[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Derry 6-17-2013 by Ord. No.
2013-6. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Derry Township Nuisance
Ordinance of 2013."
This chapter is ordained and enacted pursuant to the power of
the Board of Supervisors to prohibit nuisances as per Section 1529,
Nuisances, of the Second Class Township Code, as amended (53 P.S.
§ 66529, as amended), Section 2326, Obstructions and Nuisances,
of the Second Class Township Code (53 P.S. § 67326) and
the general powers of the Township to make or adopt ordinances necessary
for the proper management, care and control of the Township and the
maintenance of peace, good government, health and welfare of the Township
and of its citizens per Section 1506 of the Second Class Township
Code, as amended (53 P.S. § 66506, as amended) and otherwise
per law.
A.Â
The Township Supervisors deem it to be necessary for the health,
general welfare, cleanliness and safety of the Township, its citizens,
residents and visitors to the Township to adopt an ordinance relating
to certain nuisances and find:
(1)Â
That the accumulation of rubbish and/or the accumulation of abandoned
or junked motor vehicles and/or the existence of grass in excess of
the height herein indicated and harmful vegetation create a hazard
and danger to citizens, residents and visitors to the Township because
such conditions provide a haven for insects, rodents and vermin and/or
otherwise create unhealthful and unsafe conditions;
(2)Â
That the accumulation of rubbish and/or the accumulation of abandoned
or junk motor vehicles and/or grass in excess of the height herein
indicated and harmful vegetation creates an attractive nuisance for
children who are not aware of the dangers involved;
(3)Â
That the accumulation of rubbish and/or the accumulation of abandoned
or junk motor vehicles and/or existence of grass in excess of the
height herein indicated and harmful vegetation creates an unhealthful,
unclean and unsafe condition for those citizens, residents and visitors
of and to the Township whose real estate abuts the affected real estate
and who otherwise come into contact with the abandoned or junk motor
vehicles, and/or the accumulation of rubbish and/or the existence
of grass in excess of the height herein indicated and harmful vegetation;
(4)Â
That the infestation of real estate and all types of structures thereon
with insects and/or rodents and/or which are a haven and/or a breeding
area for insects and/or rodents is unhealthful, unclean and unsafe
for those owners or occupants of real estate whose real estate abuts
the affected real estate as well as those citizens, residents, visitors
and others who otherwise come into contact with the affected real
estate and/or the insects and/or rodents which are sheltered or harbored
by such real estate and the structures thereon; and
(5)Â
That the obstructing of a public road or committing of any nuisance
thereon by felling trees, making fences, turning the road, diverting
water onto or in any other way and who does not, on notice given by
the Board of Supervisors, immediately remove the obstruction or nuisance
and repair the damages, if any, is a nuisance and that such conditions
and activities must be prohibited for the health, safety and welfare
of the citizens and residents of the Township and visitors to the
Township.
B.Â
Furthermore, such conditions must otherwise be prohibited for the
health, safety and welfare of the citizens, residents and visitors
to the Township and for the proper management and good government
of the Township.
The Supervisors of Derry Township hereby declare the storing
and/or accumulating of rubbish and/or the parking, placing or leaving
of abandoned motor vehicles or junk motor vehicles on any public or
private tract of land and/or the failure to cut grass in excess of
the height hereinafter indicated and/or to eliminate harmful vegetation
and/or permitting by action or inaction and thereby allowing the infestation
of real estate and the structures thereon by insects and/or rodents
and/or the obstructing of a public road or committing of any nuisance
thereon by felling trees, making fences, turning the road, diverting
water onto or in any other way and who does not, on notice given by
or on behalf of the Board of Supervisors, immediately remove or correct
the nuisance, as aforesaid, and/or the obstruction of a public road
and repair the damages, if any, done to the road, as applicable, is
a public nuisance.
Unless otherwise expressly stated or unless the context clearly
requires a different meaning, the following terms and conditions when
used in this chapter shall have the following meanings next ascribed
to them:
A motor vehicle shall be presumed to be abandoned under any
of the following circumstances:
The vehicle is physically inoperable and is left unattended
on a highway, street, alley or other public property for more than
48 hours.
The vehicle has remained illegally on a highway, street, alley
or other public property for a period of more than 48 hours.
The vehicle has remained on private property without the consent
of the owner or person in control of the property for more than 24
hours.
The Derry Township Supervisors.
A structure, either temporary or permanent, used or occupied
as a roofed shelter without walls or a roofed enclosure with walls
for persons, animals or property. The word "building" shall be construed
as if followed by the words "or any part thereof."
The act of infesting; something that infests. "Infest" is
defined as to be present persistently or to be present in large numbers
or to overrun.
