This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Washington Township
Junkyard Ordinance of 1978." This chapter is enacted under the authority of
Article VII, Section 702, Clause LVIII, of the Second Class Township Code,
Act of May 1, 1933, P.L. 103, as amended, 53 P.S. § 65758.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases shall
be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings herein indicated:
COUNCIL
The Washington Township Council.
JUNK
Discarded materials, articles or things possessing value in part,
gross or aggregate, and including but not limited to scrapped motor vehicles
and parts thereof, including motors, bodies of motor vehicles and vehicles
which are inoperable and do not have a current and valid inspection sticker
as required by the motor vehicles laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
but not including garbage or other organic waste, or farm machinery, provided
that said farm machinery is used in connection with a bona fide farming operation.
JUNK DEALER
Any person, partnership, association or corporation engaged in the
business of selling, buying or dealing in junk, including but not limited
to buying, selling and dealing in junked or scrapped motor vehicles, or parts
removed from scrapped motor vehicles, or otherwise engaging in the operation
of an automobile graveyard as provided in the Act of May 1, 1933, P.L. 103,
Article VII, Section 702, C.LVIII, as amended; 53 P.S. § 65758.
JUNKYARD
Any place or establishment where junk is stored or accumulated on
the outside of any building, edifice or structure that is enclosed on all
sides or where the business of selling, buying or dealing in junk is carried
on, or where two or more motor vehicles are stored which are unlicensed, inoperable
and do not have a current and valid inspection sticker as required by the
motor vehicle laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; except, however, motor
vehicles used exclusively for farm use shall not come within this definition.
LICENSE
The permit granted by Washington Township to a person who accumulates,
stores or disposes of junk as hereinbefore defined or who maintains a junkyard
as defined herein within the Township of Washington.
PERSON
Includes any partnership, association, firm or corporation.
TOWNSHIP
Washington Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania.
On and after the effective date of this chapter, no person shall engage or continue to engage in business as a junk dealer or establish or operate a junkyard in the Township of Washington except as authorized by this chapter and without first having made an application for a license and obtained a license therefor from Council as provided in §§
76-4 and
76-6 herein. Every junk dealer shall pay an annual license fee of $200 for every license or renewal thereof issued under the this chapter. All licenses shall be issued for a term of one year beginning June 1 and ending May 31 of the following year. No abatement of the annual license fee shall be made for any cause whatsoever. All licenses must be renewed annually on or before the first day of June of each year by a renewal application which shall contain the same information and be subject to the same standards and conditions as the applicant's initial application.
In addition to the standards and conditions set forth in §
76-4B(1) through
(6) above, which must be satisfied before a license may be issued, any applicant who is licensed to accumulate, store or dispose of junk within Washington Township shall constantly maintain the licensed premises in accordance with the following regulations:
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. No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored in
such premises.
C. Whenever any motor vehicles shall be received in such
premises as junk, all gasoline and oil shall be drained and removed therefrom.
Gasoline in an amount not exceeding 10 gallons may be stored aboveground in
said junkyards, provided that the same be placed in metal containers specifically
manufactured or constructed for the storage of gasoline. All other gasoline
which is kept in the premises shall be stored underground, which underground
storage must be approved by Council.
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. Any person licensed under this chapter shall not burn
more than one motor vehicle or its equivalent at any one time. No oil, grease,
tires, gasoline or other similar material that might be dangerous or tend
to produce obnoxious smoke or odors shall be burned within a junkyard at any
time. Burning of vehicles must be attended to and controlled at all times.
F. All junk stored or maintained in a junkyard licensed
pursuant to this chapter shall be arranged and maintained in a neat and orderly
fashion. All of such junk, vehicles and other junk are to be arranged in rows
with a minimum of 20 feet of clear space between each row and each of said
rows to be no greater in width than 40 feet.
G. Every structure erected upon the licensed premises and
used in connection therewith shall be of fireproof construction, provided
that nothing contained in this subsection shall apply to existing structures
pertaining to and being used in connection with junkyards presently established
and operating.
H. No premises licensed as a junkyard under the terms of
this chapter shall exceed 20 acres.
Any applicant whose initial or renewal application for a license shall
be denied for cause as hereinbefore specified, and every person who shall
engage or continue to engage in business as a junk dealer in violation of
any of the terms and provisions of this chapter, or who shall keep or store
upon his or other premises two or more motor vehicles which are unlicensed,
inoperable and have no valid current inspection sticker, without first having
obtained a license therefor, shall, within 15 days after registered notice
of such event, remove and clear from the premises or junkyard all junk therein,
as defined in this chapter. If, within such period of 15 days, such denied
applicant or violator fails to fully comply with the provisions of this section,
all such property remaining upon such premises after such period of 15 days
shall be presumed to be abandoned and to be of no value and, at the option
of the Council, the same may be disposed of by the township on behalf of said
denied applicant. The remedies provided for in this section shall be in addition
to any other remedies or penalties provided by law.
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.
Every licensee hereunder shall provide and shall at all times keep and
maintain records, in the English language, of the time of his purchase, acquisition
or receipt of junk, a full and complete description, including trade names,
serial or manufacturer's number, if any, of every article or item of junk
purchased, acquired or received by him; the date and approximate hour of such
purchase, acquisition or receipt; and the name and address of the person from
whom such article or item of junk was purchased, acquired or received. Such
written records shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the Washington
Township Zoning Administrator or his agent for just cause. Such records shall
be retained for a period of five years.
Every licensee hereunder shall keep and retain upon the licensed premises,
for a period of 24 hours after the purchase, acquisition or receipt thereof,
every item or article of junk so purchased, acquired or received by him and
placed on the licensed premises. The licensee shall not disturb or reduce
or alter the original form, shape or condition of the same until such period
of 24 hours shall have elapsed.
[Amended 12-3-1996 by Ord.
No. 7-96; 7-1-1997 by Ord.
No. 3-97]
A. Enforcement proceedings for violations of this chapter shall be as provided in Chapter
1, General Provisions, Article
III, Criminal Enforcement.
B. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of
this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be required to pay a criminal
fine in the amount of $300 per violation and shall be imprisoned to the extent
allowed by law for the punishment of summary offenses, provided that each
day's violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute
a separate offense.