[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Summit Hill 11-2-1992 by Ord. No. 7-1992. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter is passed for the protection of the health, safety,
morals, general welfare and property of the inhabitants of the Borough
of Summit Hill, Carbon County, Pennsylvania.
The following words or phrases, when used in this chapter, shall
have the meanings described to them in this section except when the
context of the chapter indicates a different meaning:
Any vehicle as defined in this section which does not have
lawfully affixed thereto both an unexpired license plate or plates
and a current motor vehicle safety inspection certificate or the condition
of which is wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled, inoperative,
abandoned or discarded.
[Amended 2-7-1994 by Ord. No. 1-1994]
The actual physical movement of a vehicle under its own power
for a distance of at least 25 feet.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind, including but not limited to
those engaged in, employed/assisting those engaged in the business
of repairing or servicing vehicles.
[Amended 7-3-1995 by Ord. No. 1-1995]
Any real property within the Borough which is privately owned.
Any street or highway, which shall include the entire width
between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained for the
purposes of vehicular travel, and shall also mean any other property
owned by the Borough of Summit Hill.
Any article manufactured for the purpose of conveying a person,
or persons, animals or equipment upon roads, streets or highways and
includes, but is not limited to, automobiles, buses, motorbikes, motorcycles,
motor scooters, trucks, tractors, go-carts, golf carts, campers and
trailers.
A.
All vehicles parked on public property shall be moved for a distance
of at least 25 feet once every 10 days.
B.
No person shall park or allow to remain on public property any vehicle
that is incapable of movement under its own power.
C.
No person shall park or allow to remain on a public street a vehicle
without a current certificate of inspection and registration.
D.
No person shall store, park, allow to remain or allowed to be stored
a vehicle on public property for the purpose of repairing or servicing
to the extent the vehicle is abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, inoperative,
rusted, junked or partially dismantled or while otherwise in violation
of the Vehicle Code[1] of this commonwealth.
[Amended 7-3-1995 by Ord. No. 1-1995]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq.
E.
No person shall park or allow to remain on public property any boat,
trailer, camper, motor home or seasonal recreational vehicle between
the dates of December 1 and March 31.
F.
No person shall park, store, leave, or permit the parking, storing,
or leaving of any junked vehicle of any kind or the parts thereof
which is in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, inoperative, rusted,
junked, or partially dismantled condition, whether attended or not,
upon any public or private property within the Borough of Summit Hill
for a period in excess of 10 days. This section shall not apply to
any vehicle, junk vehicle, or antique vehicle held for collection
purposes or parts thereof enclosed within a building on private property.
[Amended 7-3-1995 by Ord. No. 1-1995]
[Amended 2-7-1994 by Ord. No. 1-1994; 7-3-1995 by Ord. No.
1-1995]
B.
In addition and as a result thereof, any violation of this chapter
shall, for purposes of impoundment, be declared a public nuisance
and be further subject to the provisions set forth in the ordinance
regarding abatement of public nuisances.
C.
In addition to the penalties set forth in § 456-6 of this chapter and referenced in Subsection A above, and as a prerequisite to the impoundment of any vehicle, all vehicles found to be in violation of this chapter shall have a written notice affixed thereto, stating that the vehicle is in violation of the chapter and is therefore considered to be a public nuisance and will be impounded if not removed or brought into compliance within 10 days of the date of the affixing of the notice to the vehicle. Any owner shall have the right to abate any nuisance and avoid removal and impoundment during this ten-day period.
D.
Information concerning the affixing of this notice shall be sent,
via certified mail, to the vehicle owner, if ownership can be readily
determined. In the event the vehicle is not removed and/or brought
into compliance with the chapter within 10 days of the date the notice
is affixed to the vehicle, the Borough shall have the right to remove
and/or impound any such vehicle.
E.
Upon the removal and/or impoundment of any such vehicle, a notice,
via certified mail, shall be sent to the vehicle owner that the vehicle
has been removed or impounded and will be disposed of if not claimed
within 30 days of the date of the mailing of said notice and will
be considered abandoned by the owner. If the vehicle is not reclaimed
by the owner within 30 days of the date of the mailing of the second
notice to the owner, the vehicle can be disposed of to recover the
cost of mailings, removal, storage and impoundment.
F.
Persons wishing to reclaim any such impounded vehicle shall be liable
for all costs incurred in the mailing of notices, removal, storage
and/or impoundment. The Borough of Summit Hill shall not be held liable
for any damages incurred during the mailing of notices, removal, storage
or impoundment or sale of any vehicle found to be in violation of
this chapter.
A.
