[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Palmer: Art. II, 10-25-1988 as Ord. No. 227. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-5-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-372]
Pursuant to Section 1601(d) [53 P.S. § 66601(d)] of the Second Class Township Code, the codification of a complete body of legislation for the Township of Palmer, County of Northampton, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters, articles and sections by General Code, and consisting of Chapters
1 through
190, together with an Appendix, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as a single ordinance of the Township of Palmer, which shall be known and is hereby designated as the "Code of the Township of Palmer," hereinafter referred to as the "Code."
The provisions of this Code, insofar as they are substantively the same as those of ordinances and resolutions in force immediately prior to the enactment of this ordinance, are intended as a continuation of such ordinances and resolutions and not as new enactments, and the effectiveness of such provisions shall date from the date of adoption of the prior ordinance or resolution. All such provisions are hereby continued in full force and effect and are hereby reaffirmed as to their adoption by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Palmer, and it is the intention of said Board of Supervisors that each such provision contained within the Code is hereby reenacted and reaffirmed as it appears in said Code. Only such provisions of former ordinances as are omitted from this Code shall be deemed repealed or abrogated by the provisions of §
1-3 below, and only new or changed provisions, as described in §
1-6 below, shall be deemed to be enacted from the effective date of this Code, as provided in §
1-15 below.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances of a general and permanent nature adopted by the Township of Palmer and in force on the date of the adoption of this Code and not contained in the Code are hereby repealed as of the effective date given in §
1-15 below, except as hereinafter provided.
The adoption of this Code and the repeal of ordinances provided for in §
1-3 of this ordinance shall not affect the following ordinances, rights and obligations, which are hereby expressly saved from repeal; provided, however, that the repeal of ordinances pursuant to §
1-3 or the saving from repeal of ordinances pursuant to this section shall not be construed so as to revive any ordinance previously repealed, superseded or no longer of any effect:
A. Any ordinance adopted subsequent to 5-7-2007.
B. Any right or liability established, accrued or incurred
under any legislative provision of the Township prior to the effective
date of this ordinance or any action or proceeding brought for the
enforcement of such right or liability or any cause of action acquired
or existing.
C. Any offense or act committed or done before the effective
date of this ordinance in violation of any legislative provision of
the Township or any penalty, punishment or forfeiture which may result
therefrom.
D. Any prosecution, indictment, action, suit or other
proceeding pending or any judgment rendered prior to the effective
date of this ordinance, brought pursuant to any legislative provision
of the Township.
E. Any franchise, license, right, easement or privilege
heretofore granted or conferred by the Township or any lawful contract,
obligation or agreement.
F. Any ordinance appropriating money or transferring
funds, promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing
the issuance and delivery of any bond of the Township or other instruments
or evidence of the Township's indebtedness.
G. Any ordinance adopting an annual budget or establishing
an annual tax rate.
H. Any ordinance providing for the levy, imposition or
collection of special taxes, assessments or charges.
I. Any ordinance authorizing the purchase, sale, lease
or transfer of property or acquiring property by acceptance of deed,
condemnation or exercise of eminent domain.
J. Any ordinance annexing land to the Township.
K. Any ordinance providing for or requiring the construction
or reconstruction or opening of sidewalks, curbs and gutters.
L. Any ordinance or part of an ordinance providing for
laying out, opening, altering, widening, relocating, straightening,
establishing grade, changing name, improvement, acceptance or vacation
of any right-of-way, easement, street, road, highway, sidewalk, park
or other public place or property or designating various streets as
public highways.
M. Any ordinance establishing water, sewer or other special
purpose districts and designating the boundaries thereof; providing
for a system of sewers or water supply lines; or providing for the
construction, extension, dedication, acceptance or abandonment of
any part of a system of sewers or water supply lines.
N. Any ordinance providing for the making of public improvements.
O. Any ordinance providing for the salaries and compensation
of officers and employees of the Township or setting the bond of any
officer or employee.
P. Any ordinance concerning changes and amendments to
the Zoning Map.
