[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Darlington as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-6-1967 by Ord. No. 13]
A.
Short title. This article shall be known and may be
cited as the "Darlington Township Sanitary Sewage Disposal System
Ordinance."
B.
Purpose. This article is adopted for the purpose of
promoting and protecting the health, safety, comfort and general welfare
of the citizens and residents of the Township of Darlington.
For the purpose of this article, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this
article:
The legally designated health officer of the Township of
Darlington or any duly authorized representative of the Board of Supervisors
of Darlington Township.
Those areas of Darlington Township which the Township has
constructed and maintains a system of sanitary sewers located in streets,
alleys and rights-of-way; and where said streets, alleys or rights-of-way,
in which said sanitary sewers are located abuts upon or is adjacent
to property of said applicant, shall be considered available and shall
be connected to the municipal system. When the first floor elevation
of all proposed or existing dwellings or structures can be sewered
by gravity to the municipal sewer, they shall be considered available
and shall be connected to the municipal system. All sanitary sewage
systems in proposed subdivisions shall be subject to the rules and
regulations relating to the subdivision and development of land and
the construction, opening and dedication of streets, alleys, sewer
drainage, and other facilities in connection therewith in the Township
of Darlington.
All areas of the Township which are not subject to the requirements
or regulations of those areas that are considered available under
"municipal sewer system service available" as defined in this section
of this article.
A written permit issued by the Township permitting the construction
and/or alteration of a sewage disposal system under this article.
Any property owner, person, association of persons, institution,
firm, public or private corporation, individual, partnership, contractor,
general agent, lessee, tenant, or any representative of any of the
aforementioned.
A sewage disposal system (other than the municipality's sewage
system) which receives either human excreta, liquid waste, laundry
waste or waste drainage from one or more premises or structures. Included
within the scope of this definition are septic tanks, soil absorption
beds, seepage pits, privies, and chemical-type toilets, and such other
types as may be prescribed in regulations adopted by the Township.
In all areas of Darlington Township where municipal
sewer system facilities are available every improvement and structure,
even though such structure is fabricated or manufactured elsewhere,
whether mobile or immobile, that is erected and/or placed upon a plot
of land in the Township and intended to be used and occupied either
permanently or temporarily for either dwelling, commercial or industrial
purposes shall be connected to the municipal system.
In all areas of Darlington Township where municipal
sewer system facilities are not available there shall be required
to be provided inside plumbing facilities and a sanitary sewage disposal
system for every improvement and structure, even though such structure
is fabricated or manufactured elsewhere, whether mobile or immobile,
that is erected and/or placed upon a plot of land in the Township
and intended to be used and occupied either permanently or temporarily
for either dwelling, commercial or industrial purposes.
A.
The design of individual sewage disposal systems shall
take into consideration the system's location with respect to water
wells, cisterns, springs or other sources of water supply, water table,
soil characteristics, topography, area available for absorption field,
maximum occupancy of buildings or structures; with each unit of the
sewage disposal system to be designed to adequately treat the estimated
maximum volume of sewage and waste material to be discharged from
the premises to be served by said disposal system.
B.
The sanitary sewage disposal system shall be constructed
to include a tank, a distribution box and a tile disposal field area,
absorption bed or seepage pit; with the size, capacity, method and
materials of construction, and the location of the different units
of the system to be in compliance with design standards, specifications
and regulations as shall be adopted by the Board of Supervisors of
Darlington Township and as may be amended by resolution of said Board
of Supervisors.
C.
Illustrations and design standards regulating the
location and installation of sewage disposal systems, septic tanks,
distribution boxes, tile disposal fields, absorption beds, seepage
pits, etc., shall be set forth in and adopted by resolution of the
Board of Supervisors of Darlington Township contemporaneously with
the adoption of this article or as said resolution may be hereafter
amended.
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this
article for any person, corporation or contractor when installing
and constructing a sewage disposal system to use as a part of said
system any drilled wells, dug wells, abandoned wells, or drilled holes
as a part of said system into any wells or drilled holes as hereinbefore
mentioned.
