This Article is enacted under the authority
of Sections 3352 and 6109(a)(22) of the Vehicle Code.[1] The Township of West Hempfield shall have the authority
to remove and impound unattended vehicles illegally left standing
upon any highway or bridge within the Township in such position or
under such circumstances as to interfere unduly with the normal movement
of traffic or to constitute a safety hazard.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 75 P.S. §§ 3352
and 6109(a)(22), respectively.
It shall be unlawful for any owner of any type
of motor vehicle requiring a registration plate and a state inspection
sticker under the applicable provisions of the Vehicle Code (75 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 1101 et seq.) to park or store or permit the same to be
parked or stored on any public street or public alley within the limits
of the Township of West Hempfield for a period in excess of 48 hours,
if said motor vehicle does not have attached to it a current valid
registration plate and a current valid state inspection sticker required
under the applicable provisions of the Vehicle Code.
It shall be unlawful for any owner of any motor
vehicle requiring a registration plate and a state inspection sticker
under the applicable provisions of the aforesaid Vehicle Code to park
or store or to permit to be parked or stored any such motor vehicle
on any street or alley within the Township of West Hempfield when
such motor vehicle is to any extent partially dismantled and inoperable.
A.
Any police officer may remove or cause to be removed
to a nearby garage or other place of safety a vehicle in violation
of any provision of this article. Prior to removal of such vehicle
bearing a registration plate by which the last registered owner of
the vehicle can be determined, notice shall be sent by certified mail
to the last registered owner of the vehicle informing him that unless
the vehicle is moved to a suitable location within seven days of the
date the notice is mailed, the vehicle will be removed and held at
a suitable facility where it may be reclaimed. If the vehicle does
not bear an identifiable registration plate, the notice may be secured
to the vehicle.
B.
Within the five-day period, the owner shall be given,
if requested, an opportunity to explain to police officers or the
Department why the owner believes the vehicle should not be removed.
If the police officers or Department decides that the vehicle shall
be moved, the owner shall be given an additional 48 hours to move
the vehicle or have it moved.
In order to reclaim his or her vehicle, the
owner shall pay towing and storage costs, plus a fee of $25, of which
$10 shall be transferred to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
by the garage to which the vehicle was taken.
Any person who shall violate any provision of
this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a
fine of $50, together with all costs of disposing of the vehicle under
provisions of the Vehicle Code (75 Pa.C.S.A. § 7301 et seq.),
as hereafter amended, supplemented, modified or reenacted by the General
Assembly of Pennsylvania.
