It shall be unlawful for any property owner to maintain a nuisance
within the Borough of Chalfont.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
JUNK
Any and all forms of waste and refuse or types of materials,
including scrap metal, abandoned and junked motor vehicles, glass
and industrial waste.
NUISANCES
Accumulations of garbage and rubbish, the storage and accumulation
of abandoned or junked motor vehicles or motor vehicles not used or
licensed, the storage or accumulation of other abandoned or junked
material, the carrying on of any offensive manufacture or business
and the accumulation of junk.
PROPERTY
Both private and public property.
PROPERTY OWNERS
All natural persons, corporations, associations, school districts
and churches and tenants or occupiers of property in the Borough.
The proper officials of the Borough shall have the right and
authority to remove any nuisance on public or private property after
15 days' written notice to the property owner to remove such
nuisance. Should the property owner default and fail to remove the
nuisance within the time specified, Borough officials may cause the
removal thereof and collect the costs of so doing from the property
owner, together with a penalty of 10% by appropriate legal proceedings,
including the filing of a municipal lien.
[Amended 12-18-2001 by Ord. No. 326; at time of adoption of Code (see
Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter
shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding 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 court costs
and reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement
proceedings. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction,
or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine
or penalty imposed and the costs, the defendant may be sentenced and
committed to the Borough correctional facility for a period not exceeding
10 days or to the county correctional facility for a period not exceeding
30 days. Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate
offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also
constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement
under this section, the Borough may enforce this chapter in equity
in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County.
In addition to the penalties set forth in §
268-4, the Borough shall be entitled to institute proceedings in equity in the Court of Common Pleas to enforce the terms and provisions of this chapter.
The provisions of this chapter are to be in addition to the
zoning, fire prevention, sanitary and building code ordinances now
in effect in the Borough.