GENERAL REFERENCES
Ordinances — See Charter, Art. V.
Ordinances and resolutions — See Ch. 222.
(a)
This volume consists of all ordinances and resolutions of the Municipality
of a general and permanent nature, as revised, codified, arranged,
numbered and consolidated into component codes, titles, chapters and
sections, and as such shall be known and designated as the Codified
Ordinances of Upper Providence Township, Pennsylvania, 1991, for which
designation "Codified Ordinances" may be substituted. Code, title,
chapter and section headings do not constitute any part of the law
as contained in the Codified Ordinances.
(b)
References to codes, titles, chapters and sections are to such components
of the Codified Ordinances unless otherwise specified. Any component
code may be referred to and cited by its name, such as the "Traffic
Code." Sections may be referred to and cited by the designation "section"
followed by the number, such as "Section 202.01."
(a)
The Codified Ordinances of Upper Providence Township, Pennsylvania,
1991, may be amended or supplemented at any time and, when any amendment
or supplement is adopted in such form as to indicate the intention
of Council to make the same a part thereof, such amendment or supplement
shall be incorporated in, and deemed a part of, the Codified Ordinances,
so that a reference to the Codified Ordinances shall be understood
and construed as including the Codified Ordinances of Upper Providence
Township, Pennsylvania, 1991, and any and all such amendments and
supplements.
(b)
All amendments and supplements enacted as a part of the Codified Ordinances shall be integrated therewith by following the form of arrangement and plan set forth in the original Codified Ordinances as follows: each Code shall be subdivided into titles; each title shall be subdivided into chapters, and each chapter shall be subdivided into sections, which shall be numbered in accordance with the decimal numbering system. The numbering of all sections, except penalty sections, shall be consecutive within each chapter commencing with the first section of Chapter 202, which shall be numbered 202.01, the first "2" signifying Code 2, and the two figures "02" before the decimal signifying the chapter within the Code, and the two figures "01" after the decimal signifying the first section in Chapter 202 of the Code. Penalty sections shall be designated "99" and shall be the last section of a chapter.
In the construction of the Codified Ordinances, the following
rules and definitions shall control, excepting those inconsistent
with the manifest intent of the Board of Supervisors as disclosed
in a particular provision, section or chapter:
(1)
ADOPTING ORDINANCE — "Adopting Ordinance" means the ordinance of the Township adopting the Codified Ordinances of Upper Providence Township, Pennsylvania, 1991, in conformity with the Second Class Township Code, being the act of May 1, 1933 (P.L. 103), as amended, 53 P.S. Secs. 65101 et seq., and Section 5.06 of the Township Charter.
(2)
AUTHORITY — Whenever in the Codified Ordinances 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 any such particular provision.
(3)
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, unless the last
day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, in which case it shall
be excluded. If time is expressed in hours, the whole of Sunday shall
be excluded.
(4)
CAPITAL FUND — "Capital Fund" means the money on hand or estimated
to be received within the fiscal year, including proceeds of any borrowing
authorized by law, which has been appropriated for capital spending.
(5)
CHARTER — "Charter" means the Home Rule Charter of Upper Providence
Township, Pennsylvania.
(6)
CONJUNCTIONS — "And" includes "or" and "or" includes "and,"
if the sense so requires.
(7)
COUNCIL — "Council" means the Municipal Council of Upper Providence
Township, Pennsylvania.
(8)
COUNTY — "County" means the County of Delaware, Pennsylvania.
(9)
GENDER — Words importing the masculine shall extend and be
applied to the feminine and neuter genders.
(10)
GENERAL FUND — "General Fund" means the money on hand or estimated
to be received within the fiscal year, including the proceeds of any
borrowing authorized by law, except that money raised by special tax
levy for a particular purpose shall not be included.
(11)
GENERAL RULE — Except as otherwise provided in this section,
words and phrases shall be construed according to the common usage
of the language, provided, however, that 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.
(12)
JOINT AUTHORITY — Words giving authority to a board, commission,
authority or to three or more officers or employees or other persons
shall be construed as giving authority to a majority thereof, unless
otherwise specifically provided.
(13)
KEEPER AND PROPRIETOR — "Keeper" and "proprietor" mean persons,
firms, associations, corporations, clubs and copartnerships, whether
acting by themselves or as a servant, agent or employee.
(14)
LAND AND REAL ESTATE — "Land" and "real estate" include rights
and easements of an incorporeal nature.
(15)
LAW — "Law" means all applicable laws of the United States
of America, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and ordinances, resolutions,
rules and regulations of the Township.
(16)
MAY AND SHALL — "May" is directory or permissive; "shall" is
mandatory.
(17)
MUNICIPALITY AND TOWNSHIP — "Municipality" and "Township" mean
Upper Providence Township, Pennsylvania.
(18)
NUMBER — Words in the plural include the singular and words
in the singular include the plural number.
(19)
OATH — "Oath" includes affirmation. When an oath is required
or authorized by law, an affirmation in lieu thereof may be taken
by a person having conscientious scruples about taking an oath. An
affirmation shall have the same force and effect as an oath.
(20)
ORDINANCE — "Ordinance" means an enactment of the Township
Council.
(21)
OWNER — "Owner," when applied to property, includes a part
owner, joint owner or tenant in common of the whole or any part of
such property.
(22)
PERSON — "Person" means an individual, association, club, corporation,
firm, partnership or body politic.
(23)
PREMISES — "Premises," when used as applicable to property,
extends to and includes land and buildings.
(24)
PROPERTY — "Property" includes real and personal property and
any mixed and lesser estates or interests therein. "Personal property"
includes every kind of property except real property; "real property"
includes lands, tenements and hereditaments.
