[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Newtown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 9-26-1995 by Ord. No. 1995-7]
Pursuant to Section 702, Clause XLI.1 (53 P.S. § 65741.1) of the Second Class Township Code, the codification of a complete body of legislation for the Township of Newtown, County of Delaware, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as revised, codified and consolidated into titles, chapters and sections by General Code Publishers Corp., and consisting of Chapters
1 through
172, together with an Appendix, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as a single ordinance of the Township of Newtown, which shall be known and is hereby designated as the "Code of the Township of Newtown," 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 Supervisors of the Township of Newtown, and it is the intention of said Board of Supervisors 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 Only such provisions of former ordinances as are omitted from this Code shall be deemed repealed or abrogated by the provisions of §
1-5 below, and only new or changed provisions, as described in §
1-7 below, shall be deemed to be enacted from the effective date of this Code, as provided in §
1-17 below.
In the construction of the Code of the Township of Newtown,
the following rules shall control, except those inconsistent with
the manifest intent of the Board of Supervisors as disclosed in a
particular provision, section or code:
A. CALENDAR
— COMPUTATION OF TIME — The terms "month" and "year" mean
the calendar month or year. The time expressed in days within which
an act is to be done or a period is to expire shall be computed by
excluding the first and including the last day, except if the last
be Sunday it shall be excluded. If time is expressed in hours the
whole of Sunday shall be excluded.
B. CHAIRMAN
— The Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Newtown Township,
Pennsylvania.
C. CONJUNCTIONS
— "And" includes "or" and "or" includes "and," if the sense
so requires.
D. COUNTY
— Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
E. GENDER
— Words importing the masculine shall extend and be applied
to the feminine and neuter genders.
F. GENERAL
RULE:
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, words and phrases shall
be construed according to the common usage of language. However, technical
words and phrases and such others as may have acquired a special meaning
in the law, shall be construed according to such technical or special
meaning.
(2) Whenever, in the Code of the Township of Newtown, authority is given
to an officer or an act is required to be performed, such authority
may be exercised and such act may be performed, at the instance of
such officer, by a deputy or subordinate unless contrary to law or
to the clear intent of such particular provision.
G. NUMBER
— Words in the plural include the singular, and words in the
singular include the plural number.
H. OWNER
— When applied to property, includes any part owner, joint owner
or tenant-in-common of the whole or any part of such property.
I. PERSON
— Extends to and applied to associations, clubs, corporations,
firms and partnerships, as well as to individuals.
J. PREMISES
— When used as applicable to property, extends to and includes
land and buildings.
K. PUBLIC
AUTHORITY — Extends to and includes the Marple-Newtown School
Board, the Township, the county, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
the United States of America and any duly authorized public official.
L. PROPERTY
— Includes real and personal, and any mixed and lesser estates
or interests therein. The words "personal property" include every
kind of property except real property. The words "real property" include
lands, tenements and hereditaments.
M. REASONABLE
TIME — In all cases where provision is made for an act to be
done or notice to be given within a reasonable time, it shall be deemed
to mean such time only as may be necessary for the prompt performance
of such act or giving of such notice.
N. STATE
and COMMONWEALTH — Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
O. STREET
and ROAD — Includes avenues, alleys, courts, boulevards, lanes,
roads, streets and other public ways and squares in the Township.
P. BOARD
OF SUPERVISORS or SUPERVISORS — The Board of Supervisors of
Newtown Township, Pennsylvania.
Q. TENANT
or OCCUPANT — As applied to a building or land, shall extend
and be applied to any person holding a written or oral lease of, or
who occupies the whole or any part of, a building or land, alone or
with others.
R. TENSES
— The use of any verb in the present tense includes the future
tense.
S. TOWNSHIP
or MUNICIPALITY — Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances of a general and permanent nature adopted by the Township of Newtown 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 §
1-17 below, except as hereinafter provided.
The adoption of this Code and the repeal of ordinances provided for in §
1-4 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 §
1-4 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 June 12, 1995.
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 therefrom.
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 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.
All ordinances and resolutions of a general and permanent nature adopted subsequent to the date given in §
1-5A 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 and resolutions shall be temporarily placed in the Code until printed supplements are included.
Nonsubstantive grammatical changes. In compiling and preparing
the ordinances and resolutions of the Township for adoption and revision
as part of the Code, 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 Supervisors 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 Supervisors 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 Supervisors
subsequent to the effective date of this codification which the Board
of Supervisors 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.
Whenever in the Code of the Township of Newtown or in any ordinance
of the Township any act is prohibited or is made or declared to be
unlawful or an offense, or whenever in the Code or any ordinance the
doing of any act is required or the failure to do any act is declared
to be unlawful, where no specific penalty is otherwise provided for,
the violator of any such provision or ordinance shall, upon conviction,
be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and, in default of
payment thereof, shall be imprisoned for not more than 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.
It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Board of Supervisors
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 September 26, 1995.