[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.
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.
A flatbed vehicle equipped with a roll body and winch designed
for and capable of lifting and transporting passenger and commercial
vehicles.
A vehicle with a minimum twenty-five-ton capacity, designed
for and capable of lifting and transporting passenger and commercial
vehicles.
A vehicle designed for and capable of lifting and transporting
passenger vehicles.
Any individual person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
The Police Department of the Township of Middletown.
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
