[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Whitehall as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 2578]
The "Code of Ordinances, Township of Whitehall," as prepared and published for the said Township, is hereby adopted as a consolidation, codification and revision of the ordinances of the Township. Chapters 1 through 27 thereof contain the text of the body of all general administrative and regulatory ordinances of the Township.
The codification referred to in § A28-1 of this ordinance shall be known and cited officially as the "Township of Whitehall Code of Ordinances," and all future ordinances shall make reference thereto. This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon publication of notice of final enactment as required by law.
The provisions of the Township of Whitehall Code of Ordinances, so far as they are the same as those ordinances and regulations in force immediately prior to the adoption of said Code, are intended as a continuation of such ordinances and regulations and not as a new enactment. The provisions of the Township of Whitehall Code of Ordinances shall not affect any suit or prosecution pending or to be instituted to enforce any of the prior ordinances or regulations.
As a necessary part of codification, the following provisions are hereby consolidated and revised as indicated.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The complete list of consolidations and revisions is on file in the Township offices.
As a necessary part of codification, the following ordinances are hereby enacted, amended and repealed as summarized by short title.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The complete list of new enactments, amendments and repeals is on file in the Township offices.
As a necessary part of codification, the following ordinances are hereby enacted by reference as standard codes summarized by short title.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The complete list of standard codes adopted by reference is on file in the Township offices.
The Township of Whitehall Code of Ordinances is hereby amended as is more fully shown in the complete text of Chapters 22 and 27 thereof which is attached hereto and made part hereof by reference hereto as if fully set out at length herein, all of which is briefly summarized hereinafter.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The complete list of new, revised and repealed provisions is on file in the Township offices.
The following minor procedural changes have been made to existing Township ordinances:
A. 
Grammatical and spelling errors have been corrected where necessary.
B. 
Minor changes have been made to correct obsolete terms and usages.
C. 
The penalty provisions have been revised where necessary to comply with the Pennsylvania Township Code, Vehicle Code, Municipalities Planning Code and the Local Tax Enabling Act.
The procedure for amending the Code of Ordinances shall include the citation of the chapter, part, section and subsection to be amended, revised, repealed or added as follows:
A. 
Amendment or revision — "Chapter _____, Part _____, Section _____, Subsection _____ is hereby amended [revised] to read as follows . . ."
B. 
Additions — "Chapter _____, Part _____, Section _____, Subsection _____ is hereby amended by the addition of the following . . ."
C. 
Repeal — "Chapter _____, Part _____, Section _____, Subsection _____ is hereby repealed in its entirety."
It shall be the responsibility of the Township Secretary to maintain an up-to-date certified copy of the Code of Ordinances. This copy shall be the official copy of the Township of Whitehall Code of Ordinances and shall be available for public inspection.
It shall be unlawful for anyone to change, alter or tamper with the Code of Ordinances in any manner which will intentionally misrepresent the laws of the Township. Whosoever shall violate this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and costs or, in default of payment thereof, shall be subject to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days.
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Commissioners that the chapters, parts, sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this codification are severable. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Code is declared unconstitutional, illegal or otherwise invalid by the judgment or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, that invalidity shall not affect any of the remaining chapters, parts, sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases of this codification.
[Adopted 7-13-2009 by Ord. No. 2780]
Pursuant to Section 1502, Clause I, II (53 P.S. § 56502) of the First Class Township Code, the codification of a complete body of legislation for the Township of Whitehall, County of Lehigh, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters, articles and sections by General Code Publishers Corp., and consisting of Chapters 1 through 27, together with a Charter and an Appendix, is hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as a single ordinance of the Township of Whitehall, which shall be known and is hereby designated as the "Code of the Township of Whitehall," hereinafter referred to as the "Code."
The provisions of this Code, insofar as they are substantively the same as those of ordinances and resolutions in force immediately prior to the enactment of this ordinance, are intended as a continuation of such ordinances and resolutions and not as new enactments, and the effectiveness of such provisions shall date from the date of adoption of the prior ordinance or resolution. All such provisions are hereby continued in full force and effect and are hereby reaffirmed as to their adoption by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Whitehall, and it is the intention of said Board of Commissioners that each such provision contained within the Code is hereby reenacted and reaffirmed as it appears in said Code. Only such provisions of former ordinances as are omitted from this Code shall be deemed repealed or abrogated by the provisions of § A28-15 below, and only new or changed provisions, as described in § A28-18 below, shall be deemed to be enacted from the effective date of this Code, as provided in § A28-27 below.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances of a general and permanent nature adopted by the Township of Whitehall and in force on the date of the adoption of this Code and not contained in the Code are hereby repealed as of the effective date given in § A28-27 below, except as hereinafter provided.
The adoption of this Code and the repeal of ordinances provided for in § A28-15 of this ordinance shall not affect the following ordinances, rights and obligations, which are hereby expressly saved from repeal; provided, however, that the repeal of ordinances pursuant to § A28-15 or the saving from repeal of ordinances pursuant to this section shall not be construed so as to revive any ordinance previously repealed, superseded or no longer of any effect:
A. 
Any ordinance adopted subsequent to 12-8-2008.
B. 
Any right or liability established, accrued or incurred under any legislative provision of the Township prior to the effective date of this ordinance or any action or proceeding brought for the enforcement of such right or liability or any cause of action acquired or existing.
C. 
Any offense or act committed or done before the effective date of this ordinance in violation of any legislative provision of the Township or any penalty, punishment or forfeiture which may result there from.
D. 
Any prosecution, indictment, action, suit or other proceeding pending or any judgment rendered prior to the effective date of this ordinance, brought pursuant to any legislative provision of the Township.
E. 
