition that the same may be summarily revoked in the event the licensee is found to have given any false information or in any way misrepresented any material fact upon which the Board or Code Enforcement Officer or duly authorized agent has relied in granting such license.
Every junk dealer shall pay an annual license fee for every license
or renewal thereof issued hereunder. No abatement of the annual license fee
shall be made for any cause whatsoever. No refund will be given in the event
of the revocation of a license by the Board or Code Enforcement Officer. The
amount of the license fee shall be as set from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors. The current list of fees is on file in the Township
office.[1]
No person licensed under this chapter as a junk dealer shall, by virtue
of one license, establish, maintain, use or operate more than one junkyard
within the Township. No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer in
any place other than the place designated upon his license or maintain a junkyard
in any place other than the place designated upon his license.
No license issued by the Board or Code Enforcement Officer shall be
transferable or assignable by agreement, will, intestacy or otherwise.
Every junk dealer licensed under this chapter shall constantly maintain the licensed junkyard premises in the manner prescribed by this § 96-9 and by any subsequent regulations adopted by the Board:
A.
Such premises shall at all times be maintained so as
not to constitute a nuisance or a menace to the health of the community or
to residents nearby or a place for the breeding of rodents and vermin.
C.
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be received as junk
in the licensed junkyard premises, all gasoline shall be drained and removed
therefrom.
D.
Junk shall be stored and arranged in a neat and orderly
fashion and the drainage facilities of the premises shall be such as to prevent
the accumulation of stagnant water upon the premises and to facilitate access
for fire fighting and inspection purposes. There shall be at least 16 feet
open space between each row of junk. Junked motor vehicles may be stored end-to-end
(a double row) for purposes of application of this spacing requirement.
E.
A junk dealer licensed under this chapter shall not burn
more than one motor vehicle or its equivalent at one time. No oil, grease,
tires, gasoline or other similar material that might be dangerous or tend
to produce noxious smoke or odors shall be burned within a junkyard at any
time. Burning of vehicles must be attended and controlled at all times.
F.
The junkyard premises to be licensed shall be set back
a minimum distance of 25 feet from the right-of-way lines of all abutting
streets, roads or highways, a minimum distance of 100 feet from any existing
dwelling house erected upon premises adjacent to the licensed premises but
in any event not less than a minimum distance of 25 feet from property lines
of all adjacent properties and a minimum distance of 30 feet from any river,
stream, run, creek, floodplain or other natural watercourse in the Township.
The area between the setback line and such right-of-way lines, other property
lines and natural watercourses shall be at all times kept clear and vacant,
free of weeds, debris and junk, including any motor vehicle incapable of meeting
state inspection requirements.
G.
No gasoline, oil or any other hazardous liquid or substance
shall be stored less than a minimum distance of 100 feet from any river, stream,
run, creek or other natural watercourse in the Township.
H.
In no event shall any junk be kept, stored or accumulated
on a junkyard premises, nor any structure be erected to be used in connection
with a junkyard within 500 feet of any existing church, cemetery, school,
playground, restaurant, motel or other place of public use or accommodation,
provided that nothing contained in this subsection shall apply to existing
structures used in connection with junkyards presently established and operating
which are otherwise in compliance with the provisions of this chapter or to
any junk presently kept, stored or accumulated thereon.
I.
Screening shall be provided for any junkyard which is within 500 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of an abutting public road, street or highway. Such screening shall be constructed, erected and/or maintained at a height of not less than six feet; shall be controlled by the setback provisions of Subsection F hereof; and shall be completed within 12 months after the effective date of this chapter, provided that if in the sole and exclusive opinion of a majority of the Board or Code Enforcement Officer, it would appear that the owner and/or operator of a junkyard situated within the Township has clearly demonstrated that he is making a continuing bona fide effort to comply with the screening provisions of this subsection, then and in such event the Board or Code Enforcement Officer may, in its sole discretion, grant an extension of time to such owner or operator for the completion of such screening upon receipt of a written letter from the said owner or operator requesting such an extension of time. Permissible types of screening shall include opaque metal or wood fencing materials, earth mounding, or trees or hedges, the actual and immediate effect of which is to screen the subject junkyard in an aesthetic manner.
J.
No two or more vehicles or parts thereof may be stacked
on top of one another.
K.
A person licensed under this chapter shall provide designated
off-street parking and loading facilities from a single entrance off any adjacent
street, road or highway, which facilities shall have, at a minimum, a stone
and gravel base, and which shall be of a size sufficient to accommodate one
parking space for the junk dealer operating the junkyard and an additional
space for each employee of such junk dealer plus a sufficient number of additional
spaces based upon the estimated number of patrons or customers to be served,
but in any event not less than:
A.
Every junkyard premises maintained or proposed to be
maintained within the Township shall be subject to inspection during reasonable
hours of the day by any member of the Board or a duly authorized agent thereof,
or the Code Enforcement Officer, who shall be and hereby is authorized to
make regular inspections of the junkyard premises of every licensee or proposed
licensee hereunder for the purpose of determining whether said licensee has
maintained and operated or will maintain and operate his premises in full
compliance with the provisions of this chapter and such further regulations
as may hereafter be adopted by the Township regulating and licensing junk
dealers and the establishment and maintenance of junkyards. The Board or its
duly authorized agent or the Code Enforcement Officer shall forthwith prosecute
any discovered violation of this chapter.
B.
In the event that the Board or the Code Enforcement Officer
determines that any junkyard is in violation of the provisions of this chapter,
the Board or the Code Enforcement Officer shall issue a written notice to
be served personally, or by registered or certified mail, upon the owner or
occupant of said premises, or, if the owner's or occupant's whereabouts
or identity is unknown, by posting the notice conspicuously in and upon the
offending premises. Said notice shall specify the condition or structure or
improvement complained of, and shall require the owner or occupant to commence
to remove or otherwise rectify the condition or structure or improvement as
set forth therein within 10 days of service, mailing or posting of said notice,
and, thereafter, to fully comply with the requirements of said notice and
this chapter. If the owner or occupant of the offending premises does not
comply with the aforesaid notice to rectify or abate the condition or structure
or improvement complained of, within the time limit prescribed, the Township
shall have the authority to take measures, including the institution of appropriate
legal proceedings at law or in equity, to rectify or abate the offending condition
or structure of improvement, and to collect the cost and expense of any such
legal proceedings, including reasonable attorneys' fees, from the offending
owner or occupant.
Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Code Enforcement Officer may request and shall then be granted a hearing before the Board, provided that the owner shall file with the Board within 10 days after notice of the Code Enforcement Officer's decision a written petition requesting such hearing setting forth a brief statement of the grounds therefor. The hearing shall commence not later than 30 days after the date on which the petition was filed, unless postponed for sufficient cause. After such hearing, the Board shall sustain, modify or overrule the action of the Code Enforcement Officer. All matters and proceedings concerning such hearings shall be the same as those set forth in Chapter 64, Building Permits, of this Code.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances heretofore enacted, or intended
so to be, in conflict herewith shall be and the same are hereby repealed.
Provided, however, that a junk dealer actively operating a junkyard on the
effective date of this chapter shall be permitted to operate under the terms
of the preexisting Franklin Township Junkyard Ordinance, which is intended
to be superseded by this chapter, through February 1, 1987.
Any person, firm, corporation or other entity, or any agent thereof,
who shall violate any provision at this chapter, 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 chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate
offense.
In addition to the remedies provided in of this chapter, any continued
violations of this chapter constituting a nuisance in fact or which shall,
in the opinion of the Board or Code Enforcement Officer, constitute a nuisance,
may be abated as such by proceedings against the violator by action in equity
or at law.
