[Adopted 4-13-1970 by Ord. No. 952]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "Township of Whitehall Junkyard Control Ordinance."
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following
words and phrases shall be construed throughout this to have the meanings
herein indicated:
The Board of Commissioners of Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania.
Any discarded material or article and shall include, but
not be limited to, scrap metal, scrapped, abandoned or junk motor
vehicles of every nature whatsoever, nonmotor vehicles of every nature
whatsoever, machinery, equipment, glass, paper, containers and structures.
It shall not include, however, refuse, ashes or garbage kept in a
proper container for the purpose of prompt disposal.
Any person who shall engage in the business of selling, buying,
exchanging, salvaging and dealing in junk, and who maintains and operates
a junkyard within the Township of Whitehall.
Any place where any junk (as hereinafter defined) is stored,
dispose of or accumulated.
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores, exchanges or disposes of junk, in an area permitted by the Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 27) of the Township of Whitehall, Pennsylvania.
Any natural person, partnership, association, firm, corporation
and entity of any nature whatsoever.
The Township of Whitehall, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
[Amended 10-10-1977 by Ord. No. 1252]
No person(s) shall engage in business as a junk
dealer or maintain a junkyard without first having obtained a permit
from the Township Director of Operations or his designate. A permit
fee, in accordance with the schedule hereinafter set forth, shall
be paid to Township for the use of the Township. The permit shall
be granted for a period of one year, with such permit year beginning
January 1 and ending December 31, and each such permit must be renewed
annually before the first day of January of the subsequent year. An
original junk dealer permit issued at any time during the year shall
also expire on December 31 and be subject to the foregoing renewal
requirements.
[Amended 10-10-1977 by Ord. No. 1252]
The permit provided for in this article shall
be issued by the Township Director of Operations or his designate
after written application shall have been made therefor by the person
desiring to obtain a permit. Such permit shall state the name of the
person to whom such permit is issued and the premises on which such
business is to be conducted or the junkyard is to be maintained. Once
issued, said permit shall be posted conspicuously upon the premises
identified in such permit. The written application for permit mentioned
above shall be accompanied by a form issued by the Township Director
of Operations or his designate and every question therein must be
answered. The applicant shall also submit a legal description, accompanied
with a plot or sketch, of the premises used or to be used in connection
with such permit.
[Amended 10-10-1977 by Ord. No. 1252]
Upon receipt of an application, the Township Director of Operations or his designate shall issue a permit or shall refuse to issue a permit to the person applying therefor after an examination of the application and consideration of the suitability of the property proposed to be used for the purposes of the permit, the character of the properties located nearby, compliance with Chapter 27, Zoning, relative to junkyards and the like and the effect of the proposed use upon the Township, both economical and aesthetic and the effect on the reasonable and adequate protection of the public health, safety and welfare. In the event the Township Director of Operations or his designate shall issue a permit, it may impose upon the permit and the person applying therefor such reasonable terms and conditions in addition to the regulations herein contained and adopted pursuant to this article, and Chapter 27, Zoning, relative to junkyards, as may be deemed necessary to carry out the spirit and intent of this article.
A.
The permit fee shall be paid immediately upon the
issuance or renewal of a permit. The amount of the permit fee shall
be set forth from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
[Amended 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 2578]
B.
No permit shall be issued for the use of a tract of
land in excess of five acres, excluding setback areas.
No person receiving a permit under this article
shall, by virtue of one permit, keep more than one place of business
within the Township or maintain more than one junkyard for the purpose
of buying, selling, exchanging and dealing in junk. No person shall
engage in business as a junk dealer in any place other than the place
designated upon his permit or maintain a junkyard in any place other
than the place designated upon his permit.
Permits issued under this article are not transferable
or assignable under any circumstances.
The Board of Commissioners shall have the power
to revoke or refuse to allow the renewal of a permit for noncompliance
with any of the provisions of this article.
From and after May 1, 1970, it shall be unlawful
for any person or persons as herein defined to engage or continue
to engage in business as a junk dealer or to establish or maintain
or continue to operate or maintain a junkyard and scrap yard, within
the limits of the Township, except as provided in this article.
There shall be no expansion of any junk, salvage
and scrap yard in existence on the effective date of this article,
nor shall any such business extend beyond the boundaries presently
occupied by the junk, scrap, motor vehicles or other materials presently
on the premises unless the owner shall have complied with the provisions
of this article.
Existing junk, salvage and scarp yards, and
the like, in existence on the effective date of this article:
Every person engaged, in whole or in part, in
the business covered by this article, shall continuously maintain
a ledger book which contains detailed information recording 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 and
the person from whom such article or material was purchased, received
or handled by such person and such ledger book shall at all times
be available for and subject to inspection by Township official or
his designee.
Every person engaged in the business contemplated
by this article shall keep and retain upon the 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, reduce, change, modify
or alter the original form, shape or condition of same until such
period of 48 hours shall have elapsed.
Every person receiving a permit under this article
shall constantly maintain the premises in accordance with and the
manner prescribed by this section and any subsequent regulations adopted
by the Board of Commissioners:
A.
