As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
JUNK
Any discarded material, including but not limited to scrap metal;
scrapped, abandoned or junked motor vehicles, including the commercial
storage of wrecked automobiles; machinery; equipment; paper; glass; containers;
and structures. Not included, however, are refuse or garbage kept in proper
containers for the purpose of prompt disposal.
JUNK DEALER
Any person engaging in the business of selling, buying, salvaging
and dealing in junk, including a person who commercially stores wrecked automobiles
pending disposition of same and a person who maintains and operates a junkyard
within the Township.
JUNKYARD
Any place where any junk, as hereinafter defined, is stored, disposed
of or accumulated.
LICENSE
The permit granted to a person or to a junk dealer hereunder.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, association or corporation.
[Amended 3-18-1982 by Ord. No. 425]
A. No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer or maintain a junkyard unless such use conforms in all respects to zoning, subdivision and building code requirements of the Whitemarsh Township Code and without first having obtained a license from the Township. Such license shall state the name of the person to whom the license is issued and the premises on which such business is to be conducted or such junkyard is to be maintained and shall be posted conspicuously upon the premises licensed thereunder. Each applicant shall submit a plot plan of the junkyard to be licensed. A license fee as provided in Chapter
A121, Fees, and adopted by resolution of the Board of Supervisors, shall be paid upon the issuance or renewal of a license, and each license shall be valid for one year from the date of its issuance.
B. No license issued by the Township shall be transferable by the licensee to any person unless such a transfer is approved by the Township and a transfer fee as provided in Chapter
A121, Fees, is paid.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall keep books describing
all materials purchased or received by him, the date and hour of purchase
or receipt and the person from whom such article or material was purchased
or received. Such book shall, at all times, be subject to the inspection of
any official of the Township or any Pennsylvania State Police Officer. In
the case of motor vehicles, there shall be kept, in addition, a complete description
of the motor, body, manufacturers' numbers and any other serial numbers,
model and color.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall retain upon his junkyard,
for a period of 48 hours after the purchase or receipt thereof, all junk received
or purchased by him, and he shall not alter the original form, shape or condition
until 48 hours shall have elapsed.
No person shall be licensed under this chapter nor any property used
as a junkyard unless the property to be licensed complies with the following
regulations:
A. Each junkyard 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, vermin or insects.
B. No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored in
any junkyard.
C. There shall be erected a fence or wall not less than
six feet in height and to encompass the entire junkyard for the purpose of
preventing thefts. The fence or wall shall be constructed of materials of
sufficient strength in order to carry out the purpose of this regulation and
so constructed as to screen all junk in the junkyard from view from the exterior.
Such fence or wall shall be maintained in good condition at all times.
D. In order to allow fire and emergency equipment to maneuver
to prevent the spread of fires, there shall be a twenty-foot space between
rows of junk within each junkyard.
E. There shall be a twenty-foot setback of junk from any
streams or watercourses.
F. The area upon which junk is stored shall be a minimum
distance of 100 feet from the right-of-way lines on all streets or roads and
a minimum distance of 100 feet from all other property lines. The area between
the setback line and the right-of-way line and all other property lines shall
at all times be kept clear and vacant.
G. Junkyards shall be permitted only where direct access
can be obtained from a major arterial road design intended to handle heavy
industrial traffic, excluding any minor or residential streets. Such access
shall be directly to and from such major artery and shall not be permitted
through an existing residential area.
H. Junkyards shall be permitted only where the contents
placed within the entire tract shall not be visible to surrounding residential
properties either by screening and buffering or by existing natural features.
I. Vehicles shall not be stacked on top of one another.
All other junk shall be situated and stored in a manner and to a height which
does not exceed the height limit of the fence which surrounds the junkyard.
Anyone wishing to repair an unlicensed or uninspected vehicle owned
by that individual and on such person's property, either owned or leased
by such person, is permitted, subject to the following conditions:
A. A permit is obtained from the Township (fee to be determined from time to time by Township resolution).
B. The Township will issue a permit for up to two vehicles
at one time undergoing repairs on such person's property.
C. A permit will be valid for a period not to exceed six
months.
D. Such property must be maintained in a neat and orderly
appearance during repair of the vehicles and shall be subject to inspection
by Township representatives at all times.
The Fire Marshal and Building Inspector shall regularly inspect the
premises of every junkyard to determine if the licensee is in full compliance
with the regulations as set forth above. The licensee shall fully cooperate
with such officials in permitting inspections.
[Amended 3-18-1982 by Ord. No. 425; 12-8-1988
by Ord. No. 565]
Any person or persons, corporation, partnership or other entity whatsoever
violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be
sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed the maximum fine of $1,000, plus costs
of prosecution, and, in default of payment of such fine and costs of prosecution,
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days; provided, however, that if
the District Justice determines that the defendant is without the financial
means to pay the fines and costs immediately or in a single remittance, such
defendant shall be permitted to pay the fines or costs in installments and
over such periods of time as the District Justice deems to be just.
Any continued violations of this chapter shall constitute a nuisance,
and the Township may seek relief by proceeding against the violator in a court
of equity for relief.
Conditions and restrictions of §
66-7 shall not be applicable to repair of unlicensed or uninspected vehicles or vehicles which are not intact, which are made by any person within a garage on such person's property. Said repairs within such garage are specifically permitted without a permit.