[Adopted 10-2-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-1]
This article shall be known as the "Dallas Township
Nuisance Ordinance."
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Dallas, by authority granted to it as specified in the Pennsylvania
Second Class Township Code, being the Act of May 20, 1957, P.L. 74,
as amended by the Act of March 21, 1968, P.L. 66, No. 22, § 1,
53 P.S. § 66529, hereby enacts this article.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Dallas finds and deems that it is in the best interests of and for
the general health, safety and welfare of the citizens and residents
of this Township to prohibit the unreasonable, unwarrantable or unlawful
use of private and public property which causes injury, damage, hurt,
inconvenience, annoyance or discomfort to others in the legitimate
enjoyment of their rights of person or property.
As used in this article, the following terms,
phrases and words shall have the meanings given herein. Any personal
pronoun shall be construed so as to mean either the masculine, feminine
or neuter gender, as the context may require; and the word "shall"
is always mandatory.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Dallas, Luzerne
County, Pennsylvania.
LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
Any person employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or
serving the Township of Dallas whose sworn duty as a law enforcement
officer is to preserve peace, make arrests or enforce the laws of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the ordinances of the Township.
NUISANCE
Any unreasonable, unwarrantable or unlawful use of public
or private property, or injury, damage, hurt, inconvenience, annoyance
or discomfort to any person in the legitimate enjoyment of his or
her reasonable rights of person or property. The definition of nuisance
shall include, but not be limited to, any use, activity, or condition
upon property within the Township, other than on an occasional or
infrequent basis, which shall cause or result in:
[Amended 7-7-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-2]
A.
Unreasonable annoyance or discomfort to persons beyond the boundary
of such property;
B.
Interference with the health and/or safety of persons beyond
the boundaries of such property or of persons who could reasonably
be expected to enter upon such property; and/or
C.
Disturbance or interference with the peaceful use and enjoyment
of persons or surrounding property of others within the Township.
Specifically, nuisance shall be deemed to include, but not be limited
to, the following:
(1)
Loud playing of radios, televisions, amplifiers, other sound
devices or creating or operating any noise source so as to be heard
beyond the property where the same is located;
(2)
Except in case of emergency, carrying on any building or road
construction, excavation or trenching or the operation of heavy equipment
or trucks in connection therewith at any time on Sunday or any legal
holiday or on any other day of the year at any time between 7:00 p.m.
and 7:00 a.m. without a special permit issued by the Zoning and Code
Enforcement Officer. Such special permit shall be issued only if it
is shown that the construction work must proceed as a matter of emergency
or that it can be carried on in a manner or in such a place that the
public or residents will not be annoyed or disturbed by such construction
work.
(3)
Any act which creates or permits light or glare to escape the
originating premises in any manner or intensity which interferes with
the reasonable enjoyment of adjacent and surrounding properties.
OWNER
A person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge of any
premises within the Township.
PERMIT
To suffer, allow, consent or let; to give leave or license;
or to acquiesce by failure to prevent or to expressly accept or agree
to the doing of any act.
PERSON
Any natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Dallas, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
It shall be unlawful for any person to dump,
store or accumulate or cause or permit the dumping, storing or accumulation
upon any public or private property within the Township of Dallas,
or to create or maintain any nuisance as hereafter declared. Subsections
A and/or B shall not apply to any duly licensed facility operating
under a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection. Subsection
A shall not apply to any permitted commercial or commercial/industrial
establishment for the repair, maintenance or restoration of motor
vehicles.
A. Inoperable, unregistered and/or uninspected motor
vehicles which are not confined within a permitted structure.
B. Junk material, including but not limited to unused,
discarded or abandoned machinery, vehicle parts, equipment or appliances,
which are not confined within a permitted structure.
C. The burning of garbage, trash, tires, tar products,
non-wood materials or any material which produces noxious or offensive
smoke, fumes or odor.
D. The pushing, shoveling or otherwise depositing of
snow or any other material upon the road and/or traveled portion of
any public highway, road, street or Township right-of-way which is
maintained by this Township or by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
and allowing the same to remain thereon.
E. The creating, maintaining or continuing of any use, activity or condition
upon property within the Township which is defined in this article
as a nuisance.
[Amended 7-7-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-2]
The provisions of this article shall be enforced
by a law enforcement officer instituting summary proceedings by citation
as provided by law or, when the affiant is not a law enforcement officer,
the affiant shall institute a criminal proceeding by filing a complaint
with the District Justice as provided by law.
Any person who violates or permits a violation
of this article shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought
before a District Justice 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 costs of prosecution. In default
of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that
such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate offense, and each section of this article that is violated
shall also constitute a separate offense.
[Adopted 6-19-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-5]
This article shall be known as the "Disorderly House Nuisance
Ordinance."
A "disorderly house nuisance" is a dwelling at which any of
the following has occurred within a consecutive three-hundred-sixty-five-day
period:
A. Two or more felony and/or misdemeanor arrests, arising out of separate
and distinct facts and circumstances, as defined by the statutes of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and/or the ordinances of the Township
of Dallas, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania;
B. Two or more violations of both Titles 18 and 47 relating to alcoholic
beverages arising out of separate and distinct facts and circumstances;
C. Two or more violations relating to animals and fowl arising out of
separate and distinct facts and circumstances;
D. Two or more violations of Title 35; the Drug, Device and Cosmetic
Act; or
E. A combination of two offenses from any of the above categories, arising
out of separate and distinct facts and circumstances.
The police and/or Zoning Officer of the Township may commence
prosecution alleging a violation of this article by following the
Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure General Procedures in Summary
Cases.
The remedies provided herein for the enforcement of this article,
or any remedy provided by law, shall not be deemed mutually exclusive;
rather they may be employed simultaneously or consecutively, at the
option of the Board of Supervisors.