[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council
of the Borough of Old Forge 8-16-1971 by Ord. No. 6-1971 (Ch. 93 of the 1994
Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Old Forge Health and Sanitation Ordinance."
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following
words and phrases shall be construed throughout this chapter to have
the meanings hereto indicated:
Old Forge Borough, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.
Includes any individual, partnership, association, firm or
corporation.
Any discarded material or article and shall include but not
be limited to scrap metal, machinery, iceboxes, freezers, dryers,
washing machines, stoves, household appliances, equipment, paper,
glass, containers, rags, used heating and plumbing supplies or materials,
used lumber, scrapped, abandoned or junked motor vehicles or unlicensed
motor vehicles. It shall not include refuse or garbage kept in a proper
container for the purpose of prompt disposal by the Borough garbage
collection system.
It is a matter of good common sense that it
is unhealthy and unsanitary to permit the maintenance in open spaces
of scrap, refuse and junk articles as they are breeding places for
rodents, flies and germs of all kinds, and they are also attractive
traps for children.
A.
The owner of any premises (as to vacant premises or
premises occupied by the owner or leased by the owner to another)
and also the occupant of any premises, in the case of premises being
occupied by other than the owner thereof, shall not permit on any
part of the premises any one or more of the following:
(1)
Storage:
(a)
The storage or maintenance in the open of any
one or more of the following articles: scrap metal, machinery, iceboxes,
freezers, dryers, washing machines, stoves, household appliances,
equipment, paper, glass, containers, rags, used heating and plumbing
supplies or materials, used lumber, scrapped, inoperable, abandoned
or junked motor vehicles, unlicensed motor vehicles, tractors, trailers
or any other heavy equipment, including any parts thereof (unless
duly licensed as a used car dealer by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania),
unless said articles are housed or enclosed in a rodentproof, locked
building.[1]
(b)
The storage or maintenance of any of the aforesaid
articles in the open or outside of a rodentproof, locked building
(a building enclosed with a roof and four sides and in good order
so that rodents may not readily take harborage therein or children
have ready access thereto) is prohibited and declared to be a nuisance
to the health, safety, cleanliness and comfort of the Borough inhabitants,
and the same renders the owner or occupier of the premises liable
to the penalties herein provided.
(2)
The keeping or suffering to remain upon the premises
any garbage, offal, carcass, putrid matter or any other offensive
or unwholesome matter, except in proper metal or plastic containers
for the proper disposal thereof through the garbage collection service
being furnished by the Borough.
(3)
The permitting of any grass, weeds or any vegetation
whatsoever not edible or planted for some useful or ornamental purpose
to grow or remain upon such premises so as to exceed a height of six
inches or to throw off any unpleasant or noxious odor or to conceal
any filthy deposit or to create or produce pollen. Any grass, weeds
or other vegetation growing upon any premises in the Borough in violation
of any of the provisions of this section is hereby declared to be
a nuisance to the health, safety, cleanliness and comfort of the Borough's
inhabitants.
B.
The owner or occupant of the premises shall remove,
trim or cut grass, weeds or other vegetation so growing or remaining
upon such premises so that such grass, weeds or other vegetation will
conform to the requirements of this chapter.
C.
The Borough Council or any officer or employee of
the Borough designated thereby for this purpose is hereby authorized
to give notice either by personal service or by ordinary first-class
United States mail to the owner or occupant, as the case may be, of
any premises whereon grass, weeds or other vegetation is growing or
remaining in violation of the provisions of this chapter, which notice
will direct and require such owner or occupant to remove, trim or
cut such grass, weeds or vegetation so as to conform to the requirements
of this chapter within 10 days after the issuance of such notice.
In the case that any owner or occupant shall neglect, fail or refuse
to comply with such notice within the period of time stated therein,
the Borough authorities may go onto the premises and may remove, trim
or cut such grass, weeds or vegetation without giving any further
notice to the owner or occupant. The cost thereof, together with the
penalty of this chapter and any additional penalty authorized by law,
may be collected by the Borough from the owner or occupant in the
manner provided by law.
Any person who violates any provisions of this
chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine
of not more than $600, and the cost of prosecution, or be sentenced
to jail for a period not to exceed 30 days, provided that each day's
violation of any provisions of this chapter shall constitute a separate
offense and that notice to the offender will not be necessary in order
to constitute an offense.
