[Adopted 2-25-2015 by Ord. No. 317 as Ch. 8, Art. V, of the 2015 Pittsfield
Charter Township Code]
The following words or terms when used herein shall be deemed
to have the meanings set forth below:
Includes, without limitation, wood, yard waste, brush, metal,
sod, shavings, sawdust, refuse, rubbish, trash, liquids, chips, bricks,
dirt, parts of machinery or motor vehicles, furniture, appliances
or any other loose or cast-off material or articles of any kind.
Includes all natural persons, firms, copartnerships, corporations,
and all associations of natural person, incorporated or unincorporated,
whether acting by themselves, or by a servant, agent, or employee.
All persons who violate any provision of this ordinance, whether as
owner, occupant, lessee, agent, servant, or employee, shall be equally
liable as principals.
Includes, but is not limited to, the right-of-way of a street,
road or highway, a body of water or watercourse, or the shore or beach
thereof, including the ice above the water; a park, playground, building,
refuge, or conservation or recreation area; and residential or farm
properties or timberlands.
Every motorized or unmotorized, licensed or unlicensed, and/or
vehicle required to be registered under the provisions of MCL 257.1
et seq., as amended, to operate on a public road.
A vessel required to be registered under the provisions of
MCL 324.80104, as amended, to operate.[1]
It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly, without the
consent of the Township or owner of private property in the Township,
dump, deposit, place, throw, or cause or permit the dumping, depositing,
placing, throwing, or leaving of litter on a public or private property
or water within the Township.
It shall be unlawful for a person who removes a vehicle, wrecked
or damaged in a crash, on a highway, road, or street, to fail to remove
all glass and other injurious substances or litter dropped on the
highway, road or street as a result of the accident.
Except as provided for in § 8-31 involving litter from a leased vehicle or leased vessel, in a proceeding for a violation of this article involving litter from a motor vehicle or vessel, proof that the particular vehicle or vessel described in the citation, complaint, or warrant was used in the violation, together with proof that the defendant named in the citation, complaint, or warrant was the registered owner of the vehicle or vessel at the time of the violation, constitutes in evidence a presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle or vessel was the driver of the vehicle or vessel at the time of the violation.
The owner and/or driver of a vehicle or vessel is presumed to be responsible for litter which is thrown, dropped, dumped, deposited, placed, or left from the vehicle or vessel on public or private property defined in § 8-26.
In a proceeding for a violation of this article involving litter
from a leased motor vehicle or leased vessel, proof that the particular
vehicle described in the citation, complaint, or warrant was the lessee
of the vehicle or vessel at the time of the violation constitutes
in evidence a presumption that the lessee of the vehicle or vessel
was the driver of the vehicle or vessel at the time of the violation.
Any violation of this article by any person shall be deemed
a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $500
in addition to the actual cost of prosecution, or by the imprisonment
not to exceed 30 days, first offense and 90 days for following offenses,
or both. The court, in lieu of the other sentence imposed, may direct
a substitution of litter gathering labor or other related community
service, including, but not limited to, the litter connected with
the particular violation, under supervision of the court. Each day
a violation continues shall be deemed to be a separate violation.
This article shall not prevent the Township from using other methods
or means available to it under Michigan law pertaining to litter problems
or violations.
