[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Middletown 7-23-1985 by Ord. No. 85-14 (Ch. 15, Part 5, of the 1992 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 470.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings indicated hereinbelow. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense shall include the future; words used in the singular shall include the plural; and words used in the plural shall include the singular. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
DISABLED OR WRECKED VEHICLE
An automobile, truck, truck tractor, trailer, motorcycle, motor home, or other vehicle or device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, road or street, which is no longer capable of safe operation on a highway, road or street and presents a safety hazard to the public by virtue of its location on or adjacent to a public highway, road or street in the Township of Middletown.
FLATBED WRECKER
A flatbed vehicle equipped with a roll body and winch designed for and capable of lifting and transporting passenger and commercial vehicles.
HEAVY-DUTY WRECKER
A vehicle with a minimum twenty-five-ton capacity, designed for and capable of lifting and transporting passenger and commercial vehicles.
LIGHT-DUTY WRECKER
A vehicle designed for and capable of lifting and transporting passenger vehicles.
PERSON
Any individual person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
The Police Department of the Township of Middletown.
TOWER
A person engaged in the business or offering the services of a vehicle wrecker, tow truck, car carrier or other vehicle, whereby disabled or wrecked vehicles are towed or otherwise removed from the place where they are disabled or wrecked by use of a vehicle so adapted to that purpose.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Middletown.
No person shall offer his services to or be called by the Township or its Police Department as a tower for the purpose of removal of disabled or wrecked vehicles unless that person is the holder of a current towing license as hereinafter provided.
[Amended 12-23-1986 by Ord. No. 86-25; 2-17-1987 by Ord. No. 87-3; 5-12-1987 by Ord. No. 87-10; 5-12-1987 by Ord. No. 87-10; 7-21-1987 by Ord. No. 87-14; 9-15-1987 by Ord. No. 87-19; 11-24-1987 by Ord. No. 87-22; 2-23-1988 by Ord. No. 88-4; 12-1-1992 by Ord. No. 92-13]
A. 
Applications for a towing license shall be made to the Township Manager upon a form available from his office, which form shall require the following information:
(1) 
The name, address and telephone number of the business for which the towing license is sought.
(2) 
The type of business organization under which the business is operated (i.e., sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, etc.).
(3) 
The name, home and business addresses and telephone numbers of all of the owner(s) or, in the case of a corporation, stockholder(s) of the business for which the towing license is sought.
(4) 
A list of the tow trucks, vehicle wreckers, car carriers or other vehicles available for service to the Township, including a description of each vehicle or piece of equipment (type, make, model, year, etc.), the name and address of the owner of each vehicle or piece of equipment, and their location and hourly availability.
(5) 
The address and description of the premises which any disabled or wrecked vehicles will be towed to and/or stored upon, including the size of the area on the premises available for storage of vehicles, the approximate number of vehicles which may be stored in that area, whether said area is fenced, and a description of any security precautions or protection methods for vehicles stored in said area.
(6) 
A certificate of insurance or other proof acceptable to the Township that the applicant has obtained the general liability and garagekeeper's liability insurance required for the issuance of a towing license.
B. 
Applications for a towing license shall be made and signed by the owner(s) of the business for which the license is sought or, in the case of a corporation, the president of the corporation.
C. 
Applicants must execute an agreement to indemnify the Township for any and all losses or expenses incurred by virtue of any acts performed in the course of service.
D. 
The application for a towing license shall be accompanied by an application fee in the amount established from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
E. 
The application for a towing license shall be reviewed by the Township Manager and the Township Police Department within 20 days of receipt of the application and application fee, and the Township Manager shall promptly thereafter advise the applicant of whether the license has been approved or disapproved.
F. 
Towing licenses shall be issued for a period of one year, commencing on March 1 and terminating on the last day of February of the following year. Any applicant whose application for a license has been approved shall be issued a license effective the following March 1.
[Amended 2-23-1988 by Ord. No. 88-4; 11-12-1991 by Ord. No. 91-31]
A towing license shall be issued to all applicants who meet all of the following requirements:
A. 
The following vehicles shall be owned by the applicant, garaged on the premises from which applicant's towing business is conducted, and available on call for service at the request of the Township or its Police Department:
(1) 
One heavy-duty wrecker, one light-duty wrecker, and two flatbed wreckers; or
(2) 
One heavy-duty wrecker, two light-duty wreckers, and one flatbed wrecker.
B. 
All of the aforesaid required vehicles shall bear a sign indicating the name and telephone number of the applicant's towing business, and the applicant shall make said vehicles available for verification by the Township.
C. 
All of the aforesaid required vehicles shall be maintained in a safe and usable operating condition.
D. 
A fenced-in storage yard or other secure storage facility, open or closed, containing not less than 10,000 square feet, shall be located on the premises from which the applicant's towing business is conducted, and such yard or storage area shall be authorized by the appropriate zoning, use and occupancy, and other Township permits. The applicant shall permit inspection of the storage yard or facility by the Township. The applicant shall install screening and comply with all the provisions of the state and federal highway beautification acts. "Storage yard," as used in this section, shall not include the area of any buildings or structures unless they are used primarily for the storage of towed vehicles.
E. 
The applicant's place of business shall be located within the Township boundaries in order that the response time to a call for service is timely.
F. 
All applicants shall maintain the following insurance and present proof thereof to the Township upon request:
(1) 
General public liability insurance in the minimum amount of $1,000,000; and
(2) 
Garagekeeper's legal liability insurance in the minimum amount of $50,000.
G. 