A vehicle shown to be junk under any one or more of the following
circumstances:
A vehicle for which a certificate of junk, a certificate of
salvage or other like certificate has been issued by the Pennsylvania
Department of Transportation or for which a certificate of junk, a
certificate of salvage or other like certificate has been issued by
an appropriate official designated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or by any other applicable state.
A vehicle where the engine or parts of which have been removed
for more than 15 days.
A vehicle where one or more of the tires have been deflated
or the wheels removed for more than 15 days.
A vehicle where one or more of the windows thereof shall be
cracked, smashed, missing or otherwise broken for more than 15 days.
A vehicle bearing no official inspection sticker or a sticker
not currently valid, or not bearing a current registration plate or
an ascertainable vehicle identification number.
A vehicle not capable of being moved under its own power.
A vehicle otherwise so derelict, discarded, rusted, disabled,
scrapped, or substantially worthless as a motor vehicle to be deemed
"junk" in the common definition and accepted meaning of the word "junk."
A vehicle which is self-propelled except one which is propelled
solely by human or animal power or by electric power obtained from
overhead trolley wires, but not operated on rails.
That person leasing or otherwise occupying real estate.
That person who is the actual legal title holder or the custodian
of the motor vehicle or motor vehicles or that person owning or in
charge of any real estate, including the personal representative of
an estate, the trustee of trust, an attorney-in-fact, an agent, or
a guardian of the person in whom legal title is vested.
To suffer, allow, consent, let; to give, leave or license;
to acquiesce by failure to prevent, or to expressly accept or agree
to the doing of any act.
A natural person, firm, partnership, limited partnership,
limited-liability partnership, limited-liability corporation, association,
corporation or other legal entity.
The control or elimination of insects, rodents or other pests
by eliminating their harborage places, by removing or making inaccessible
items or materials that serve as their food or water, by approved
and legal pest elimination methods.
Useless waste or rejected matter, including, but not limited
to, parts of vehicles, appliances or parts thereof, discarded or deteriorated
childrens' toys, rags, rubber, plastic, wire or the like; combustible
trash, including paper, cardboard, cartons, boxes, barrels, wood,
excelsior, wood furniture, bedding; noncombustible trash, including
glass, metals, scrap metals, tin cans, metal furniture, crockery;
junk material such as, but not limited to, unused or abandoned machinery,
equipment, rusted, deteriorated machinery or equipment or parts thereof;
and all forms of waste and refuse of any type of material; provided
that "rubbish" shall not include earth from building operations, nor
shall it include leaves, tree or bush trimmings, or brush, nor shall
it include cornstalks, stubble or other vegetable material generated
in the course of harvesting agricultural crops.
A man-made object having an ascertainable, stationary location
on or in land or water, whether or not affixed to the land or something
located on the land. The term "structure" shall include buildings,
fences, walls, towers, swimming pools, porches, garages or the like,
or any part thereof.
Township of Derry, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, sometimes
referred to as Derry Township, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania.
Nuisances, including, but not limited to, the following, are
hereby declared to be unlawful:
A.Â
Unlawful to store or accumulate rubbish. It shall be unlawful to
accumulate "rubbish" upon private or public property, specifically
including, but not limited to: useless waste or rejected matter, including,
but not limited to, parts of vehicles, appliances or parts thereof,
discarded or deteriorated childrens' toys, rags, rubber, plastic,
wire or the like; combustible trash, including paper, cardboard, cartons,
boxes, barrels, wood, excelsior, wood furniture, bedding; noncombustible
trash, including glass, metals, scrap metals, tin cans, metal furniture,
crockery; junk material such as, but not limited to, unused or abandoned
machinery, equipment, rusted, deteriorated machinery or equipment
or parts thereof; and all forms of waste and refuse of any type of
material; provided that "rubbish" shall not include earth and wastes
from building operations, nor shall it include leaves, tree or bush
trimmings, or brush, nor shall it include cornstalks, stubble or other
vegetable material generated in the course of harvesting agricultural
crops.
B.Â
Unlawful to park, place or leave an abandoned or junk motor vehicle
on any private or public tract of land. It shall be unlawful and it
shall be a violation of this chapter for any person or owner or occupant
(including a tenant or lessee):
(1)Â
To park, place or leave an abandoned or junk motor vehicle on any
public highway, street, alley or other public property within the
Township for a period longer than 72 consecutive hours; or
(2)Â
To park, place or leave an abandoned motor vehicle or junk motor vehicle on any private tract of land within the Township for a period longer than 30 consecutive days unless such abandoned motor vehicle or junk motor vehicle is stored in an enclosed building and provided that the same is permitted pursuant to the Chapter 215, Zoning, as amended or supplemented from time to time, and any other applicable ordinances of the Township.
