[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Marlborough as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-9-1983 by Ord. No. 83-2]
The practice of throwing, depositing or dumping any paper, trash, rubbish, ashes, junk, waste, garbage or discarded materials, carcasses or matter of any kind in or on any private or public property, vacant or occupied, within Marlborough Township, or of maintaining any accumulations of such materials in or on any public or private property, vacant or occupied, within said Township, other than in accordance with regulations hereinafter set forth in § 196-4, shall be deemed to be and constitute a nuisance and is hereby prohibited.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 196-3, Abandoned and repairable
vehicles, as amended, was repealed 5-12-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-01.
A.
The collection, accumulation and depositing of the materials enumerated in § 196-2 of this article shall be permitted within the confines of Marlborough Township, where not inconsistent with Chapter 275, Zoning, as from time to time amended, upon approval of the Township Board of Supervisors, evidenced by a permit issued by it, and the Board of Supervisors may, in its discretion, require that a sanitary landfill method of disposal, approved by the Board of Supervisors, shall be utilized. The phrase "a sanitary landfill method of disposal" shall be considered to describe a method of disposal of refuse and waste whereby such matter is initially deposited in a planned and controlled manner, compacted into thin layers and covered with a layer of earth which is then compacted.
B.
The following regulations shall govern any sanitary landfill operation:
(1)
The precise method of operation may be the "trench method," "progressive
slope method," "area method" or any similar method approved by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health.
(2)
All refuse material shall be delivered to the site in closed-body
vehicles, so that no refuse is exposed to the air.
(3)
The face of the working fill shall be kept as narrow as is consistent
with proper operation of trucks and equipment in order that the area
of waste material exposed during an operating day shall be minimal.
(4)
A layer of refuse shall not exceed an average depth of eight feet
after compacting.
(5)
The exposed surface of waste material shall be covered with not less
than six inches of dirt fill as promptly as is consistent with efficient
operation, but in any event, at the close of each day of operation.
Where large quantities of putrescible materials are deposited, they
shall immediately be covered as specified herein.
(6)
The final covering for surface slopes and side slopes, if any, shall
be established and maintained at a depth of not less than 24 inches
of dirt fill, shall be graded to provide a one-half-percent-to-one-percent
grade to allow for adequate drainage and shall be promptly seeded.
A greater slope may be permitted by the Township Engineer upon such
conditions as he shall specify.
(7)
Control of windblown paper shall be adequately maintained, so that
such refuse does not drift onto adjacent properties. The operator
shall also police the grounds as necessary in this respect.
(8)
All collections of surface water which result from operation of the
landfill shall be promptly drained, filled or treated.
(9)
No burning of refuse or waste shall be permitted at any time.
C.
A sanitary landfill operation shall not be conducted unless a permit
issued by the Board of Supervisors and authorizing the particular
operation is then valid and unrevoked.
Whenever it is found that any person is maintaining a nuisance as defined in §§ 196-1 to 196-3 of this article or is operating a sanitary landfill contrary to the regulations specified in § 196-4 hereof, or any of them, any officer or employee of the Township or any policeman of the Township may serve notice thereof requiring that the condition be made safe, corrected or removed, by certified mail or by personally delivering the same to the offender.
Should any person cause or permit the continuance of a nuisance
after 20 days from the date of mailing of the notice to abate or fail
to correct the condition complained of with respect to a sanitary
landfill operation within 10 days from the date of the mailing of
the notice, the Township may, upon resolution of the Board of Supervisors,
cause the removal or abatement of the nuisance or the correction of
the condition complained of by such means as appear to it necessary.
The Township shall, in such event, have the right and power to enter
upon premises causing or contributing to said nuisance or whereon
the defective condition exists to accomplish the abatement or correction
thereof. In addition thereto, the Supervisors may, upon the expiration
of the ten-day period herein specified without the correction of the
condition complained of, forthwith revoke the permit issued to conduct
a sanitary landfill, whereupon the person operating the same shall
cease operations until his permit is restored.
In the event that the
Township shall have expended moneys to abate a nuisance under the
terms of this article or to correct a condition complained of with
respect to the operation of a sanitary landfill, it shall recover
the cost thereof, a penalty of 5% and an attorney's fee of 5%, by
municipal claim proceedings under the Act of May 16, 1923, P.L. 207,
as amended;[1] by summary proceedings, under the Act of May 1, 1933,
P.L. 103, Article VII, Section 702, Clause XII, as amended;[2] by an action of assumpsit in the Court of Common Pleas of any county where jurisdiction may be obtained, under the Act of May 1, 1933, P.L.103, Article XXI, Section 2106, as amended;[3] or by such other remedies as may be provided by law, at
the election of the Township.
In addition to such other remedies as shall be provided for
herein, the Township shall have the right to institute proceedings
in equity in a court of appropriate jurisdiction to enforce the provisions
hereof.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article
shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding
commenced by the Township before a Magisterial District Judge, pay
a fine of not more than $600, plus all court costs, including reasonable
attorneys' fees, incurred by the Township in the enforcement of this
article. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of the determination
of the violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant
neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce
the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure.
Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense. Further,
the appropriate officers or agents of the Township are hereby authorized
to seek equitable relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance
herewith.
This article shall become effective five days after enactment, as provided by law; provided, however, that persons presently operating dumps within the Township shall have a period of 30 days from the effective date of this article within which to either cease such operations or comply with the provisions of § 196-4 hereof.
[Added 11-21-1983 by Ord.
No. 83-6]
All ordinances and/or parts thereof which are inconsistent herewith
are, to the extent of said inconsistency, hereby repealed.
