[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Lower Frederick
Township 9-1-1971 by Ord. No. 71-2. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "Junk Dealer and Nuisance
Abatement Code."
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases shall
be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings herein indicated:
The Board of Supervisors of Lower Frederick Township.
Any discarded material or article and shall include, but not be limited
to, scrap metal, scrapped, abandoned or junked motor vehicles, machinery,
equipment, paper, glass containers, and structures. It shall not include,
however, refuse or garbage kept in a proper container for the purpose of prompt
disposal.
Any person, as hereinafter defined, who shall engage in the business
of selling, buying, salvaging, or dealing in junk and who maintains and operates
a junkyard within the limits of Lower Frederick Township.
Includes but is not limited to one or more of the following:
A vehicle for which a certificate of junk has been issued by the Pennsylvania
Secretary of Revenue or the official designated by any other state to issue
such certificates.
A vehicle in or on which it is found that any of the following exists:
Its engine or engine parts have been removed for more than 30 days;
or
Its tires have been deflated or its wheels have been removed for more
than 30 days; or
It bears no official inspection sticker or any such sticker is not current
by more than 90 days; provided that a vehicle under repair which is shown
to be bona fide by a sworn affidavit as intended for operation within 30 days
shall not be deemed within the foregoing definition.
Any place where any junk, as hereinafter defined, is stored, disposed
of, or accumulated. It shall also be construed to include any place where
one or more junked or abandoned vehicles is stored.
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or disposes
of junk as hereinbefore defined.
Includes any partnership, association, firm and corporation.
Lower Frederick Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer, or maintain a junkyard,
without first having obtained a license from the Board, for which license
a fee as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors shall
be paid to the Township for the use of the license each and every calendar
year. Such license must be renewed annually on or before the 15th day of March
of each year.
The license provided for in this chapter shall be issued by the Board after written application shall have been made therefor by the person desiring to be licensed. The written application for license hereinbefore mentioned shall set forth in full the owner or owners of the premises used for the junkyard, the name of the junk dealer, the address of the junkyard and the size of the tract or lot upon which the junkyard is located. Applicant shall also submit therewith a survey print of the premises used or to be used in connection with such license showing clearly thereon all buildings to be used in connection with the operation of the business, the relationship in distances of each building to the setback lines as set forth in § 86-9G, any and all buildings on all property adjoining the licensed premises, and the areas to be used for storage. The license obtained shall state the name of the person to whom such license is issued and the premises on which such business is to be conducted. Such license shall be posted conspicuously upon the premises licensed thereunder.
Upon receipt of an application by the Board, the Board shall issue a
license or shall refuse to issue a license to the person applying therefor
after an examination of the application and taking into consideration the
suitability of the property proposed to be used for the purposes of the license,
including the zoning status, the character of the properties located nearby,
and the effect of the proposed use upon the Township, both economic and aesthetic.
In the event the Board shall issue a license, it may impose upon the license
and the person applying therefor such terms and conditions in addition to
the regulations herein contained and adopted pursuant to this chapter as may
be deemed necessary to carry out the spirit and intent of this chapter. Any
person receiving a license under this chapter shall be deemed to have agreed
to comply with the terms of the license and that any deviations therefrom
shall constitute a violation of the chapter.
No person licensed under this chapter shall, by virtue of one license,
keep more than one place of business within the Township or maintain more
than one junkyard, for the purpose of buying, selling and dealing in junk.
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 shall be transferable by the licenser to any other person unless such a transfer is authorized by the Board. Any person desiring to transfer his license shall notify the Board in writing, which notification shall be accompanied by an application for a license, as described in § 86-4 of this chapter by the transferee. In the event the Board shall approve the transfer of a license, the transferee shall immediately pay to the Township a transfer fee as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall provide and shall constantly
keep a book in which shall be fairly written down in the English language,
at the time of the purchase of any junk, a description of every article or
material purchased or received by him, the date and hour of such purchase
and the person from whom such article or material was purchased or received.
Such book and all junk received, purchased or handled by the person licensed
shall at all times be subject to the inspection of any official of the Township.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall constantly maintain the
licensed premises in accordance with any special provisions imposed by the
Township and in the manner prescribed by this section and 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
of residents nearby or a place for the breeding of rodents and vermin.
B.
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be received in such
premises as junk, all gasoline shall be drained and removed therefrom. Gasoline
in an amount not exceeding 10 gallons may be stored above ground in said junkyards
provided the same be placed in containers approved by the Board.[1]
C.
No garbage or other waste, and no paper, rubbish, rags
or other flammable articles or materials, shall be stored in such premises.
D.
The manner of storage and arrangement of junk, 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
purposes.
E.
All junk kept, stored or arranged on the licensed premises shall at all times be kept, stored and arranged within the junkyard in a neat and orderly manner in keeping with the standards of the trade, limited under Subsection D above and at no time may the hulk or body of any vehicle or machine.
F.
The burning of any materials on the licensed premises
shall comply with all burning ordinances of Lower Frederick Township. No material
that might be dangerous or tend to produce obnoxious smoke or odors shall
be burned at any time.[2]
G.
H.
On any and all premises licensed under this chapter, there shall be erected and maintained along all boundary lines a fence of at least six feet in height. The fence, the type of which must meet the approval of the Board and the erection of which shall be a condition to the issuance or reissuance of the license, may be of a manufactured type such as wood or cement block with the condition that it shall be opaque or it may be a living type such as a row of evergreens. In the event the Board shall require a living type fence to effect the purpose of this chapter as set forth in § 86-5, there shall be planted and maintained three rows of evergreens 18 feet in depth all along the property lines of the premises. In each row, the plants shall be at least three feet when planted and no greater than six feet from center to center. In the case of existing junk dealers, the required fence shall be erected, planted, if of the living type, and completed within six months of the effective date of this chapter.[4]
Any person who violates or permits a violation of 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 30 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 § 86-10 above, any continued violations of this chapter which shall constitute a nuisance in fact or which shall in the opinion of the Board constitute nuisance may be abated by proceeding against the violator in a court of equity for relief.
This chapter shall not be construed to conflict with Chapter 170, Zoning, as amended, of the Lower Frederick Township Code. In case of other ordinances relating to junkyards, the same are repealed to the extent necessary to give effect to this chapter. As used herein, the masculine singular shall include the plural as well as the feminine and neuter, singular and plural.