C.Â
Unlawful to fail to cut grass or eliminate harmful vegetation.
(1)Â
Every person who owns or occupies, or who has charge, care, or control
of, any real estate in the Township shall:
(a)Â
Keep the grass on the real estate so cut that the grass at no
time exceeds six inches in height; and
(b)Â
Keep the grounds or premises of the real estate at all times
free of harmful vegetation; and
(c)Â
Keep hedges, bushes or vines inside the property line of the
real estate and not permit them to extend onto the sidewalk or the
public road.
(2)Â
GRASS
HARMFUL VEGETATION
For purposes of this provision, the following words and terms shall
have the meanings or interpretations next ascribed to them:
Shall not be deemed to mean or to include that kind of herbage
which is grown for a proper or lawful agricultural use of the real
estate. For example, the word "grass" does not mean herbage grown
for feed or browse for grazing livestock or herbage grown for hay
or silage on real estate where agricultural use is lawful.
Any vegetation which emits fumes, odors, pollen, dust or
seeds which, if carried or allowed to escape or spread beyond the
boundaries or confines of the real estate, could be physically discomforting,
harmful or dangerous to animals, crops, lands, soils, property or
inhabitants of adjacent real estate or to persons or property in a
public place. For example, the term "harmful vegetation" could mean
or include, but is not limited to, ragweed, goldenrod, Canadian thistle,
multiflora rose and the like.
D.Â
Unlawful by action or inaction to permit or allow the infestation
of real estate and structures thereon by insects and/or rodents. Every
person who owns or occupies, or who has charge, care, or control of
any real estate and any structures thereon in the Township shall not
permit either by action or by inaction and otherwise shall not allow
the infestation of the real estate and the structures thereon, or
any part thereof, by insects and/or rodents. All such persons shall
have a duty of pest elimination to control and eliminate any infestation
by insects or rodents of the real estate and the structures thereon,
or any part thereof.
E.Â
Unlawful to obstruct or commit any nuisance on any public road.
(1)Â
It shall be unlawful for any person to obstruct any public road or
commit any nuisance thereon by felling trees, making fences, turning
the road, diverting water onto or in any other way and who does not,
on notice given by the Board of Supervisors, immediately remove the
obstruction or nuisance and repair the damages, if any, done to the
road.
(2)Â
Nothing herein shall debar a prosecution of any nuisance as in the
case of misdemeanor at common law.
(3)Â
It shall specifically be a violation of this provision to permit
trees on or along real estate to have untrimmed branches within the
public right-of-way, including sidewalks, to endanger pedestrians
as well as motorists and/or to extend lower than seven feet above
the surface of the ground, or to obstruct the view of motorists or
to obstruct street or traffic lights.
It is the intent of this chapter that for a violation hereof
to be a public nuisance, there must be a nuisance in fact.
A.Â
Notice.
(1)Â
Whenever a condition constituting a nuisance is maintained, the Board
of Supervisors shall cause written notice, by one authorized so to
do, to be served upon the owner and the occupant of the property,
by one of the following manners:
(a)Â
By making personal service or delivery of the notice to the
owner and, if applicable, the occupant of the premises; or
(b)Â
By handing a copy:
[1]Â
At the residence of the owner to an adult member of the family
with whom he resides; but if no adult member of the family is found,
then to an adult person in charge of such residence, or to an adult
person in charge of the property where the condition is located; or
[2]Â
At the residence of owner to the clerk or manager of the hotel,
inn, apartment house, boarding house or other place of lodging at
which he resides; or
[3]Â
At any office or usual place of business of the owner or his
agent or to the person for the time being in charge thereof; or
(c)Â
By mailing a copy of the notice to the last known address of
the owner, and, if applicable, the occupant, by certified mail, return
receipt requested, restricted delivery and concomitantly mailing a
copy of said notice by United States first-class mail, as evidenced
by a postal certificate of mailing.
(3)Â
If the certified mail, return receipt requested, restricted delivery and the United States first-class mail are both returned by the postal authorities, and if service cannot reasonably and expeditiously be made in any other manner under Subsection A(1)(a) through (c), service shall be made by posting a copy of the notice and order in a conspicuous place visible to the public and to any owner or occupant of the property, on the property which is the subject of or is the property affected by the notice and order.
