This article is enacted under authority of Section 6109(a-22)
of the Vehicle Code and gives authority to the Township to remove
and impound those vehicles which have been abandoned or are not legally
entitled to operate or park on the streets and highways of the Commonwealth
under authority of the Vehicle Code.
Any police officer may remove or removal and impounding of vehicles
under this article shall be done only by approved storage garages
that shall be designated from time to time by the Board of Supervisors.
Every such garage shall submit evidence to the Board that it is bonded
or has acquired liability insurance in an amount satisfactory to the
Board of Supervisors as sufficient to indemnify owners of impounded
vehicles against loss or damage to those vehicles while in the custody
of the garage keeper for the purpose of towing or storage. The approved
storage garage shall submit to Board of Supervisors its schedule of
charges for towing and storage of vehicles under this article, and,
when the schedule is approved by the Board of Supervisors, those charges
shall be adhered to by the approved storage garage; no different schedule
of charges shall be demanded of or collected from any person whose
vehicle is removed or impounded under this article by any approved
storage garage. Board of Supervisors shall delete from its list of
approved storage garages any garage that makes any unapproved charge
in connection with any vehicle removed or impounded under this article.
The payment of any towing and storage charges authorized by
this article shall, unless payment is made under protest, be final
and conclusive, and shall constitute a waiver of any right to recover
the money so paid. If payment of any towing or storage charges is
made under protest, the offender shall be entitled to a hearing before
a Magisterial District Judge. Payment of towing and storage charges
shall not relieve the owner or driver of any vehicle from liability
for any fine or penalty for the violation of the provision of this
article for which the vehicle was removed or impounded.
In order to reclaim his vehicle, the owner shall pay towing
and storage costs, plus a twenty-five-dollar fee of which $10 shall
be transferred to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation by
the garage to which the vehicle was taken.
The Township shall cause a record to be kept of all vehicles
impounded under this article and shall be able at all reasonable times
to furnish the owners or the agents of the owners of those vehicles
with information as to the place of storage of the vehicle.
No vehicle shall be removed under the authority of this article
or the Vehicle Code if, at the time of the intended removal, the owner
or the person for the time being in charge of the vehicle is present
and expresses a willingness and intention to remove the vehicle immediately.
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 P.S. § 7301 et seq. (1977), as hereafter
amended, supplemented, modified or reenacted by the General Assembly
of Pennsylvania.