[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Blair 9-13-1983 by Ord. No. 1983-02 (Ch. 13, Part 3, of the 1985 Code of Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
Unless otherwise expressly provided, the following words shall for purposes of this chapter have the following meanings:
AUTOMOBILE
Any and all types of motor vehicles, including self-propelled machinery of all kinds with the exception of usable farm machinery.
BOARD
The Board of Supervisors of Blair Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania.
JUNK
Any and all discarded materials or articles, including, but not limited to, scrap metal, scrapped, abandoned or junked motor vehicles, machinery, equipment, papers, glass containers, structures, including unusable lumber, used plumbing supplies and other used building materials, household items such as unusable refrigerators, stoves and washing machines.
JUNK DEALER
Any person who buys, sells, salvages, stores, or in any way deals in junk or owns, leases, operates or maintains a junkyard within the Township.
JUNKYARD
Any place where junk as herein defined is stored or accumulated.
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership, firm, corporation, or other legal entity, including singular and plural, male and female.
PREMISE
Any parcel of land situated in Blair Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania, having a separate Tax Map parcel number for county assessment purposes.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Blair, Blair County, Pennsylvania.
[Amended 1-6-1986 by Ord. No. 1986-02]
A. 
No person shall be a junk dealer or own, operate or maintain a junkyard as herein defined within the Township without first obtaining a license to operate a junkyard as a junk dealer. The amounts of the license fees shall be those amounts as last adopted by resolution of Blair Township Board of Supervisors.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
B. 
The license shall be effective for a period of one year only, each license terminating on June 30th of the year for which it is issued, subject to renewal upon reapplication. A new application for a license shall be filed in writing with the Secretary of the Board of Supervisors and shall contain the applicant's sworn statement setting forth applicant's name and address, together with the names and addresses of all other persons interested in the business, an accurate description of the premises upon which the business is to be conducted and the junkyard located, and a statement that applicant will comply with this chapter and any regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. Upon receipt of the application and license fee by the Township, if the application and premises to be licensed complies with the provisions hereof, the Board shall within 60 days issue its license authorizing the operation and maintenance of a junkyard upon the premises by the junk dealer. Such license shall at all times be conspicuously displayed upon the junkyard premises. The license shall be nontransferable both as to the junkyard premises and junk dealer.
C. 
A renewal application for a license, after the original application has been approved, shall be filed in writing with the Secretary of the Board of Supervisors and shall contain the applicant's sworn statement setting forth the applicant's name and address, together with the names and addresses of all other persons interested in the business, an accurate description of the premises upon which the business is to be conducted and the junkyard located, and a statement that applicant will comply with this chapter and any regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. Upon receipt of the renewal application and license fee by the Township, if the application and premises to be licensed complies with the provisions hereof, the Board or the Secretary of the Board shall within 10 days issue the license authorizing the operation and maintenance of a junkyard upon the premises by the junk dealer. Such license shall at all times be conspicuously displayed upon the junkyard premises. The license shall be nontransferable both as to the junkyard premises and junk dealer.
D. 
In addition to all requirements, as set forth herein, any person applying for a new junkyard license shall file a sworn statement by a registered surveyor, along with his field survey, that the area to be used as a junkyard has an area of at least five acres and no more than 50 acres; or in the alternative, shall file a title certificate, along with a field survey by a licensed lawyer that the area to be used as a junkyard has an area of at least five acres and no more than 50 acres.
E. 
Furthermore, any person applying for a renewal license where requested by the Supervisors, shall file a sworn statement by a registered surveyor, along with his field survey, that the area to be used as a junkyard has an area of at least five acres and no more than 50 acres; or in the alternative, shall file a title certificate along with a field survey by a licensed lawyer that the area to be used as a junkyard has an area of at least five acres and no more than 50 acres.
No person licensed under this chapter shall by virtue of one license maintain or operate more than one junkyard within the Township of Blair, nor shall any person engage in business as a junk dealer or operate or maintain a junkyard in any place other than the place designated upon his license.
Every junk dealer licensed under this chapter shall maintain the licensed junkyard and conduct business as hereinafter provided.
A. 
No new application for a junkyard shall be approved which is for an area less than five acres nor more than 50 acres. This provision, however, shall not affect existing junkyards which have heretofore been approved. However, should at any time any existing junkyard be required to file a new application, then in that instance this provision shall be applicable.
B. 
All junk shall be stored and set back at least 100 feet from any adjoining premises and at least 100 feet from the nearest edge of the cartway of any public road or highway.
C. 
All junk shall be stored and arranged so as to permit access by firefighting equipment, and to prevent accumulation of stagnant water. Junked automobiles shall be spaced in rows with at least 15 feet between each double row to permit movement of fire equipment. Junk shall not be piled to a height of more than eight feet from the ground.
D. 
All gasoline shall be drained from any junked automobile into containers and removed from the junkyard premises within 12 hours from arrival on the said premises of the junked automobile. Gasoline or oil shall be stored at only one location on the licenses premises, and no more than 100 gallons in aggregate of gasoline and oil shall be stored above ground.
E. 
No motor vehicles, oil, grease, tires, gasoline or other similar material that might be dangerous or tend to produce obnoxious smoke or odors shall be burned within a junkyard at any time.
F. 
Junkyards shall at all times be maintained in such manner as to cause no public or private nuisance, nor to cause any menace to health or safety or any persons off the premises; nor to cause any excessive or offensive sounds or odors; nor to cause the breeding, harboring or infesting of rats, rodents or vermin; nor to cause a violation of any health or sanitation law, ordinance or regulation of any governmental body; no garbage or organic waste shall be stored or allowed to accumulate at said junkyard.
Any member of the Board or a duly authorized agent thereof may at any time enter upon and inspect any premises for which there is a pending application for a junkyard license or which holds a current junkyard license.
[Amended 9-18-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-07[1]]
If a person is in violation of this chapter prior to prosecution, said person shall receive a written notice 10 days in advance of the filing of any prosecution outlining the violations of which the person is charged. If said person fails to correct or eliminate all said violations indicated in said notice within 10 days of receipt of said notice, then said person may be prosecuted. Notice as prescribed in this chapter shall mean the sending of certified mail to the address listed on said application. If any person who maintains a junkyard in the Township of Blair shall be an absentee owner such that said person does not receive, accept or acknowledge the certified mail, notice shall be sufficient if the ten-day notice is posted on said property in a conspicuous location. Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before a Magisterial District Judge, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus all court costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Township in the enforcement of this chapter. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of the determination of the violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense. Further, the appropriate officers or agents of the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).