[Adopted 6-7-1990 as Ch. 18, Part 1, of the 1990 Code]
The purpose of this article is to establish
when it is necessary for a property owner in Franklin Township, Adams
County, Pennsylvania, to apply for and obtain a permit for the installation,
construction, alteration, change or use of an individual on-site sewage
system or a community sewage system, and to set forth or incorporate
the procedures and requirements pertaining thereto.
The words and phrases used in this article shall
have the same meanings as ascribed to such words and phrases in the
Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act, No. 537, P.L. 1535 (1965),[1] as amended (the “Act”), and the rules and
regulations promulgated thereunder (the “Regulations”)
by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”),
unless otherwise specified herein to the contrary.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 750.1
et seq.
A.
No person shall install, construct, request bid proposals
for construction, alter, change, or change the nature or the volume
of the use of, any individual sewage system or community sewage system,
or construct or request bid proposals for construction, or install
or occupy any building or structure for which an individual sewage
system or community sewage system is to be installed, without first
obtaining a permit indicating that the site and the plans and specifications
of such system are in compliance with this article and the Act and
Regulations, as from time to time revised, amended or supplemented,
which Act and Regulations, as from time to time revised, amended or
supplemented, are hereby incorporated herein by reference as fully
as though set forth at length herein. A sewage permit shall be required
in every instance wherein a person desires to install, construct,
alter, change, or change the nature or the volume of the use of any
individual or community sewage system on any tract of land of any
size or any location within Franklin Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania.
B.
Specifically, without limiting the generality of the
foregoing, this article requires the obtaining of a sewage permit
relative to all tracts of land within Franklin Township, Adams County,
Pennsylvania, including tracts of land of 10 acres or more, even though
the same may otherwise be considered a rural residence under the Act
and Regulations.
All permits for the construction, installation,
alteration, change, or change in the nature or volume of the use of
an individual sewage system or community sewage system shall be obtained
from the Franklin Township Sewage Enforcement Officer, and the permittee
shall be subject to all of the conditions that may be imposed by this
article, any other ordinance, rule or regulation adopted by Franklin
Township, as well as the provisions and requirements of the Act and
Regulations, concerning the issuance of sewage permits.
Any person, firm, corporation or other entity,
or any agent thereof, who shall violate any provisions of this article,
or the Act or Regulations, 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 article that is violated
shall also constitute a separate offense.
In addition to any other remedies or penalties
provided for in this article, any violations of this article, or the
Act or Regulations, shall constitute a nuisance, and may be abated
as such by Franklin Township by seeking appropriate equitable or legal
relief from a court of competent jurisdiction. All of the penalties
and remedies for violations of this article and the Act and Regulations,
as set forth in said Act or Regulations, are hereby incorporated herein
by reference as fully as those set forth at length herein.
No building permit shall be issued in Franklin
Township by the Franklin Township Code Enforcement Officer unless
and until the requirements of this article and the Act and Regulations
are complied with.
The grant of a sewage disposal permit shall
not constitute a representation, guarantee or warranty of any kind
whatsoever by Franklin Township, or any officer, official, agent,
or employee thereof, relative to the ultimate functional characteristics
of the proposed septic system, and shall create no liability whatsoever
upon Franklin Township, or any officer, official, agent, or employee
thereof.
The administration of this article and the Act
and Regulations shall comport with the requirements of the Act and
the Regulations. Generally, an applicant's first contacts, with regard
to any sewage disposal matter, shall be with the Township Secretary
and the Township Sewage Enforcement Officer who shall in good faith
attempt to advise the applicant of the applicable requirements and
procedures.
The fees imposed by Franklin Township, relative
to sewage disposal matters, shall be as set from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors. The current list of fees in on file in
the Township office.[1]
Appeal procedures, relative to sewage disposal
matters, shall be governed by the provisions of the Act and the Regulations.
