[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
East Allen 10-1-1962 by Ord. No. 62-5.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “East Allen
Township Junkyard and Refuse Ordinance.”
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases shall
be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings herein indicated:
The Board of Supervisors of East Allen Township.
Any discarded material or article and shall include, but not be limited
to, scrap metal, scrapped, abandoned or junked motor vehicles, machinery,
equipment, paper, glass, containers, and structures. It shall not include,
however, refuse or garbage kept in a proper container for the purpose of prompt
disposal.
Any person, as hereinafter defined, who shall engage in the business
of selling, buying, salvaging, and dealing in junk and who maintains and operates
a junkyard within the Township of East Allen.
Any place where any junk, as hereinafter defined, is stored, disposed
of, or accumulated.
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or disposes
of junk as hereinbefore defined.
Includes any partnership, association, firm, and corporation.
East Allen Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer or maintain a junkyard
without first having obtained a license from the Board, for which license
a fee in accordance with the schedule hereinafter set forth shall be paid
to the Township for the use of the Township. The license shall be issued for
the twelve-month period beginning January 1 and ending December 31, and each
license must be renewed annually on or before the first day of January of
each year; provided, in any case where such business shall be established
on or after July 1 in any year, the fee payable for the remainder of such
year shall be 1/2 of the yearly rate.
The license provided for in this chapter shall be issued by the Board
after written application shall have been made therefor by the person desiring
to be licensed. Such license shall state the name of the person to whom such
license is issued and the premises on which such business is to be conducted,
or such junkyard is to be maintained. Such license shall be posted conspicuously
upon the premises licensed thereunder. The written application for license
hereinabove mentioned shall be accompanied by a form, every question of which
must be answered, which form will be supplied by the Board. Applicant shall
also submit therewith a plot of the premises used or to be used in connection
with such license.
Upon receipt of an application by the Board, the Board shall issue a
license or shall refuse to issue a license to the person applying therefor
after an examination of the application and taking into consideration the
suitability of the property proposed to be used for the purposes of the license,
the character of the properties located nearby, and the effect of the proposed
use upon the Township, both economic and aesthetic. In the event the Board
shall issue a license, it may impose upon the license and the person applying
therefor such terms and conditions in addition to the regulations herein contained
and adopted pursuant to this chapter as may be deemed necessary to carry out
the spirit and intent of this chapter.
[Amended 7-1-1963 by Ord. No. 6; 5-4-1964
by Ord. No. 7; 11-13-1980 by Ord. No. 80-6]
The license fee shall be paid immediately upon the issuance or renewal
of a license. The amount of the license fee shall be determined by the Board
of Supervisors of East Allen Township, from time to time, by resolution and
shall be calculated and determined by the actual land to be used by the person
to whom the license is issued, excluding all setback areas. No license shall
be issued for the use of a tract of land in excess of two acres, excluding
setback areas
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.
No license issued by the Board shall be transferable by the licensee to any other person unless such a transfer is authorized by the Board. Any person desiring to transfer his license shall notify the Board in writing, which notification shall be accompanied by an application for a license, as described in § 129-4 of this chapter, by the transferee.
[Amended 11-13-1980 by Ord. No. 80-6]
In the event the Board shall approve the transfer of a license, the
transferee shall immediately pay to the Township a transfer fee in an amount
to be determined by the Board of Supervisors of East Allen Township, from
time to time, by resolution.
[Amended 7-1-1963 by Ord. No. 6[1]]
Every person licensed under this chapter shall provide and shall constantly
keep a book, in which shall be fairly written down in the English language
at the time of the purchase of any junk, a description of every article or
material purchased or received by him, the date and hour of such purchase
or receipt, and the person from whom such article or material was purchased,
received or handled by such person. Such book shall at all times be subject
to the inspection of any official of the Township. Such inspection by the
Township shall be not oftener than quarterly, except in the case of emergency.
It is not the intent hereof to duplicate any state law or requirement providing
for similar records, and the keeping and exhibiting of such state records
shall be a sufficient compliance with this section.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall keep and retain upon
the licensed premises, for a period of 48 hours after the purchase or receipt
thereof, all junk received or purchased by him, and he shall not disturb or
reduce the same or alter the original form, shape or condition until such
period of 48 hours shall have elapsed.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall constantly maintain the
licensed premises in accordance with any special provisions imposed by the
Board and in the manner prescribed by this section and any subsequent regulations
adopted by the Board:
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 vehicle shall be received in such
premises as junk, all gasoline shall be drained and removed therefrom. Gasoline
in an amount not exceeding 300 gallons may be stored above ground in said
junkyards provided the same be placed in containers approved by the Board.
All other gasoline which is kept in the premises shall be stored in accordance
with the regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
[Amended 7-1-1963 by Ord. No. 6[1]]
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.
All junk kept, stored, or arranged on the licensed premises shall at all times be kept, stored and arranged within the junkyard as described in the application for license hereunder, and as limited under Subsection D above.
G.
The premises to be licensed shall be set back a minimum distance of 25 feet from the right-of-way lines on all streets or roads and the property line facing any street or road, and a minimum distance of 15 feet from all other property lines; or to such applicable setback distances required in Chapter 250, Zoning, whichever is more restrictive. The area between the setback line and the right-of-way line and all streets and roads and all other property lines shall be at all times kept clear and vacant.
[Amended 7-1-1963 by Ord. No. 6[3]]
H.
When the Board shall deem it necessary and desirable,
the premises to be licensed shall at the setback lines be enclosed by a fence
of type and style to be determined by the Board or by evergreen screen plantings,
or both. The Board may set forth the fence and planting requirements at the
time of the issuance of a license or at the time of renewal or transfer of
a license. In the enforcement of this subsection, the Board shall consider
any exceptional practical difficulty or undue hardship upon the owner and
the Board shall have the power to vary or modify the strict application of
this subsection or to interpret the meaning thereof, in compliance with the
general purpose and intent of this chapter, so that the health, safety and
general welfare of the Township shall be conserved and substantial justice
done.
[Amended 7-1-1963 by Ord. No. 6]
I.
Limitation of storage. No junk or vehicles shall be kept,
stored or arranged so as to exceed the height of one automobile. Automobiles
shall not be stored one upon another.
[Added 5-4-1964 by Ord. No. 7]
[Amended 5-4-1964 by Ord. No. 7; 11-13-1980
by Ord. No. 80-6]
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter shall,
upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a District Justice
under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary
offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs
of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof
that such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall
also constitute a separate offense.
In addition to the remedies provided in § 129-13 above, any continued violations of this chapter which shall constitute a nuisance in fact or which shall in the opinion of the Board constitute a nuisance may be abated by proceeding against the violator in a court of equity for relief.