Q. Any ordinance relating to or establishing a pension
plan or pension fund for municipal employees.
R. Any ordinance or portion of an ordinance establishing
a specific fee amount for any license, permit or service obtained
from the Township.
S. All those Township ordinances numbered 1 through 149
not presently contained in the Code are hereby repealed, except that
the following ordinances are hereby saved from repeal: Numbers 149,
148, 142, 138, 137, 136, 121, 120, 113, 109, 106, 105, 104, 103, 102,
93, 87, 75, 70, 69, 61, 60, 59, 53, 52, 46, 42, 37 and 21.
T. Any ordinance dealing with sewer or water connection
rates, specifically Ordinance Nos. 242 and 248.
All ordinances of a general and permanent nature
adopted subsequent to the date given in § 14A and/or prior
to the date of adoption of this ordinance are hereby deemed to be
a part of the Code and shall, upon being printed, be included therein.
Attested copies of all such ordinances shall be temporarily placed
in the Code until printed supplements are included.
Nonsubstantive grammatical changes. In compiling
and preparing the ordinances and resolutions of the Township for adoption
and revision as part of the Code, certain nonsubstantive grammatical
and style changes were made in one or more of said ordinances and
resolutions. It is the intention of the Board of Supervisors that
all such changes be adopted as part of the Code as if the ordinances
and resolutions so changed had been previously formally amended to
read as such.
In interpreting and applying the provisions
of the Code, they shall be held to be the minimum requirements for
the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and
general welfare. Where the provisions of the Code impose greater restrictions
or requirements than those of any statute, other ordinance, resolution
or regulation, the provisions of the Code shall control. Where the
provisions of any statute, other ordinance, resolution or regulation
impose greater restrictions or requirements, the provisions of such
statute, other ordinance, resolution or regulation shall control.
A. Chapter and article titles, headings and titles of
sections and other divisions in the Code or in supplements made to
the Code are inserted in the Code and may be inserted in supplements
to the Code for the convenience of persons using the Code and are
not part of the legislation.
B. Editor's notes indicating sources of sections, giving
other information or referring to the statutes or to other parts of
the Code are inserted in the Code and may be inserted in supplements
to the Code for the convenience of persons using the Code and are
not part of the legislation.
At least one copy of the Code in a post-bound
volume shall be filed with the Ordinance Book in the office of the
Township Secretary and shall remain there for use and examination
by the public. Upon adoption, such copy or copies shall be certified
to by the Township Secretary, as provided by law, and such certified
copy or copies shall remain on file in the office of the Township
Secretary, available to persons desiring to examine the same during
all times while said Code is in effect.
Any and all additions, deletions, amendments
or supplements to the Code, when passed and adopted in such form as
to indicate the intention of the Board of Supervisors to be a part
thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated into such Code so that
reference to the Code shall be understood and intended to include
such changes. Whenever such additions, deletions, amendments or supplements
to the Code shall be adopted, they shall thereafter be printed and,
as provided hereunder, inserted in the post-bound book containing
said Code as amendments and supplements thereto.
It shall be the duty of the Township Secretary
or someone authorized and directed by him or her to keep up-to-date
the certified copy or copies of the book containing the Code required
to be filed in the office of the Township Secretary for the use of
the public. All changes in said Code and all legislation adopted by
the Board of Supervisors subsequent to the effective date of this
codification which the Board of Supervisors shall adopt specifically
as part of the Code shall, when finally adopted, be included therein
by reference until such changes or new legislation are printed as
supplements to said Code books, at which time such supplements shall
be inserted therein.
The Township Secretary, pursuant to law, shall
cause to be published in the manner required a notice of the introduction
of the Code in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township.
The enactment and application of this ordinance, coupled with the
publication of the notice of introduction, the availability of a copy
or copies of the Code for inspection by the public and the filing
of an attested copy of this ordinance with the county, as required
by law, shall be deemed, held and considered to be due and legal publication
of all provisions of the Code for all purposes.
