[Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of White 9-28-2016 by Ord. No. 1075. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Nuisances — See Ch. 175.
The Township intends to preserve the peace, health, safety and
welfare of the residents and neighborhoods in the municipality by
reducing gatherings and events that become a public nuisance. The
Township finds that:
A.
Events and gatherings held on private or public property where persons
gather and where neighborhood disturbances, destruction and defacing
of property, violence and hazardous conditions result constitute a
threat to peace, health, safety and welfare of the community that
require prevention, response to, and/or abatement.
B.
The hosts or other organizers of a gathering or event are deemed
to be responsible for the activities of their guests and visitors
on the site of the gathering event.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
Any group of 10 or more persons who have assembled or gathered
together for a social function or other activity on public or private
property whether indoors or outdoors.
To aid, conduct, allow, entertain, organize, supervise, control,
or overtly permit a gathering or event.
As defined by Title 18, Pennsylvania Crimes Code § 6310.6.[1]
As defined by Title 18, Pennsylvania Crimes Code § 6310.6.[2]
Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, corporation,
or any association of one or more individuals.
Any home, yard, fraternity house, farm, field, land, apartment,
condominium, hotel or motel room, or other dwelling unit, or a hall
or meeting room, park, or any other place of assembly, public or private,
whether occupied on a temporary or permanent basis, whether occupied
as a dwelling or specifically for a party or other social function,
and whether owned, leased, rented, or used with or without permission
or compensation. Premises licensed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control
Board are excluded from the definition of "premises" for purposes
of this chapter.
Any individual under 21 years of age.
An event or gathering that results in three or more of the following
illegal activities at a premises, is hereby declared to be an unlawful
public nuisance as defined herein:
The within chapter shall not apply to any event or gathering
held for political or religious purposes, regardless of size, whether
held indoors or outdoors and whether held on public or private property.
A.
Any premises owner, occupant, tenant, or other person having any possessory control, individually or jointly with others, of any premises who sponsors, conducts, hosts, invites, or overtly permits an event or gathering that at any time of the event or gathering becomes an unlawful public nuisance as defined in § 176-3 is hereby deemed to have committed a violation of this section.
B.
Assistance request exemption. Any premises owner, occupant, tenant,
or other person having any possessory control, individually or jointly
with others, of any premises who requests assistance from the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania State Police to prevent a gathering from becoming
a nuisance gathering as set forth herein shall not be considered to
have violated this chapter. This exemption may only be obtained one
time in any three-hundred-sixty-five-day period.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of
this chapter, 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 less than $25 nor more than
$1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment of said fine and costs,
to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation
of this chapter continues or each section of this chapter which shall
be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, word,
or other portion of this chapter is, for any reason, held to be unconstitutional
or invalid, in whole, or in part, by any court of competent jurisdiction,
such portion shall be deemed severable, and such unconstitutionality
or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions
of this chapter, which remaining portions shall continue in full force
and effect.