[Adopted 10-18-1972 by Ord. No. 50]
[Amended 5-8-2006 by Ord. No. 260]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
EXCRETA
All useless matter eliminated from the bodily system, as sputum, urine, fecal matter.
INTOXICATION
A state of any person being drunk, inebriated or under the influence of alcoholic beverages or spirituous liquors, taken internally, or under the influence of any narcotic or habit-producing drug.
PARK
Unless specifically limited, shall be deemed to include all parks, playgrounds, athletic fields, stadiums, tennis courts, golf courses, swimming pools, beaches, band shells, music pavilions, recreational areas and structures, museums, geological and botanical gardens, and also entrances and approaches thereto, and all other land or property or structures now and hereafter owned or acquired by the Township of Harris for recreation purpose or now or hereafter owned or acquired by any other entity and declared by resolution of the Township of Harris to be a park.
PERMIT
Any written authorization issued by or under the authority of the Director of Parks and Recreation permitting specified park privilege.
PERSONS
Any natural person, corporation, organization of persons, company, association, or partnership.
POLICE OFFICER
Any peace officer of the Township of Harris or State of Pennsylvania or any employee of the Department of Parks and Recreation appointed as a special police officer for the purpose of the enforcement of law and order within parks.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
Any rules and regulations hereby or hereafter established by the ordinance of the Township of Harris or as promulgated by the Director of Parks and Recreation under authority herein conferred.
In the interpretation of the rules and regulations affecting parks, their provisions shall be construed as follows:
A. 
Terms in singular. Any term in the singular shall include the plural.
B. 
Terms in masculine. Any term in the masculine shall include the feminine and neuter.
C. 
Extension of rules and regulations. Any requirement or provision of these rules and regulations relating to any act shall respectively extend to and include the causing, procuring, aiding or abetting, directly or indirectly, of such act; or the permitting or the allowing of any minor in the custody of any persons, doing any act prohibited by any provisions thereof.
D. 
Acts not unlawful. No provision hereof shall make unlawful any act necessarily performed by any police officer or employee of the Department of Parks and Recreation in line of duty or work as such, or by any person, his agents or employees, in the proper and necessary execution of the terms of any agreement with the Department of Parks and Recreation.
E. 
Permits. Any act otherwise prohibited by these rules and regulations, provided it is not otherwise prohibited by law or local ordinance, shall be lawful if performed under, by virtue of and strictly in compliance with the provisions of a permit and to the extent authorized thereby.
F. 
State and federal laws. These rules and regulations are in addition to and supplement all state and federal laws.
No person shall do any obscene or indecent act in any park, or display, expose or distribute any picture, banner or other object suggestive of sex in a lewd, indecent, immoral way; or enter a comfort station or toilet set apart for the use of the opposite sex; nor shall any person loiter in any comfort station or toilet at any time, nor shall any person dress or undress in any part except dressing rooms provided for such persons.
No person shall solicit money, subscriptions, or contributions for any purpose in any park unless authorized by permit from the Director of Parks and Recreation.
No person shall enter or be in a park while intoxicated; nor have in his possession any intoxicant. This provision shall not be interpreted to exclude any person under normal and accepted medication.
[Amended 6-13-2011 by Ord. No. 294]
No person shall perform the following actions within parks or playgrounds without having previously obtained the written consent and approval of the Director of the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Department: carry or discharge an air rifle, air pistol, a paintball gun or paintball marker; fireworks (including rockets) or other missile-propelling instruments or explosives; a slingshot or a bow and arrow; or other dangerous weapons, excepting firearms, which have such properties as to cause annoyance or injury to any person or property; provided, further, that no person shall discharge any firearm within parks or playgrounds.
No person shall emit, eject, or cause to be deposited in any park, any excreta of the human body, except in proper receptacles designated for such purposes.
No person shall gain improper admission to, or use of, or attempt admission to any park facility, for which a charge is made, without paying the fixed charge or price of admission.
No person, shall, in any park, disobey a proper order of a police officer or any park and recreation employee designated by the Director of Parks and Recreation to give orders. Nor shall any person in any park disobey, disregard or fail to comply with any rule or regulation, warning, prohibition, instruction or direction, posted or displayed by sign, notice, bulletin, card, poster, or when notified or informed as to its existence by a park employee or other authorized person.
No person shall cut, break, injure, deface, or disturb any tree, shrub, plant, rock, building, cage, pen, monument, fence, bench, or other structures, apparatus or property or pluck, pull up, cut, take or remove any shrub, bush, plant or flower; or mark, or write upon any building, monument, fence, bench or other structures, or injure, deface or remove any property, real or personal or any natural growth, structure, equipment, animals, signs, or other park property.
No fires shall be set in any park except in areas where fires are expressly permitted; or except as authorized by permit issued under the authority of the Director of Parks and Recreation.
No person shall throw, cast, lay, drop or discharge into or leave any body of water in any park, or in any storm sewer, or drain flowing into said water, or in any gutter, sewer or basin, any substance, matter, or thing, whatsoever.