Whenever it comes to the attention of the Chief of Police, or other
police officer duly delegated by the Borough Council, that any nuisance
as defined herein exists in the Borough, written notice shall be given
to the occupant of the private property where the junked vehicle is
located or, in case there is no such occupant, then upon the owner
of the property and/or the registered owner of the junked vehicle
in either one of the following ways:
(1)
Personally by the Chief of Police or other police officer upon the
occupant of the land where the nuisance exists or, in case there is
no such occupant, then upon the owner of the property and/or the registered
owner of the junked vehicle, notifying them of the existence of the
nuisance and requesting its removal within 10 days of the date of
the notice; or
(2)
By the Chief of Police or other police officer posting the notice
in a conspicuous place upon the private property upon which the junked
vehicle is located and by the Chief of Police or other police officer
sending duplicate copies of the written notice by certified mail to
the occupant of the private property or, in case there is no such
occupant, then upon the owner of the property and/or the registered
owner of the junked vehicle to their last known address.
B.
All notices shall contain a request for the removal of the junked
vehicle within 10 days from the date of the notice, and the notice
shall advise that upon failure to comply with the notice to remove,
the Borough or its designee shall undertake such removal with the
cost of removal to be levied against the owner or occupant of the
property and upon the last registered owner of the junked vehicle.
Upon proper notice, the owner of the abandoned, wrecked, dismantled,
or inoperative vehicle and the owner or occupant of the private property
on which the same is located, or either or all of them, shall be responsible
for its removal. In the event of removal and disposition by the Borough,
the owner, or occupant of the private property where the same is located
or the last registered owner of the junked vehicle shall be liable
for the expenses incurred.
C.
If the violation described in the notice has not been remedied within
the ten-day period of the notice, the Chief of Police, or other police
officer duly delegated by the Borough Council, shall have the right
to take possession of the vehicle, junk vehicle or parts thereof and
remove it from the premises. It shall be unlawful for any person to
interfere with, hinder, or refuse to allow such person or persons
to enter upon private property for the purpose of removing a junk
vehicle or parts thereof under the provisions of this chapter.
D.
Within 72 hours of the removal of such junk vehicle or parts thereof,
the Chief of Police, or other police officer duly delegated by the
Borough Council, shall give notice to the registered owner of the
vehicle, if known, and also to the owner or occupant of the private
property from which the vehicle, junk vehicle or part is removed,
that said junk vehicle or parts have been impounded and stored for
violation of this chapter. The notice shall give the location of where
the vehicle, junk vehicle or parts are stored and the costs incurred
by the Borough for removal.
E.
Upon removing a junk vehicle under the provisions of this chapter,
the Borough, after 10 days, shall cause it to be appraised. If the
junk vehicle or parts thereof are appraised at $75 or less, the Chief
of Police, or other police officer duly delegated by the Borough Council,
shall execute an affidavit so attesting and describing the junk vehicle,
including the license plates, if any, and stating the location and
appraised value of the junk vehicle. The Chief of Police, or other
police officer duly delegated by the Borough Council, after complying
with the above, may dispose of the junk vehicle and execute a certificate
of sale. If the junk vehicle is appraised at over $75, the Chief of
Police, or other police officer duly delegated by the Borough Council,
shall give notice of public sale not less than 15 days before the
date of the proposed sale.
F.
The notice of sale shall state:
G.
The junk vehicle or parts thereof shall be sold to the highest and
best bidder. At the time of payment of the purchase price, the Chief
of Police, or other police officer duly delegated by the Borough Council,
shall execute a certificate of sale, in duplicate, the original of
which is to be given to the purchaser and the copy thereof to be filed
with the Secretary of the Borough. Should the sale for any reason
be invalid, the Borough's liability shall be limited to the return
of the purchase price.
H.
The owner of any junk vehicle or parts thereof seized under the provisions
of this chapter may redeem such junk vehicle or parts thereof at any
time after its removal but prior to the sale or destruction thereof
upon proof of ownership and payment to the Borough of such sum as
is determined to be the actual and reasonable expense of removal and
any preliminary sale advertising expenses, plus $10 per day for storage
for each junk vehicle redeemed.
I.
Upon the failure of the last registered owner of the junk vehicle
or the owner or occupant of property on which junk vehicles or parts
thereof have been removed by the Borough to pay the unrecovered expenses
incurred by the Borough in such removal, a lien shall be placed upon
the property for the amount of such expenses.
[Amended 7-3-1995 by Ord. No. 1-1995; at time of adoption
of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
In addition to the Borough's right of removal and/or impoundment set forth in § 456-4 herein, any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction, or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed and the costs, the defendant may be sentenced and committed to the Borough correctional facility for a period not exceeding 10 days or to the county correctional facility for a period not exceeding 30 days. Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section, the Borough may enforce this chapter in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County.
Any ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith
be and the same hereby are repealed. This chapter is not intended
to affect any ordinance heretofore passed regulating parking.
