[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the Borough of Sharon
Hill 8-25-1994 by Ord. No. 1238 (Ch. 119 of the 1972 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall
be defined as follows:
A vehicle which is found unattended without the current year's
registration or identification markers as required by law and has
been continuously parked or stored on private property for a period
of 10 days and is so disabled as to be incapable of being operated
under its own power or is without one or more of its tires.
Any motor vehicle which is no longer in actual use as a motor
vehicle or which is wholly unfit to be operated or has been discarded
for use.
The purpose of the chapter is to protect the health, safety,
morals and welfare of the citizens of the Borough by causing the removal
of abandoned, illegally parked, stored, wrecked, junked or stripped
motor vehicles from private property and to abate public nuisances
caused by the storage or parking of an accumulation of such motor
vehicles which are detrimental to the health, safety, morals and welfare
of the citizens of the Borough.
It shall be unlawful to park, store or leave any motor vehicle
of any kind in a wrecked, junked, stripped or abandoned condition
in a place where its presence constitutes a hazard on private property
or for the owner of such motor vehicle or the owner or occupant of
any property to allow, permit or suffer the same to be left upon any
privately owned property unless the same is authorized in connection
with a business property operated pursuant to the zoning laws and
other laws of the Borough.
If the Police Department or the Borough Manager or any of their
authorized agents find that a violation of this chapter exists, the
Police Department or the Borough Manager or their agent shall notify
the owner of the property on which the motor vehicle is stored or
parked or the owner of the vehicle, or both, of the violation and
request either or both of said owners to remove said motor vehicle
or vehicles within five days thereof or any other reasonable time
as the conditions warrant.
Notice shall be given by personal service or registered mail
to the last known address of the violator. In the event that, upon
diligent search, the address of either property owner or the vehicle
owner cannot be ascertained, the posting of said notice or copies
thereof on the real property, vehicle, structure or area immediately
adjacent thereto shall constitute sufficient notice.
Within five days after notice, the party or parties affected
may request a hearing by filing a written request with the Borough
Manager. Said hearing shall be conducted before the Magisterial District
Judge. The issue at said hearing shall be whether or not the activity
complained of in the case constitutes a nuisance.
If a hearing is not requested within the five-day period, said
notice shall become an order, and the parties affected shall proceed
to remove or have removed the motor vehicle or vehicles in question
from the property in question in accordance with the notice and order.
On proper request, a hearing on the matter shall be given forthwith
before the aforesaid Magisterial District Judge, and when more than
one party is involved, it shall be the duty of the party requesting
said hearing to notify all other parties affected or interested of
the time and place of the impending hearing.
If the violation complained of shall not have been remedied
within the period as required by the order, the Borough of Sharon
Hill shall, through its own agents, contractors and/or employees,
remedy the violation and charge the costs thereof to the real property
owner on whose property the motor vehicle or vehicles are located.
In addition to said costs, the Borough shall be entitled to collect
a penalty sum of 10% of such costs. Said costs and penalty shall,
after a proper demand and refusal to pay after 30 days, constitute
a lien on said realty, which shall be filed by the Solicitor upon
receipt of all information.
Nothing in this chapter shall prevent duly authorized police
officials from removing from private property, without notice, any
attended or unattended motor vehicles, the presence of which constitutes
a hazard or threat to the life, health, safety or welfare and morals
of the citizens of the Borough of Sharon Hill and which is imminently
dangerous and, in the opinion of the authorized police officials,
constitutes a nuisance which gives rise to the existence of emergency
conditions.
Removal by the Police Department or its agent of a motor vehicle
as called for herein shall be to the nearest garage or lot or other
place of safety or to a garage designated or maintained by the Police
Department or otherwise maintained by the Borough.
The Borough Council shall designate one or more storage garages
or lots as approved storage garages or lots for the storage of its
impounded vehicles.
Every such approved storage garage shall post a bond in the
amount of $2,000, to be filed with the Borough Manager, for the indemnification
of the owner of any such impounded vehicle against the loss thereof
or injury or damage thereto while in the custody of said garage keeper.
The Council of the Borough of Sharon Hill, by resolution or
motion, shall from time to time establish the fair and reasonable
charges for the towing and storage of any vehicle removed and impounded
under the authority of this chapter.
Within 12 hours of the time of removal of any motor vehicle
under authority granted in this chapter, notice of the fact that such
vehicle has been impounded shall be sent by the Police Department
or its agent to the owner of record of such vehicle and the real property
owner from whose land said vehicle was removed. Such notice shall
designate the place from which said vehicle was removed, the reason
for its removal and the garage or lot in which it shall have been
impounded.
The payment of any towing and storage charges authorized by
this chapter shall, unless payment shall have been made under protest,
be final and conclusive and shall constitute a waiver of any right
to recover the money so paid.
In the event that any towing or storage charges so imposed shall
be paid under protest, the offender shall be entitled to a hearing
before a Magisterial District Judge or court of record having jurisdiction.
The Police Department shall keep a record of all motor vehicles
impounded and shall be able at all times to furnish the owners or
agents of the owners thereof with information as to the place of storage
of such vehicles.
The payment of towing and storage charges shall not operate
to relieve the owner of any motor vehicle or owner of any real property
on which said vehicle was parked, stored or abandoned from liability
for any fine or penalty for the violation of any law or ordinance
on account of which said motor vehicle was removed and impounded.
No motor vehicle shall be removed under the authority of this
chapter if, at the time of the intended removal thereof, the owner
or the landowner on whose property said motor vehicle is standing
is present and expresses a willingness and intention to remove such
motor vehicle immediately.
[Amended 7-14-1988 by Ord. No. 1180]
Any person who shall be convicted of a violation of any of the
provisions of this chapter before any Magisterial District Judge shall
be sentenced to pay a maximum fine as provided from time to time by
state statute, together with costs of prosecution, or to imprisonment
in the county jail for a term not to exceed 30 days, or both.