No person shall cause or permit any animal, livestock or poultry to come upon or go at large in any park; except that dogs or other domesticated animals may be brought into parks so long as the person bringing such animals into a park shall at all times keep such animals under control and restrained by a leash or lead not exceeding six feet in length. No animal, including dogs and domesticated animals, shall be permitted in the immediate vicinity of bathhouses, wading or swimming pools, children's play areas or any other areas that may be designated by sign as prohibited areas.
No person shall deposit, drop or leave any papers, bottles, debris, or other waste matter or refuse of any kind in any park or part thereof except in such receptacles as may be provided for the purpose.
No person shall operate any motor vehicle on any roadway in any park at any rate of speed greater than is reasonable having regard to the width of the roadway, traffic, and use of such roadway, intersection with other roadways, weather and other conditions; and in no event shall any vehicle be operated on such highway at a speed in excess of 15 mph.
A permit to do any act shall authorize the same only insofar as it may be performed in strict accordance with the written terms and conditions thereof. Any violation of any law, ordinance, or rule or regulation by the holder or agents of the holder of any permit shall constitute grounds for revocation, which action shall be final. In case of revocation, all moneys paid therefore shall, at the option of the Department of Parks and Recreation, be forfeited and shall leave the violator liable for all damages or loss suffered in excess of such forfeited or retained money, and such moneys retained or damages paid, or both, shall not relieve such person from liability to punishment for violation of any law, ordinance, rule or regulation.
No person shall conduct, operate, present or manage in any park, a parade, drill, maneuver, public meeting, ceremony, speech, address, public contest, exhibit, dramatic performance, spectacle, play, motion picture, fair, circus, or show of any kind or nature, band, choir, glee club, orchestra, without a permit.
All organized group picnics or outings shall be authorized by permits obtained previous to entering any park.
[Amended 10-14-2019 by Ord. No. 340]
All organized teams, leagues, agencies, schools, churches and other groups must obtain a permit for these facilities before announcing schedules.
No person shall in any park exhibit, sell, or offer for sale, hire, lease or let out any object, service or merchandise or anything whatsoever, whether corporal or incorporal except under a permit.
No person shall advertise in any park in any manner whatsoever for any reason whatsoever, except by permit.
Games, sports and competition shall be held and carried on only in those places and during the times specifically designated therefore. This shall not be construed to prevent or prohibit multi-sport and activity use of designated areas where such use may be properly confined to such areas and carried out without harm to the designated area; provided, however, that properly scheduled sports, games and activities shall at all times have priority of use of such designated areas at the scheduled times.
[Added 6-13-2011 by Ord. No. 294; amended 10-14-2019 by Ord. No. 340]
Unmanned aircraft includes radio-controlled, string-controlled, remote-controlled, and tethered model aircraft, and drones. Unmanned aircraft shall not be placed in flight or landed in any pocket, neighborhood, or community park. Unmanned aircraft may be placed in flight or landed with a permit from the Director of Parks and Recreation in the Regional Parks (Oak Hall Regional Park, Hess Softball Complex, and Whitehall Road Regional Park) when not interfering with other permitted and scheduled events or activities. All unmanned aircraft operators must follow all Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) protocols to include safe operations, licensing, inspections, training, flight patterns, distances, heights, etc. Exceptions will be made for other parks for commercial uses only (i.e., commercial filming) with a permit request to the Director of Parks and Recreation.
[Amended 6-13-2011 by Ord. No. 294]
In order to provide for equitable use of park facilities, preserve park areas and facilities, and to protect the safety of users of the parks and their facilities, the Director of Parks and Recreation shall have the following authority, the enumeration of which shall not restrict the general authority and control of the Director over the parks.
[Amended 6-13-2011 by Ord. No. 294]
A. 
To fix time. To fix times when the parks or parts thereof shall be open to public use.
B. 
To restrict use. To designate parks and parts thereof as restricted to the use of certain positions of the public at certain times as he sees fit.
C. 
To issue permits. Under uniform conditions to be prescribed by him, to issue permits for regulated uses as hereinbefore enumerated.
D. 
To fix charges. The Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority sets its fees and policies each year for the use of park areas or facilities or privileges, to be utilized by the Parks and Recreation Director for all permitting purposes.
[Amended 10-14-2019 by Ord. No. 340]
E. 
To collect fees. To collect such fees and deposits for the use of park areas or facilities or privileges as the Director deems advisable to help defray the expenses of the parks and their facilities.
[Amended 10-14-2019 by Ord. No. 340]
F. 
Appeals. Persons aggrieved by a decision of the Director denying the use of a facility may appeal such decision to the Township Manager, whose decision shall be final.
[Added 10-14-2019 by Ord. No. 340]
[Amended 6-13-2011 by Ord. No. 294]
A. 
Police officers of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or park employees appointed as special park police shall have the authority to enforce these rules and regulations for parks.
B. 
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this article, 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 fines and costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation of this article continues or each section of this article which shall be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. AO, Adopting Ordinance).