Any franchise, license, right, easement or privilege heretofore granted or conferred by the Township or any lawful contract, obligation or agreement.
F. 
Any ordinance appropriating money or transferring funds, promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing the issuance and delivery of any bond of the Township or other instruments or evidence of the Township's indebtedness.
G. 
Any ordinance adopting an annual budget or establishing an annual tax rate.
H. 
Any ordinance providing for the levy, imposition or collection of special taxes, assessments or charges.
I. 
Any ordinance authorizing the purchase, sale, lease or transfer of property or acquiring property by acceptance of deed, condemnation or exercise of eminent domain.
J. 
Any ordinance annexing land to the Township.
K. 
Any ordinance providing for or requiring the construction or reconstruction or opening of sidewalks, curbs and gutters.
L. 
Any ordinance or part of an ordinance providing for laying out, opening, altering, widening, relocating, straightening, establishing grade, changing name, improvement, acceptance or vacation of any right-of-way, easement, street, road, highway, sidewalk, park or other public place or property or designating various streets as public highways.
M. 
Any ordinance establishing water, sewer or other special purpose districts and designating the boundaries thereof; providing for a system of sewers or water supply lines; or providing for the construction, extension, dedication, acceptance or abandonment of any part of a system of sewers or water supply lines.
N. 
Any ordinance providing for the making of public improvements.
O. 
Any ordinance providing for the salaries and compensation of officers and employees of the Township or setting the bond of any officer or employee.
P. 
Any ordinance concerning changes and amendments to the Zoning Map.
Q. 
Any ordinance relating to or establishing a pension plan or pension fund for municipal employees.
R. 
Any ordinance or portion of an ordinance establishing a specific fee amount for any license, permit or service obtained from the Township.
All ordinances of a general and permanent nature adopted subsequent to the date given in § A28-4A and/or prior to the date of adoption of this ordinance are hereby deemed to be a part of the Code and shall, upon being printed, be included therein. Attested copies of all such ordinances shall be temporarily placed in the Code until printed supplements are included.
In compiling and preparing the legislation and the 2005 Code for publication as the 2006 Code of Township of Whitehall, no changes in the meaning or intent of such ordinances have been made. Certain nonsubstantive grammatical and style changes were made in one or more of said ordinances and resolutions. It is the intention of the Board of Commissioners that all such changes be adopted as part of the Code as if the ordinances and resolutions so changed had been previously formally amended to read as such.
In interpreting and applying the provisions of the Code, they shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare. Where the provisions of the Code impose greater restrictions or requirements than those of any statute, other ordinance, resolution or regulation, the provisions of the Code shall control. Where the provisions of any statute, other ordinance, resolution or regulation impose greater restrictions or requirements, the provisions of such statute, other ordinance, resolution or regulation shall control.
A. 
Chapter and article titles, headings and titles of sections and other divisions in the Code or in supplements made to the Code are inserted in the Code and may be inserted in supplements to the Code for the convenience of persons using the Code and are not part of the legislation.
B. 
Editor's notes indicating sources of sections, giving other information or referring to the statutes or to other parts of the Code are inserted in the Code and may be inserted in supplements to the Code for the convenience of persons using the Code and are not part of the legislation.
Three copies of the Code in a post-bound volume shall be filed with the Ordinance Book in the office of the Township Secretary and shall remain there for use and examination by the public. Upon adoption, such copies shall be certified to by the Township Secretary, as provided by law, and such certified copies shall remain on file in the office of the Township Secretary, available to persons desiring to examine the same during all times while said Code is in effect.
Any and all additions, deletions, amendments or supplements to the Code, when passed and adopted in such form as to indicate the intention of the Board of Commissioners to be a part thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated into such Code so that reference to the Code shall be understood and intended to include such changes. Whenever such additions, deletions, amendments or supplements to the Code shall be adopted, they shall thereafter be printed and, as provided hereunder, inserted in the post-bound book containing said Code as amendments and supplements thereto.
It shall be the duty of the Township Secretary or someone authorized and directed by him or her to keep up-to-date the certified copies of the book containing the Code required to be filed in the office of the Township Secretary for the use of the public. All changes in said Code and all legislation adopted by the Board of Commissioners subsequent to the effective date of this codification which the Board of Commissioners shall adopt specifically as part of the Code shall, when finally adopted, be included therein by reference until such changes or new legislation are printed as supplements to said Code books, at which time such supplements shall be inserted therein.
The Township Secretary, pursuant to law, shall cause to be published in the manner required a notice of the introduction and of the adoption of the Code in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. The enactment and application of this ordinance, coupled with the publication of the notices of introduction and adoption, as required by law, and the availability of copies of the Code for inspection by the public, shall be deemed, held and considered to be due and legal publication of all provisions of the Code for all purposes.
It shall be unlawful for anyone to improperly change or amend, by additions or deletions, or to alter or tamper with the Code or any part or portion thereof, in any manner whatsoever, which will cause the law of the Township to be misrepresented thereby. Anyone violating this section of this ordinance shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $600, plus costs of prosecution, and, in default of payment thereof, by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 days.
The provisions of this ordinance and of the Code adopted hereby are severable, and if any clause, sentence, subsection, section, article, chapter or part thereof shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, invalid or unconstitutional, such judgment or decision shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation and application to the clause, sentence, subsection, section, article, chapter or part thereof rendered illegal, invalid or unconstitutional. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Board of Commissioners that this ordinance and the Code would have been adopted if such illegal, invalid or unconstitutional clause, sentence, subsection, section, article, chapter or part thereof had not been included therein.
All provisions of this ordinance and of the Code shall be in force and effect on and after July 13, 2009.