[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
West Whiteland 5-2-1966 by Ord. No. 11
(Ch. 13, Part 3, of the 1983 Code of Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
Unless otherwise expressly provided, the following words shall, for
purposes of this chapter, have the following meanings:
Any and all types of motor vehicles, including self-propelled machinery
of all kinds, with the exception of usable farm machinery.
The Board of Supervisors of West Whiteland Township, Chester County,
Pennsylvania.
Any and all forms of waste and refuse of any type of material, including
scrap metal, junked motor vehicles, glass, industrial waste and other salvageable
material.
Any person who buys, sells, salvages, stores or in any way deals
in junk or owns, leases, operates or maintains a junkyard within the Township.
Any place where junk as herein defined is stored or accumulated.
Any premises as herein defined having a derelict or an abandoned vehicle or
vehicles. The presence of any unlicensed vehicle and/or any vehicle not bearing
a current PA MVC inspection sticker thereon shall be prima facie evidence
such vehicle is derelict or has been abandoned.
[Amended 10-4-1982 by Ord. No. 86]
Any natural person, partnership, firm, corporation or other legal
entity, including singular and plural, male and female.
Any parcel of land situated in West Whiteland Township, Chester County,
Pennsylvania, having a separate tax map parcel number for county assessment
purposes.
The Township of West Whiteland, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
No person shall be a junk dealer or own, lease, operate or maintain
a junkyard as herein defined within the Township without first obtaining a
license to operate a junkyard as a junk dealer. The annual fee for such a
license shall be $100 and the license shall be effective for one calendar
year only, each license terminating on December 31 of the year for which it
is issued, subject to renewal upon reapplication. Application for a license
or any renewal thereof shall be filed in writing with the Secretary of the
Board and shall contain the applicant's
sworn statement setting forth applicant's name and address, together with
the names and addresses of all other persons interested in the business, an
accurate description of the premises upon which the business is to be conducted
and the junkyard located, including the Chester County Tax Map parcel number
and a statement that applicant will comply with this chapter and any regulations
adopted pursuant to this chapter. Upon receipt of the application and license
fee of $100 by the Township, if the application complies with the provisions
hereof, the Secretary of the Board, or the Board, shall, within 10 days, issue
its license authorizing the operation and maintenance of a junkyard upon the
premises by the junk dealer. Such license shall at all times be conspicuously
displayed upon the junkyard premises. The license shall be nontransferable
both as to the junkyard premises and junk dealer.
No person licensed under this chapter shall, by virtue of one license,
keep more than one place of business or maintain or operate more than one
place of business or maintain or operate more than one junkyard within the
Township of West Whiteland, nor shall any person engage in business as a junk
dealer or operate or maintain a junkyard in any place other than the place
designated upon his license, nor shall any person operate upon any of the
roads or highways in the Township of West Whiteland whether from a vehicle
or upon foot as a scavenger or an itinerant buyer or seller of junk.
Every junk dealer licensed under this chapter shall maintain the licensed
junkyard and conduct business as hereinafter provided.
A.
All junk shall be stored behind a fence, as specified in Subsection B below, which fence shall be set back at least 50 feet from all lot lines of the premises occupied by the junkyard. Whenever such fence or any art of such fence is visible from a public road or from a residence of any adjoining property, a landscaped screen or trees and/or shrubs, of varieties capable of attaining a continuous height of six feet within two years, shall be planted along such fence or section of fence in such numbers and varieties as to effectively conceal the use from the surrounding properties. All required open areas between fence and lot lines shall be maintained continuously in good order and free of weeds and scrub growth.
B.
Every junkyard shall be completely fenced with a heavy
duty chain-link or wire mesh fence at least six feet in height with gates
of similar fencing material, which gates shall at all times be securely locked
except during business hours when an adult attendant employed as such is on
the premises. Such fence shall have maximum openings of four square inches,
and the wire mesh shall be of a maximum size and strength of No. 10 gauge
steel wire.
C.
No junkyard shall cover an area in excess of five acres.
D.
All junk shall be stored and set back at least 50 feet
from any adjoining premises and at least 75 feet from the nearest edge of
the cartway of any public road or highway.
E.
No junkyard shall operate on Sunday nor between the hours
of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., except to remove any wrecked automobile from any
public highway.