A.
From and after the effective date of this article,
it shall be unlawful and a violation of this article for any person
to construct, reconstruct, enlarge, alter, or extend a sanitary sewage
disposal system within the Township of Darlington, unless and until
he holds a valid permit issued by the legally designated authority
of the Board of Supervisors of Darlington Township granting permission
to proceed with the specific construction, installation or alterations
as specified in the permit.
B.
No person shall commence construction, erection or
placement of a building or structure or mobile unit of any type, any
of which are intended to be used and occupied for either dwelling,
commercial or industrial purposes upon a plot of land in Darlington
Township unless and until a valid permit has been obtained from the
legally designated authority of the Board of Township Supervisors.
C.
No person shall occupy and use for either dwelling,
commercial or industrial purposes any dwelling, building structure
or mobile unit of any type unless and until the sanitary sewage disposal
system for said premises has been fully constructed and completed
in compliance with the permit issued for it, and in accordance with
all of the provisions of this article, and said disposal system officially
approved by the legally designated authority of the Board of Township
Supervisors.
D.
All sanitary sewage disposal systems which drain or
overflow sanitary waste effluent on to the surface of the ground,
thereby creating a nuisance or health hazard, shall be corrected according
to specifications of this article when notified, in writing, by the
Township to correct such violation. It shall be the duty of the Township
Secretary or other fully authorized representatives of the Board of
Supervisors of Darlington Township to give written notice to the offending
person responsible for creating such health hazard to correct and
make the necessary changes in the sewage disposal system to conform
to the requirements, specifications, and provisions of this article,
said work and compliance with this article to be performed within
a period of 30 days from the date of the receipt of said notification
from the Township representative. A permit must be obtained from the
Township's duly authorized representative before the commencement
of any work of renewal, alteration and corrective construction. Upon
failure to comply with the requirements of the notice and the provisions
of this article within the time specified in the thirty-day notice,
such person shall be deemed to be in violation of this article.
E.
The provision of this § 126-7 requiring a permit before any work may be performed to construct, reconstruct, enlarge, alter or extend a sanitary sewage disposable system within the Township of Darlington shall not be applicable to those tracts of land which would qualify for an exemption under the provisions of 25 Pa. Code § 72.22 from the requirement of a permit.
[Added 8-11-2003 by Ord. No. 42]
All applications for permits shall be made upon
forms provided by the Township and shall be submitted to the Board
of Township Supervisors or their duly authorized representative and
shall show and include the following information:
A.
Name and address of the applicant.
B.
Name and address of the owner of the property.
C.
Name and address of the contractor or person proposing
to do the construction work.
D.
Location and address of the property upon which the
construction is to be performed.
E.
A plan showing the following information:
(1)
Boundaries and description of the plot of land involved
in the construction.
(2)
Location, outline and dimensions of existing structures
or structures to be built or placed.
(3)
Location of any easements, driveways, embankments,
large trees, well, spring, cistern and any existing sanitary sewage
disposal systems on the property.
(4)
Location of proposed sanitary sewage disposal system,
alterations or extensions, with distances being given to any existing
or proposed structures, and to any property lines.
(5)
Topography of the area occupied or to be occupied
by buildings and the sewage disposal system, indicating by contour
lines or elevations showing the general direction of natural surface
drainage and the general slope of the existing plot of land.
(6)
Location and distance to any existing water wells,
cistern or springs on adjacent properties less than 100 feet from
the sewage disposal system proposed to be constructed.
(7)
Purpose for which building, structure, mobile or immobile
unit is to be used that is to be served by the disposal system.
(8)
Size of structure or unit, number of bedrooms, number
of bathrooms, number of commodes, size of septic tank, length of tile
field, size of absorption bed, size of seepage pits showing its component
parts, percolation reports when required by the Township.
(9)
Commercial and industrial establishments that require
sanitary disposal systems and that are subject to the rules and regulations
of the Pennsylvania Department of Health shall submit all plans, specifications,
data and approvals required by the Pennsylvania Department of Health
to the Board of Township Supervisors for that Board's approval. The
Board of Supervisors may require such alterations in the plans and
specifications as the Board of Supervisors may deem advisable and
necessary before a permit shall be issued to the applicant by the
Board of Supervisors or their duly authorized representative for the
construction of said disposal system.