Each applicant shall operate his towing business from a single and separate location. It is specifically provided that no more than one towing license may be issued for any single location.
[Added 2-23-1988 by Ord. No. 88-4; amended 12-1-1992 by Ord. No. 92-13]
A. 
A towing license shall be issued to each applicant whose application has been approved by the Township Manager upon payment to the Township of a license fee, as established from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
B. 
The towing license shall be prominently displayed on the premises where the applicant's towing business is conducted.
C. 
Along with the issuance of a towing license, a vehicle sticker shall be issued for each vehicle listed on the application, which sticker shall be prominently displayed on the right front door of each such vehicle.
D. 
A towing license shall be effective for a period of one year from the date of its issuance.
A towing license is issued by the Township on the condition of and with the express agreement of the licensee that the licensee shall, at all times, act as independent contractor to and not as an employee of the Township or its Police Department and that payment for services rendered pursuant to said license shall be by the owner, operator or custodian of the disabled or wrecked vehicle.
[Amended 7-23-1988 by Ord. No. 88-4]
A. 
All licensees shall keep and maintain all of the vehicles listed on their application in a safe and operable condition and in a condition which shall pass the motor vehicle inspection standards of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and shall have said vehicles immediately available to answer calls for service by the Police Department during the duty tow shift assigned to the licensee. All licensees shall not use or employ a vehicle which does not have the required towing license vehicle sticker displayed as set forth hereinabove to answer calls by the Township or its Police Department.
B. 
All licensees shall respond within 15 minutes from their receipt of the Police Department's call requesting service to the arrival of the licensee's appropriate towing vehicle at the location of the disabled or wrecked vehicle, except in bad weather or adverse road conditions.
C. 
If any licensee shall make arrangements with another licensee to respond to the call, he shall so advise the Police Dispatcher. If a licensee's vehicle is delayed while in transit to the requested location, the vehicle operator shall advise the Police Dispatcher of the delay and of his present location, whereupon a determination shall be made by the appropriate police official as to whether another licensee shall be called.
D. 
All licensees shall comply with all rules and regulations established by the Police Department with regard to use of the duty tow.
[Amended 7-23-1988 by Ord. No. 88-4]
A. 
The Township reserves the right to suspend the license of an operator at any time if an inspection by a Township police officer or a Township official determines that the required equipment is missing or inoperable or unsafe. Any such suspension of any operator's license shall continue, without rebate of either the application fee or license fee, until such time as the Township Manager or his designee determines the applicant is in full compliance with the terms and conditions of this chapter.
(1) 
The operator agrees to execute a hold harmless agreement for any and all claims, actions or causes of actions arising from suspension of license for the reasons set forth in Subsection A above at the time of initial application for a towing license.
(2) 
The Township shall give the operator warning or notice that the operator is in violation of the provisions and terms of this chapter prior to any formal action to suspend the license. The Township shall permit the operator to correct deficiencies within the time frames as follow:
(a) 
In the case of a nonsafety violation, the operator shall have 10 days in which to correct deficiencies.
(b) 
In the case of safety-related violations, the operator shall have 48 hours in which to correct deficiencies.
B. 
A towing license shall be revoked upon a finding by the Township Manager of any of the following grounds:
(1) 
The license was procured by fraudulent conduct or false statement or omission of a material fact and, in this event, the license shall be null and void as if an application had never been filed.
(2) 
The licensee failed to perform or violated any of the duties of a licensee set forth hereinabove.
(3) 
The licensee no longer meets all the standards for issuance of a towing license.
(4) 
The licensee's application is found to be defective in any way or contains misinformation or omissions of fact and, in this event, the license shall be null and void as if an application had never been filed.
(5) 
The licensee failed to correct safety-related or nonsafety-related deficiencies within the allotted time as provided by Subsection A(2)(a) and (b).
A. 
All disabled or wrecked vehicles shall be removed from the roadway immediately following an accident, in accordance with the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code.
B. 
If the owner or operator cannot remove the disabled or wrecked vehicle or refuses or fails to have the vehicle removed within a reasonable time, a Township police officer shall call the towing licensee assigned to the police duty tow to effect such removal.
C. 
The Police Department shall establish rules and regulations for the establishment of a police duty tow, the rotation of assignment of towing licensees to the duty tow, and the use of the duty tow by the Township police officers.
[Added 11-12-1991 by Ord. No. 91-31; amended 12-22-2008 by Ord. No. 08-06; 12-8-2009 by Ord. No. 09-04]
Any fee dispute under this chapter arising between licensed towers and members of the general public shall be submitted to a panel of five arbitrators for informal arbitration. The panel shall consist of the Chief of Police, the Director of Community Services, one representative of the business community not affiliated with the towing industry, one resident of the community, and one duty tower. The representative from the business community and the representative resident from the community shall serve for a term of one year and shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors at its annual reorganization meeting. The representative from the duty towers shall be nominated by the licensed duty towers, shall serve for a term of one year, and shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors at its annual reorganization meeting. It shall be the responsibility of the licensed duty towers to communicate in writing their nominee to the Board of Supervisors each year by January 1. If a licensed tower or a member of the general public desires arbitration under this provision, he/she shall make a request for informal arbitration within 10 days of the date of dispute, and the informal arbitration must be completed and a decision rendered within a reasonable amount of time. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any party has the right to take any dispute directly to a court of competent jurisdiction before or after informal arbitration as provided herein.
[Amended 11-12-1991 by Ord. No. 91-31]
Whenever the requirements of this chapter are in conflict with other requirements of the ordinances of the Township of Middletown, the most restrictive or those imposing the higher standards shall govern.