F.
All junk shall be stored and arranged so as to permit
access by fire-fighting equipment, and to prevent accumulation of stagnant
water. Junked automobiles shall be spaced in rows with at least 15 feet between
each double row to permit movement of fire equipment. Junk shall not be piled
to a height of more than six feet from the ground.
G.
All gasoline and oil shall be drained from any junked
automobile into containers and removed from the junkyard premises within 12
hours from arrival on the said premises of the junked automobile. Gasoline
or oil shall be stored at only one location on the licensed premises, and
no more than 100 gallons in aggregate of gasoline and oil shall be stored
above ground.
I.
An adult attendant shall at all times during business
hours remain on the junkyard premises.
J.
No garbage or organic waste shall be permitted to be
stored on any junkyard.
K.
No burning or melting of any junk shall be permitted
in any junkyard nor in the Township.
L.
Paper, rags, plastic materials and rubbish shall not
be stored outside and shall not be accumulated or remain on any junkyard premises
for more than one month.
M.
Junkyards shall at all times be maintained in such manner
as to cause no public or private nuisance nor to cause any menace to health
or safety of any persons off the premises, nor to cause any excessive or offensive
or noxious sounds or odors, nor to cause the breeding, harboring or infesting
of rats, rodents or vermin, nor to cause a violation of any health or sanitation
law, ordinance or regulation of any governmental body.
N.
Permanent records of all junk received or removed from
any junkyard shall be kept by the junk dealer on the premises, containing
the name and address from whom received or delivered and the date thereof
and a description of the junk which shall at all times be open to inspection
by any member of the Board or its duly authorized agent or any law enforcement
officer.
O.
No junk shall be removed from any junkyard nor broken
up, reduced or altered in shape or form for a period of 48 hours after the
same is placed on the junkyard premises.
Any member of the Board or a duly authorized agent thereof may at any
time enter upon and inspect any premises for which there is a pending application
for a junkyard license or which holds a current junkyard license.
The Board may, from time to time, adopt regulations to carry out the
provisions of this chapter upon giving notice to the licensee affected by
such regulations.
The Township Supervisors may appoint and provide for the compensation
of a Township employee to be known as the "Junkyard Inspector." It shall be
the duty of the Junkyard Inspector to make monthly inspections of all junkyards
licensed pursuant to the terms of this chapter and to file with the Board
of Supervisors a written report on each such inspection. In making such inspections,
the Junkyard Inspector shall ascertain whether the provisions of this chapter
are being complied with, shall note any violations thereof on his report of
inspection, shall check the licensee's records of junk received and removed
with his inventory, shall examine the titles to all junked automobiles on
the premises and shall check into such other matters as come within the scope
of this chapter.
[Amended 11-7-1983 by Ord. No. 97; 6-10-1997
by Ord. No. 257]
Any person, firm or corporation who violates or permits the violation
of any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a fine in the amount
of at least $25, but not to exceed $600, plus all court costs, including reasonable
attorney fees incurred by the Township. Each twenty-four-hour period that
a violation of this chapter continues shall constitute a separate offense.
Upon a finding of liability for committing said violation or permitting said
violation, in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township, the
defendant shall pay the fine, plus all court costs, including attorney fees.
No judgment shall be imposed until the date of determination of a violation
by a District Justice. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the
judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable
Rules of Civil Procedure.
Any accumulation of garbage, rubbish or other junk in violation of the
terms of this chapter shall be deemed a nuisance and shall be removed by the
owner of the property on which such accumulation exists within 10 days of
the receipt of a notice sent to the property owner by United States certified
mail by the Board or its duly authorized agent, in default of which said accumulation
may be removed by or at the direction of the Township Supervisors and the
cost of such removal shall be collected from the owner, together with the
above-mentioned penalty by summary proceedings.
The Board or any person may take any appropriate action at law or in
equity, civil or criminal, to enforce the provisions of this chapter, and
this chapter shall in no way restrict any remedies otherwise provided by law.
Junk dealers and junkyards operating and existing in the Township on
the effective date [May 10, 1966] of this chapter shall not be required to
obtain a license nor comply with the licensing provisions prior to September
1, 1966, and the license fee for the period ending December 31, 1966, shall
be $50 only.