(25)
QUORUM — "Quorum" means an absolute majority of the whole body.
(26)
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 the giving of such notice.
(27)
SECOND CLASS TOWNSHIP CODE — "Second Class Township Code" means
the Laws Relating to Townships of the Second Class, being the Act
of May 1, 1933 (P.L. 103), as amended.
(28)
SIDEWALK — "Sidewalk" means any portion of a street between
the curb line and the adjacent property line, intended for the use
of pedestrians, excluding parkways.
(29)
STATE AND COMMONWEALTH — "State" and "Commonwealth" mean the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(30)
STREET — "Street" means alleys, avenues, boulevards, lanes,
roads, streets, State highways and other public ways in the Township.
(31)
TENANT AND OCCUPANT — "Tenant" and "occupant," as applied to
buildings 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.
(32)
TENSES — The use of any verb in the present tense includes
the future.
(33)
TIME — Whenever any time established in the Codified Ordinances
for the taking of any action expires on a Saturday, Sunday or legal
holiday, such time shall not expire on such day but shall expire on
the next week day.
(34)
UNENCUMBERED — "Unencumbered" means General Fund money that
has not been appropriated.
Each section and each part of each section of the Codified Ordinances
is hereby declared to be an independent section or part of a section
and notwithstanding any other evidence of legislative intent, it is
hereby declared to be the controlling legislative intent that if any
such section or part of a section, or any provision thereof, or the
application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid,
the remaining sections or parts of sections and the application of
such provision to any other person or circumstance, other than those
as to which it is held invalid, shall not be affected thereby, and
it is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that the Codified
Ordinances would have been adopted independently of such section or
part of a section so held to be invalid.
All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with the
provisions of the Codified Ordinances of Upper Providence Township,
Pennsylvania, 1991, are hereby repealed.
The provisions appearing in the Codified Ordinances, so far
as they are the same as those of the ordinances existing at the time
of the adoption of the Codified Ordinances, shall be considered as
a continuation thereof, and not as new enactments.
It shall be the duty of the Township Secretary, Council or someone
authorized and directed by the Secretary or Council to keep up-to-date
the certified copy of these Codified Ordinances required to be filed
in the office of the Secretary for the use of the public. All changes
in said Codified Ordinances and all ordinances adopted by Council
subsequent to the effective date of said Codified Ordinances, which
Council shall adopt specifically as part of said Codified Ordinances,
shall, when finally adopted, be included therein by reference until
such changes or new ordinances are printed as supplements to said
Codified Ordinances, at which time such supplements shall be inserted
therein.
No person shall improperly change or amend, by additions or
deletions, any part or portion of these Codified Ordinances, or alter
or tamper with said Codified Ordinances in any manner whatsoever,
which will cause the law of the Township to be misrepresented thereby.
Whenever provisions of these Codified Ordinances shall be deemed
to be in conflict with each other, such provisions shall be construed,
if possible, so that effect may be given all of them. If the conflict
between such provisions is irreconcilable, the stricter or higher
standard shall prevail, unless one provision is enacted later than
another provision or other provisions and it is the manifest intention
of Council that the provision later in date shall prevail.
Any matters or interpretations that might be required and that
are not covered in these Codified Ordinances, including the Home Rule
Charter, shall be interpreted under the Second Class Township Code
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (53 P.S. Sec. 65101 et seq.) as
if the same had been enacted herewith.
(a)
Whoever violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of
these Codified Ordinances relating to building, housing, property
maintenance, health, fire or public safety, or relating to water,
air or noise pollution, including any provision of any standard, technical
or other code adopted by reference in these Codified Ordinances, and
including any rule or regulation promulgated under authority of any
such standard, technical or other code adopted by reference in these
Codified Ordinances, or under authority of any other provision of
these Codified Ordinances, or under authority of State law, for which
no penalty is otherwise provided, shall be fined not more than $1,000.
(b)
Whoever violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of
these Codified Ordinances relating to a subject other than building,
housing, property maintenance, health, fire, public safety, or water,
air or noise pollution, including any provision of any standard, technical
or other code adopted by reference in these Codified Ordinances, and
including any rule or regulation promulgated under authority of any
such standard, technical or other code adopted by reference in these
Codified Ordinances, or under authority of any other provision of
these Codified Ordinances, or under authority of State law, for which
no penalty is otherwise provided, shall be fined not more than $600.
(c)
In default of the payment of any such fine and costs, the offender
may be imprisoned for not more than five days in the Township Lockup,
or not more than 30 days in the County Jail or Workhouse, for each
offense. Unless otherwise provided, a separate offense shall be deemed
committed each day during or on which a violation or noncompliance
occurs or continues. The penalty provided for herein shall be in addition
to any fee, deposit, charge, surcharge, interest, insurance or bond
requirement or equitable remedy provided in these Codified Ordinances,
or in any standard, technical or other code adopted by reference in
these Codified Ordinances, or in any rule or regulation promulgated
under authority of any such standard, technical or other code adopted
by reference in these Codified Ordinances, or under authority of any
other provision of these Codified Ordinances, or under authority of
State law.
(d)
Every person who commits or aids or abets in the commission of any
act declared in these Codified Ordinances or in any other ordinance
of the Township to be an offense, whether individually or in connection
with another person, or as principal, agent or accessory, shall be
guilty of such offense. Every person who falsely, fraudulently, forcibly
or willfully induces, causes, coerces, requires, permits or directs
another to violate any provision of these Codified Ordinances or any
other ordinance of the Township shall likewise be guilty of such offense.