It shall be unlawful for anyone to improperly
change or amend, by additions or deletions, or to alter or tamper
with the Code or any part or portion thereof, in any manner whatsoever,
which will cause the law of the Township to be misrepresented thereby.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this section of
this ordinance, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement
proceeding, shall pay a fine of not more than $600, plus all court
costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, incurred by the Township
in the enforcement of this chapter. No judgment shall be imposed until
the date of the determination of the violation by the District Justice
and/or Court. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the
judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable
rules of civil procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute
a separate offense. Further, the appropriate officers or agents of
the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including
injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
The provisions of this ordinance and of the
Code adopted hereby are severable, and if any clause, sentence, subsection,
section, article, chapter or part thereof shall be adjudged by any
court of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, invalid or unconstitutional,
such judgment or decision shall not affect, impair or invalidate the
remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation and application
to the clause, sentence, subsection, section, article, chapter or
part thereof rendered illegal, invalid or unconstitutional. It is
hereby declared to be the intent of the Board of Supervisors that
this ordinance and the Code would have been adopted if such illegal,
invalid or unconstitutional clause, sentence, subsection, section,
article, chapter or part thereof had not been included therein.
All provisions of this ordinance and of the
Code shall be in force and effect on and after the 5th day of November
2007.
[Adopted 10-25-1988 as Ord. No. 227]
A. For violations of building, housing, property maintenance,
health, fire or other public safety codes or ordinances in the Township
of Palmer, fines and penalties may be imposed not exceeding $1,000.
B. For violations of water, air and noise pollution codes
and ordinances in the Township of Palmer, fines and penalties may
be imposed not exceeding $1,000.
C. For violations of any other codes or ordinances in
the Township of Palmer, fines and penalties may be imposed not exceeding
$600.
D. Each day of violation of the particular code or ordinance
applicable shall be considered a separate offense, for which the fines
and penalties stated herein may be imposed on a daily basis.
E. The fines and penalties stated herein may be collected
by suit or summary proceedings brought in the name of the Township
of Palmer before the Justice of the Peace/the District Magistrate/the
District Justice having jurisdiction. Proceedings for violations of
codes and ordinances in the Township of Palmer and for the collection
of fines and penalties imposed thereby may be commenced by warrant
or by summons, at the discretion of the Justice of the Peace/District
Magistrate/District Justice before whom the proceedings were begun.
No warrant shall be issued, except upon complaint on oath or affirmation
specifying the ordinance for which the violation is issued. All proceedings
shall be directed to, and be served by, a constable of the Township
of Palmer. Warrants shall be returnable forthwith and, upon such return,
like proceedings shall be had, as in cases of summary conviction.
All fines and penalties collected for the violation of the codes and
ordinances of the Township of Palmer shall be paid over to the township
treasury. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction,
or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine
or penalty imposed and the cost, the defendant may be sentenced and
committed to the township lockup for a period not exceeding five days
or to the Northampton County Prison or the Northampton County Workhouse
for a period not exceeding 30 days.
F. The reasonable attorneys' fees incurred in the collection of
any delinquent account, including municipal claims, municipal liens,
taxes, tax claims and tax liens as permitted by the Municipal Claim
and Tax Lien Law, Act of May 16, 1923, PL 207, § 3, as amended,
53 P.S. § 7106, shall be imposed on persons and property
owing such claims and be assessed according to the attorney fee schedule
set forth in Resolution No. 2005-37 of the Palmer Township Board of
Supervisors, as amended from time to time.
[Added 10-25-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-402]
G. The terms of this ordinance shall be effective five days after its enactment and further shall be incorporated herein by reference into the Palmer Township Sewer Use Ordinance §
147-8, governing violations and penalties; the Palmer Township Taxation Ordinance, Chapter
173, Article
V, governing real property; and the Palmer Township Water Supply Ordinance, §
184-9, governing violations and penalties. Said sections of those ordinances are hereby amended to cross reference this ordinance.
[Added 10-25-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-402]