[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of East Lampeter 12-31-1966 by Ord. No. 9 (Ch. 13, Part 3, of the 2002 Code of Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "East Lampeter Township Junkyard and Refuse Ordinance."
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases shall be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings herein indicated:
AUTOMOBILE JUNK OR GRAVEYARD
Any place where more than three automobiles, which do not bear a current Pennsylvania state inspection sticker and are not fit for immediate highway use, are stored or accumulated.
BOARD
The Board of Supervisors of East Lampeter Township.
JUNK
Any discarded material or article and shall include, but not be limited to, scrap metal, scrapped, abandoned or junked motor vehicles, machinery, equipment, paper, glass, containers, and structures. It shall not include, however, refuse or garbage kept in a proper container for the purpose of prompt disposal.
JUNK DEALER
Any person who shall engage in the business of selling, buying, salvaging and dealing in junk and who maintains and operates a junkyard within the Township of East Lampeter.
JUNKYARD
Any automobile junk or graveyard or any place where any junk as hereinafter defined is stored, disposed of, or accumulated.
LICENSE
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or disposes of junk as defined in this chapter.
PERSON
Includes any partnership association, firm and corporation.
TOWNSHIP
East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
A. 
License required. No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer, or maintain a junkyard, without first having obtained a license from the Board, for which license a fee in accordance with the schedule hereinafter set forth shall be paid to the Township for the use of the Township. The license shall be issued for the twelve-month period beginning April 1 and ending March 31 of the following year, and each license must be renewed annually on or before the first day of April of each year; provided, however, if a license is to be issued for the purpose above set forth upon a date to start after April 1 of any year, the fee to be charged shall be prorated in accordance with the period of time which shall elapse between the issuance date and the next ensuing March 31.
B. 
Exclusion. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be interpreted to prevent or preclude the owner or tenant of a tract from maintaining one area having dimensions not exceeding 15 feet in length by 15 feet in width by 10 feet in height upon his premises for the maintenance, storage or accumulation of junk; provided, however, that said owner or tenant shall at all times comply with the regulations contained in § 193-11A to F of this chapter, and provided further that the Board may require that the area be enclosed by a fence or evergreen screen planting as provided in § 193-11G.
The license provided for in this chapter shall be issued by the Board after written application shall have been made therefor by the person desiring to be licensed. Such license shall state the name of the person to whom such license is issued and the premises on which such business is to be conducted, or such junkyard is to be maintained. Such license shall be posted conspicuously upon the premises licensed thereunder. The written application for license hereinabove mentioned shall contain questions, every one of which must be answered. The written application form shall be supplied by the Board. Applicant shall also submit therewith a plot of the premises used or to be used in connection with such license.
Upon receipt of an application by the Board, the Board shall issue a license or shall refuse to issue a license to the person applying therefor after an examination of the application and taking into consideration the suitability of the property proposed to be used for the purpose of the license, the character of the properties located nearby, and the effect of the proposed use upon the Township, both economic and aesthetic. In the event the Board shall issue a license, it may impose upon the license and the person applying therefor such terms and conditions in addition to the regulations herein contained and adopted pursuant to this chapter as may be deemed necessary to carry out the spirit and intent of this chapter.
[Amended 6-3-2002 by Ord. No. 232]
The license fee shall be paid immediately upon the issuance or renewal of a license. The amount of the license fee shall be in an amount as determined, from time to time, by resolution of the Board of Supervisors as determined by the actual land to be used by the person to whom the license is issued, excluding all set-back areas. No license shall be issued for the use of a tract of land in excess of 15 acres, excluding set-back areas.
No person licensed under this chapter shall, by virtue of one license, keep more than one junkyard and that junkyard shall be only situated at the location designated upon said license.
No license issued by the Board shall be transferable by the licensee to any other person unless such a transfer is authorized by the Board. Any person desiring to transfer his license shall notify the Board in writing, which notification shall be accompanied by an application for a license, as described in § 193-4 of this chapter, by the transferee.
[Amended 6-3-2002 by Ord. No. 232]
In the event the Board shall approve the transfer of a license, the transferee shall immediately pay to the Township a transfer fee in an amount as established, from time to time, by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall keep and retain upon the licensed premises, for a period of 48 hours after the purchase or receipt thereof, all junk received or purchased by him, and he shall not disturb or reduce the same or alter the original form, shape or condition until such period of 48 hours shall have elapsed.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall constantly maintain the licensed premises in accordance with any special provisions imposed by the Board and in the manner prescribed by this section and any subsequent regulations adopted by the Board:
A. 
Such premises shall at all times be maintained so as not to constitute a nuisance or a menace to the health of the community or of residents nearby or a place for the breeding of rodents and vermin.
B. 
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored in such premises.
C. 
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be received in such premises as junk, all gasoline shall be drained and removed therefrom. Gasoline in an amount not exceeding 10 gallons may be stored above ground in said junkyard provided the same be placed in containers approved by the Board. All other gasoline which is kept in the premises shall be stored underground, which underground storage must be approved by the Board.
D. 
The manner of storage and the arrangement of junk and the drainage facilities of the premises shall be such as to prevent the accumulation of stagnant water upon the premises, and to facilitate access for firefighting purposes.
E. 
Burning vehicles and other materials must be done during daylight hours while attended and controlled at all times, and said burning must be done in compliance with the Trash Burning Ordinance of East Lampeter Township [Chapter 7].[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Ord. No. 151, enacted on 10-20-1992, on which former Ch. 7, Part 2, of the 2002 Code of Ordinances was based, was repealed 12-5-2005 by Ord. No. 258. See now Ch. 279, Solid Waste and Recycling, of this Code.
F. 
The premises to be licensed shall be set back a minimum distance of 25 feet from the right-of-way lines of all streets or roads and a minimum distance of 15 feet from all other property lines. The area between the setback line and the right-of-way line and all streets and roads and all other property lines shall be at all times kept clear and vacant.
G. 
When the Board shall deem it necessary and desirable the premises to be licensed shall at the setback lines be enclosed by a fence of type and style to be determined by the Board or by evergreen screen plantings, or both. The Board may set forth the fence and planting requirements at the time of the issuance of a license or at the time of renewal or transfer of a license. Where the junkyard in question adjoins property situated in another municipality, the Board may establish setback lines along the property line between East Lampeter Township and the adjoining municipality.
No junkyard in existence as of the effective date of this chapter shall be added to or extended unless done in compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
[Amended 6-3-2002 by Ord. No. 232]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this chapter, upon conviction thereof in an action brought before a Magisterial District Judge in the manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment of said fine and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation of this chapter continues or each section of this chapter which shall be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense.
In addition to the remedies provided in § 193-13 of this chapter, any continued violations of this chapter which shall constitute a nuisance in fact of which shall in the opinion of the Board constitute a nuisance may be abated by proceeding against the violator.