B.Â
Order to correct. Such notice shall contain an order to correct which
shall include:
(1)Â
A description sufficient to identify the condition and the location
of the condition; and
(2)Â
An order to such owner or occupant to take action to correct the
condition within a specified time no less than within 10 days after
the date of the notice and, thereafter, to comply fully with its terms
of the notice with reasonable dispatch as is deemed necessary by the
Township to correct the condition under the circumstances; and
(3)Â
A warning substantially to the effect that if the condition is not
corrected within the time fixed in the order, the failure to correct
the condition could result in the imposition of a fine and court costs,
and, in addition, could result in the condition being abated by the
Township as a public nuisance at the cost and expense of the owner
of the property; and
(4)Â
Both the owner and the occupant of a premises/property shall be responsible
for carrying out or complying with the order.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter
shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial
District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure,
be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of
not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment
thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation
continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate
offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also
constitute a separate offense.
The Township, by means of a complaint in equity, may compel
the owner and, if applicable, the occupant of the premises to comply
with the terms of any notice of violation, or otherwise may seek any
such other relief as any court of competent jurisdiction is empowered
to afford.
[Amended 10-21-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-9]
A.Â
In addition to any other penalties and remedies set forth in this
chapter, any owner who shall create, continue, maintain or store or
accumulate rubbish, and/or park, place or leave an abandoned or junk
motor vehicle on any private or public tract of land, and/or fail
to cut grass or eliminate harmful vegetation at any place within the
Township, as applicable, and/or permit by action or inaction or allow
the infestation of real estate and structures thereon by insects and/or
rodents and/or the obstruct a public road or commit any nuisance thereon
by felling trees, making fences, turning the road, diverting water
onto or in any other way, and/or permit such conditions to exist and
continue unabated shall, within 10 days, or such greater reasonable
time as determined by Township Supervisors, after notice and order,
as above, from the Township Supervisors, to do so, remove and legally
dispose of said rubbish, and/or remove and dispose of said abandoned
or junked motor vehicle(s) and/or cut said grass and/or eliminate
harmful vegetation and/or eliminate the infestation of insects and/or
rodents of real estate and structures thereon and/or cease the obstructing
of a public road or committing of any nuisance thereon by felling
trees, making fences, turning the road, diverting water onto or in
any other way, as required by the provisions of this chapter, as applicable.
If such owner shall fail, neglect or refuse to comply with the provisions
of the notice and order, aforesaid, within the time limit set forth
therein, the Township Supervisors shall have authority, in person
or by their agents and/or employees, to abate the nuisance and to
remove said rubbish and/or remove said abandoned and/or junked motor
vehicle(s) and/or cut said grass and/or eliminate harmful vegetation
and/or eliminate the infestation of insects and/or rodents of real
estate and structures thereon and/or eliminate or remove the obstruction
of a public road or the committing of any nuisance thereon caused
by the felling of trees, the making of fences, the turning of the
road or the diverting water onto the road or in any other way, and,
in so doing, shall have authority to enter upon the property of such
person in default and, thereupon, the Township Supervisors shall collect
the cost and expense of such elimination, removal, and abatement from
any owner who created, continued, caused, maintained or permitted
such violation to exist, such owner having failed, neglected or refused
to comply with the notice and order when so requested, by the filing
of a municipal claim in the manner provided by law for the collection
of municipal claims or by an action in assumpsit (a civil action).
B.Â
In relation to the disposal of abandoned motor vehicles, the Township
of Derry shall follow the procedure set forth in the Pennsylvania
Vehicle Code Act of June 17, 1976, P.L. 162, Act No. 81, Section 1,
as amended, 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq., as amended, and
the Township Secretary is hereby designated to be the person to process
all vehicles presumed to be abandoned so as to permit a licensed salvor
to remove, possess and further process the abandoned vehicle, all
in accordance with the amendment to the Vehicle Code, as set forth
in the Act of December 9, 2002, P.L. 1278, Act No. 152, Section 11,
75 Pa.C.S.A. § 7303.1, as it may be amended from time to
time, and otherwise per the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code.
The imposition of the remedies or penalties herein prescribed
are not exclusive, but, on the contrary, they are cumulative and the
exercise of one remedy or penalty shall not preclude the Township
from instituting an appropriate action, in law or equity, or taking
appropriate action under this chapter or otherwise to restrain, correct
or abate the violation and/or stop any illegal act or conduct.
The provisions of this chapter, so far as they are the same
as those ordinances in force immediately prior to the enactment of
this chapter, are intended as an amendment and a continuation of such
ordinances and not as new enactments. The provisions of this chapter
shall not affect any such suit or prosecution pending or to be instituted
to enforce any right or penalty or to punish any offense under the
authority of any ordinance amended or repealed by the ordinance adopting
this chapter.
