[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Radnor 2-25-1974 by Ord. No. 1564 as Ch. 129 of the 1974
Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any motor vehicle which is found unattended without the current
year's registration or identification markers as required by law and
that has been continuously parked on any public street, public land
or private property for a period of 10 days or is so disabled as to
be incapable of being operated under its own power or is without one
or more tires.
[Amended 2-10-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-01]
Any motor vehicle which is no longer in actual use as a motor
vehicle or which is wholly unfit to be operated or has been discarded
for use or otherwise abandoned.
Any vehicle which is self-propelled as defined by the Vehicle
Code of Pennsylvania.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 101
et seq.
It shall be unlawful for any person to cause
a motor vehicle to be abandoned upon any public or private lands in
the Township of Radnor or upon any public street, except that nothing
herein contained shall be deemed to prohibit any person from parking,
storing or repairing a motor vehicle upon private or public property
where authorized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or the laws of the Township of Radnor and nothing shall be deemed
to prohibit the placing, keeping or storing of any motor vehicle in
an enclosed garage or other building.
No person shall place, keep or store any junked
automobile on any public or private property within the Township of
Radnor or upon the public highways in the Township of Radnor.
All abandoned motor vehicles shall be removed
by the owner or operator thereof or by the owner or occupant of the
private property on which said motor vehicle is abandoned. Upon the
failure of the owner or operator of any abandoned or junked motor
vehicle to remove the same within 24 hours after receiving notice
from the Radnor Township Police Department to remove the same, such
notice being given either by personal service or by certified mail
to the owner or operator of such abandoned motor vehicle or to the
owner or occupant of the private property on which said abandoned
or junked motor vehicle is found, the Radnor Township Police Department
may remove the same or cause the same to be removed.
In removing any such abandoned motor vehicles,
the Radnor Township Police Department shall cause the same to be towed
and stored by such garages or towing services as are designated by
the Chief of Police of Radnor Township to be approved storage garages
or pounds for the storage of such vehicles.
Any designated storage garage, prior to engaging
in any towing away and/or storing of any vehicle hereunder, shall
file a surety bond with the Township of Radnor, said bond to indemnify
the Township of Radnor and the owner of any impounded vehicle against
loss thereof or injury or damage thereto while any vehicle is in custody
of such garage.
Specific towing and storage charges to be made
under this chapter shall be fixed from time to time by the Board of
Commissioners in accordance with the prevailing rates in the Township,
and such charges shall be posted in the Township Building.
The Chief of Police or someone at his direction,
within 12 hours after any vehicle has been removed and impounded,
shall notify the owner of record or the operator of any such vehicle,
either by personal service or by certified mail, or the owner or occupant
of the property from which any such vehicle has been removed, in like
manner, of the fact that such vehicle has been impounded, the place
from which it was removed, the reason for its removal and impounding
and the place where the vehicle has been impounded.
A.
The owner or operator of any impounded vehicle shall
be entitled to recover possession of such vehicle upon the payment
to the Township of the towing and storage charges as above set forth.
B.
The payment of such towing and storage charges, unless
made under protest, shall be final and conclusive and shall constitute
a waiver of any right to recover the money so paid. In the event that
the towing and impounding charges are paid under protest, the offender
shall be entitled to a hearing before a District Justice or a court
of record having jurisdiction, as in the case of a prosecution as
in other cases of summary offenses under the Motor Vehicle Code of
Pennsylvania, and said District Justice or court of record shall proceed
in accordance with Paragraph 1103 of the Motor Vehicle Code of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A.
In the event that the Police Department shall be unable
to ascertain the ownership of an abandoned motor vehicle found upon
private property, the Chief of Police or someone at his direction,
within 12 hours after the vehicle has been found by the police, may
notify the owner or occupant of the private property, by certified
mail, that such vehicle exists, and thereafter said owner or occupant
of the private property shall cause the abandoned motor vehicle to
be removed to an authorized junk or scrap yard within 48 hours.
B.
If the owner or occupant of such private property shall fail to remove the abandoned motor vehicle as set forth in Subsection A hereof, said owner or occupant shall be subject to the penalties provided in § 267-12 of this chapter. Each day that the motor vehicle is permitted to remain shall constitute a separate and distinct violation.
Where an abandoned motor vehicle is removed
under the provisions of this chapter and it remains unclaimed for
a period of 15 consecutive days without being removed by its owner
or any other person duly authorized to remove the same, the Chief
of Police shall be authorized to report or cause to be reported such
abandonment to the Department of Revenue of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
as provided in the Vehicle Code.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 101
et seq.
[Amended 7-20-1992 by Ord. No. 92-13]
Except as otherwise provided for in 75 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 3712, any person who shall violate the terms of this chapter
may be prosecuted and shall, upon conviction therefor, pay a fine
not exceeding $600, plus costs of prosecution, and, in default of
payment of such fine and costs, be imprisoned in the county jail for
a term not exceeding 30 days.