The applicant shall submit with his application
for a permit a fee payable to the Township of Darlington, in accordance
with the fee schedule to be adopted by the Board of Supervisors of
Darlington Township, to defray or help to defray the costs and expense
of issuing said permit and performing the necessary inspection service.
A.
No permit shall be issued until the authorized representative
of the Board of Supervisors has examined the application and, if he
deems it advisable, has viewed the site of the proposed construction
and is satisfied that the construction as proposed in the application
will comply with all the provisions of this article.
B.
It shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors or
their duly authorized representative, in writing, to either approve
or reject the application within a period of 10 days from the date
of the receipt of said application. In event of rejection, said Township
representative shall state, in writing, to the applicant the reason
for such rejection.
C.
Any person whose application for a permit has been
denied may request and shall be granted a hearing on the matter before
the Board of Township Supervisors within 20 days after the receipt
of the request for such hearing.
D.
No work of construction, installation, alteration
or extension of any sanitary sewage disposal system or any part thereof
shall be commenced by any person unless and until a permit has been
obtained from the Township permitting such work.
E.
Any variation, change or revision in the size, design,
location specifications and construction of the sewage disposal system
from that which the permit was issued for, unless such variation was
approved in writing by the Township's representative, may be rejected
on final inspection and the disposal system considered to be in violation
of the provisions of this article.
F.
All permits issued for construction and installation
of sanitary disposal systems relative to the construction and erection
of new dwellings and structures shall be considered null and void
unless such construction and installation for which the permit was
issued has been fully completed and final inspection obtained within
a period of six months from the date of its issuance, unless an extension
of time by the Township has been officially authorized.
A.
Upon completion of the construction and installation
and before the backfilling or covering of any part of the disposal
system is performed, the applicant shall notify the Township's duly
authorized representative that such installation is ready for inspection.
No part of the system shall be covered before inspection.
B.
The Township's duly authorized representative shall
make such inspection within a period of 48 hours from the time of
receiving such request and shall determine if the construction and
installation complies with all the provisions of this article.
C.
The Township's representative shall approve or reject
the disposal system and, if rejected, shall state in writing his reason
for rejecting.
D.
No dwelling, building, structure, mobile or immobile
unit of any type shall be used and/or occupied by any person for dwelling,
commercial or industrial purposes unless and until the sanitary sewage
disposal system intended to serve said premises has been fully completed
and a final inspection has been made and a form of final approval
approving said systems has been obtained from the Township's duly
authorized representative.
Failure to comply with the following shall constitute
a separate violation of this article:
A.
The failure to observe and conform to any provisions
of this article.
B.
The failure to secure a permit prior to commencement
of any work mentioned and covered under the provisions of this article.
C.
The failure to immediately comply with any stop, cease
or desist order issued by the Township.
D.
The failure to secure final inspection and approval
before covering any part of the system.
E.
To occupy any dwelling or structure before final inspection
has been made of the sanitary disposal system constructed and final
approval granted by the Township.
F.
Failure to correct a sanitary sewage disposal system
within 30 days after notification to correct such violation.
When written notice of a violation of any of
the provisions of this article has been served by the Board of Township
Supervisors or their duly authorized representative on any person,
such person shall immediately stop, cease and desist such violation.
For any and every violation of the provisions of this article,
the property owner, person, association of persons, institution, firm,
public or private corporation, individual, partnership, contractor,
general agent, lessee, tenant, or any representative of the aforementioned
or any other person who commits, takes part or assists in any such
violation, upon conviction thereof before any Magisterial District
Judge, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $500 nor
more than $5,000, plus costs, or to imprisonment not to exceed 90
days, or both. Whenever such person shall have been notified by the
Board of Township Supervisors or their duly authorized representative,
in writing, that he is committing a particular violation of this article,
then each day such violation shall continue after delivery of such
notification shall constitute a separate offense and shall be collected
as like fines are now by law collected.