Such premises shall at all times be maintained so
as not to harbor the breeding of rodents and vermin, create a menace
of the health, safety and welfare of adjoining property owners or
the community in general or otherwise constitute a nuisance.
B.
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored
in or on such premises.
C.
Whenever any motor vehicle or other item containing
gas or oil shall be received on the premises as junk or otherwise,
all gasoline and oil shall be drained and removed therefrom immediately
upon receipt of the same. Gasoline in an amount not exceeding 10 gallons
may be stored aboveground in the junkyard provided the same be placed
in containers, approved, in writing, by the Fire Chief of Township.
All other gasoline which is kept on the premises shall be stored underground,
which underground storage must be approved, in writing, by the Board
of Commissioners and must be in compliance with regulations of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania relating to the same.
D.
The 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 firefighting
purposes.
No flammable liquid shall be permitted to remain
in any junk vehicle or container whether or not the container is a
separate item or is an integral part of another item, at any time.
All rags, bottles and scrap paper, and the like,
must be kept within the walls of a building constructed of fire-resistant
material as determined by the Fire Chief of the Township.
A person receiving a permit under this article
shall not burn more than one vehicle or its equivalent at any one
time. No oil, grease, tires, gasoline or other similar material that
might be dangerous or tend to produce obnoxious smoke or odors shall
be burned within the junkyard at any time. Burning of vehicles and
other permitted items must be attended and controlled at all times.
The area to be used for the storage, placement,
disposal or accumulation of junk shall maintain a minimum setback
distance of 500 feet from the right-of-way lines on all streets or
roads, and a minimum setback distance of 500 feet from all other property
lines. The area between the setback line and the right-of-way line
and all streets and roads, and all other property lines, shall be
kept clear and free of weeds and scrub growth at all times.
All junk shall be stored behind a fence, as
specified below, which fence shall be placed at least 50 feet from
all lot lines of the permitted premises occupied by the junkyard.
Whenever such fence, or any part of such fence, is visible from a
public road or from a residence or any adjoining property, a landscaped
evergreen screen of trees and/or shrubs four feet or more in height
at planting and which are capable of attaining a continuous height
of eight feet or more, shall be planted along such fence or section
of fence.
Every junkyard shall be completely fenced with
a heavy-duty chain link or wire mesh fence at least six feet in height
with gates of similar fencing material, which gates shall be at all
times be securely locked except during business hours when an adult
attendant employed as such is on the premises. Such fence shall have
maximum openings of four square inches and the wire mesh shall be
a minimum size and strength of number 10 gauge steel wire.
No vehicles, equipment trailers or junk shall
be visible from beyond the boundaries of the property.
All vehicles, equipment trailers or junk shall
be kept, stored or arranged on the premises for which a permit is
granted as follows, to wit: There shall be established and maintained
in all junk salvage and scrap yards, parallel aisles or roadways of
not less than 10 feet in width and not more than 50 feet apart and
intersecting perpendicular aisles or roadways of not less than 10
feet in width and not more than 50 feet apart. All aisles or roadways
shall be kept clear of weeds, brush and debris at all times.
[Amended 10-10-1977 by Ord. No. 1252]
Upon receipt by the Department of Operations
of an application for an original or renewal permit, the procedure
shall be as follows, to wit:
A.
An application for an original permit, except for
existing businesses covered by this article, shall be forwarded by
the Department of Operations to the Planning Commission that the latter
shall make recommendation to the former regarding the manner of appropriately
landscaping and/or enclosing said business with a fence so as to eliminate
any nuisance or unattractive appearance.
B.
Applications for a renewal permit shall be reviewed
by the Department of Operations without forwarding to the Planning
Commission unless there is a request for expansion or extension of
the business; in such latter events, the same shall be first processed
by the Planning Commission as stated aforesaid for original permits,
except that existing junkyards, salvage and scrap yards and the like
shall be reviewed as hereinafter indicated.
C.
Application for renewal of permit for presently existing businesses covered by this article for the year 1971, shall also be forwarded to the Planning Commission for review and determination as to whether or not such business has complied with Chapter 27, Zoning, prior to January 1, 1971.
D.
All applications to be reviewed by the Planning Commission
as hereinbefore indicated shall be accompanied with the description
of the premises owned or leased by the applicant for the businesses
covered by this article and shall also be accompanied by a plan reflecting
the outer perimeter of the land owned or leased with identity of owner
or street on each side of the same; and, in addition, the inner perimeter
reflecting the area to be used for the purposes of the permit, with
courses and distances, metes and bounds, of both. The plot should
also disclose the location of any permitted buildings and the aisles
and roadways hereinbefore referred to.
All junk, salvage and scrap ceasing business for any reason whatsoever, voluntary or involuntary, shall comply with the provisions of Chapter 27, Zoning, relating to the same, as amended from time to time.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1356; by Ord. No. 1944; 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 2578]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate
any provision of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced
to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of
payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed
30 days. Each day that a violation of this section continues shall
constitute a separate offense.
In addition to the remedies provided hereinbefore,
any continued violations of this article which shall constitute a
nuisance in fact or which shall in the opinion of the Board of Commissioners
constitute a nuisance, may be abated by proceeding against the violator
in a court of equity for relief.