The provisions of this article shall become
effective the 6th day of October, A.D. 1967.
[Added 7-7-1970 by Ord. No. 15]
A.
The requirements of this article of the Township of
Darlington shall apply to all land uses or proposed land uses within
the Township of Darlington wherein a sanitary sewage disposal system
is used or proposed to be used, be the use for dwelling, residential,
commercial or industrial or for any other purpose.
B.
Unless otherwise provided by this article, all sewage
disposal systems used or proposed to be used for any purpose or land
use shall contain a septic tank, a distribution box and tile field
disposal area with the minimum sizes and capacities and the manner
of construction and location of the different units of the system
to be in accordance with specifications and schedules to be adopted
by resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Darlington
upon enactment of this amendment to this article or as such specifications
and/or schedules may be amended from time to time by resolution of
the Board of Supervisors of Darlington Township.
[Adopted 11-8-1989 by Ord. No. 28]
The purpose of this article is to establish
procedures for the use and maintenance of holding tanks designed to
receive and retain sewage whether from residential or commercial uses,
and it is hereby declared that the enactment of this article is necessary
for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health, safety
and welfare of the inhabitants of this municipality.
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall
be as follows:
Supervisors of Darlington Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
A watertight receptacle to which sewage is conveyed by a
water-carrying system and which receives and retains the sewage and
is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of the
sewage to another site.
Any property within the Township upon which there is erected
a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy
or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sewage
shall or may be discharged.
Darlington Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals
and any noxious or deleterious substances being harmful or inimical
to public health, or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of water
for domestic water supply or for recreation, or which constitutes
pollution under the Clean Streams Law.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 691.1 et seq.
The Authority is hereby authorized and empowered
to undertake within the Township the control and methods of holding
tank disposal and the collection and transportation thereof.
The Authority shall have the power, after proper
investigation, to issue a permit to an owner of improved property
to construct a holding tank for the purpose of handling and containing
on-lot sewage. No permit shall be issued until a proper application
has been filed, the design plans have been approved by the Township
Sewage Enforcement Officer, and the proper permit fee has been paid
by the applicant.
The Authority shall impose such conditions upon
the issuance of a permit as it deems necessary for the operation and
maintenance of the holding tank so as to prevent the tank from becoming
a nuisance or a public health hazard. The permit shall provide for
the replacement of the holding tank by adequate sewerage services
in accordance with a schedule approved by the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection.
All rules and regulations adopted by the Authority
shall be in conformity with the provisions herein, all other ordinances
of the Township and all applicable laws, and applicable rules and
regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The collection and transportation of all sewage
from any improved property utilizing a holding tank shall be undertaken
by the Authority, or such responsibility may be delegated or contracted
by the Authority, which shall retain the ultimate responsibility for
the proper collection and disposal of the contents of any holding
tank. The disposal of the contents of the holding tank shall be made
only at such site or sites as may be approved by the Department of
Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A.
Should the disposal of the sewage from any holding
tank be undertaken by the Authority, the Authority shall impose upon
the owner a reasonable collection fee.
B.
The Authority shall be responsible for obtaining,
receiving, reviewing and retaining the pumping receipts from all permitted
holding tanks.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes
a holding tank shall:
A.
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this
or any ordinance of this Township, the provisions of any applicable
law, and the rules and regulations of the Authority and any administrative
agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.
Permit only the Authority or its agent to collect,
transport, and dispose of the contents therein.
It shall be the obligation and responsibility
of the Authority, or its duly designated agent on its behalf, to conduct
periodic inspections of all holding tanks for which it has issued
a permit. Such inspections shall occur no less frequently than annually.
Written reports of all such inspections shall be completed and retained
by the Authority.
Any person who violates any provisions of § 126-24 shall, upon conviction thereof by summary proceedings, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and costs for each day of violation and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment in the Beaver County Jail for a period not in excess of 90 days.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of § 126-24 above shall constitute a nuisance and shall be abated by the municipality by seeking appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
