[Ord. No. 09-09-03A, 9/9/2003, § 100]
1. 
Title. These regulations shall be known as the "Public Nuisance Code of the Township of Hemlock."
2. 
Scope. This Part is to protect the public health, safety, and welfare in all existing structures, residential, and nonresidential, and on all existing premises as herein after provided by:
A. 
Prohibiting the unreasonable, unwarranted, or unlawful use of private or public property, which causes or may cause injury, damage, hurt, inconvenience, or discomfort to others in the legitimate enjoyment of their rights of person, or property.
B. 
Fixing the responsibilities of owners, operators, and occupants of all structures and premises.
C. 
Providing for administration, enforcement, and penalties.
3. 
Officer.
A. 
It shall be the duty and responsibility of the Code Enforcement Official and/or police officers to enforce the provisions of this Part as herein provided.
B. 
Notices and Orders. The Code Enforcement Official and/or police officers shall issue all necessary notices and orders to abate illegal or unsafe conditions, to insure compliance with the requirements of this Part for the safety, health and general welfare of the public. Such notices (once in a six-month period) shall be to the owner or person responsible for such violations. In order to protect the public from an immediate and significant threat to its safety, health and welfare, these notice requirements shall be abrogated and the Code Officer and/or police officer shall take such steps as permitted by law to abate such nuisances. All notices required under this Part shall:
(1) 
Be in writing.
(2) 
Include a description of the real estate sufficient for identification.
(3) 
Include a correction order allowing a reasonable time of not less than 10 days for compliance with the provisions of the code.
(4) 
Include a statement of the reason or reasons why it is being issued.
C. 
Service. Such service shall be deemed to be properly served upon such owner or person if:
(1) 
A copy is delivered to him personally, or by leaving the notice at the usual place of abode, in the presence of someone in the family of a suitable age.
(2) 
By certified or registered mail addressed to the owner or person, at the last known address, with a return receipt requested.
(3) 
By posting the said notice on the property in question.
[Ord. No. 09-09-03A, 9/9/2003, § 200]
For the purpose of this Part, the following terms, phrases, words, and their clarifications shall have the meaning given herein. When consistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number, and the word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
ANIMAL
Any domestic animal or fowl, any wild animal or any household pet.
DILAPIDATION
Any structure incapable of being properly repaired.
DOMESTIC ANIMAL
Any animal as hereinafter defined as a household pet; a large animal or a small animal.
FARM
A business involving the production of crops, trees, horticulture, or livestock in accordance with normal agricultural standards.
GARBAGE, RUBBISH, JUNK, NOISE
As defined in Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27] and Junk Ordinance [Chapter 13, Part 2] of Hemlock Township.
GOVERNING BODY
The Board of Supervisors of Hemlock Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania.
HOUSEHOLD PET
Any dog, cat, or other domestic animal normally and ordinarily kept in or permitted to be at large in a dwelling of its owner.
LARGE ANIMAL
Any domestic animal of the bovine, equine sheep or hog family.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any type of mechanical device propelled by a motor in which persons or property may be transported upon public streets or highways, and including trailers or semi-trailers pulled thereby.
NUISANCE
The unreasonable, unwarranted, or unlawful use of public or private property which causes injury damage, hurt, inconvenience, annoyance or discomfort to any person in the legitimate enjoyment of his reasonable rights as a person or property.
OCCUPANT
Any person (including domestic service employees) living and/or sleeping in a dwelling unit or having possession of a space within a building, or dwelling.
OFFENSIVE
As in disagreeable to the senses.
OWNER
A person owning, leasing, occupying or having charge of any premises and/or real property within the Township.
PERSON
Any natural person, firm, partnership, association corporation, company, or organization of any kind.
SHELTER
Placed inside an enclosed structure.
SMALL ANIMAL
Any domestic animal such as a rabbit, hare, guinea pig, rat, mouse, or chinchilla, and any domestic fowl such as a chicken, turkey, goose, duck, or pigeon (excepting homing pigeons).
TOWNSHIP
Hemlock Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania.
WILD ANIMAL
Any animal, bird, fowl, or reptile not normally or ordinarily domesticated; not normally raised in this area and climate as livestock or for work or breeding purposes; or not capable of being kept as a household pet.
[Ord. No. 09-09-03A, 9/9/2003, § 300]
1. 
The following shall constitute illegal nuisances:
A. 
Storing or accumulating the following:
(1) 
Garbage or rubbish which constitutes a health hazard.
(2) 
Junk material including, but not limited to, unused or abandoned machinery, equipment, furniture, or appliances.
(3) 
Other junk including, but not limited to, any and all forms of waste and refuge of any type of material including scrap metal, automotive parts, crating and used materials, glass, industrial waste, and other salvageable materials.
B. 
Storing or accumulating two or more junked motor vehicles, or two or more motor vehicles which are unlicensed or inoperable, and which are unsheltered. Said vehicles shall not at any time be in a state of major disassembly, disrepair, or be in the process of being stripped or dismantled. No junked or unlicensed or inoperable vehicles shall be kept on a public street or within the setbacks of any property. Farm equipment used for parts shall be exempt on farm operations, provided that said equipment be stored in a secluded area at least 100 feet from the property lines. A vehicle of any type shall not at any time undergo major overhauls, including body work, in a residential district unless such work is performed inside a structure or similarly enclosed area designed and approved for such purposes.
C. 
Allowing drainage or flow, by pipe or other channel, whether natural or artificial, any foul or other offensive water, or drainage from sinks, bathtubs, wash stands, lavatories, water closets, privies or cesspools of any kind or nature whatsoever, or any other foul or offensive water or offensive drainage of any kind from property along any public highway, road, street, avenue, land, or alley in the Township. Swimming pools and water softeners are exempt.
D. 
Allowing to drain or flow any water or drainage from within dwellings situate upon property onto neighbor's property and/or any public highway, road, street, neighbor, avenue, land or alley in the Township, into or upon said highway, road, street, avenue, lands or alley. Surface waters pumped from basements are exempt.
E. 
Maintaining or causing to maintain any dangerous structure including, but not limited to, abandoned or unoccupied buildings or parts of a building, in a state of dilapidation or disrepair, in excess of six months. Buildings where an ongoing fire investigation or unsettled insurance claim exists are exempt.
F. 
Refusing or failing to cut and destroy ragweed, chicory, thistle, goldenrod, poison ivy, poison oak, sumac or other similar vegetation, which has grown above the height of 12 inches, to permit any grass, weeds, or any vegetation whatsoever, not edible or planted for some useful or ornamental purpose, to grow above the height of six inches. Pertains to lots of one acre or less in residential districts only and only the portions of any tract of land in any other district that is within 100 feet of a residential district or is used for residential dwelling units. A fifty-foot-wide landscape buffer planted along a stream bank is exempt from this section.
[Amended by Ord. No. 03-09-2021, 3/9/2021]
G. 
Permitting or allowing any well or cistern to be or remain uncovered. Includes any manhole or any storm sewer culvert.
H. 
Pushing, shoveling, or otherwise depositing snow upon the cartway or traveled portion of any public highway, road, street, or alley, which is maintained by the Township or by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and allowing same to remain thereon.
I. 
Allowing or permitting any excavation, excess material, or any other obstruction, on or adjoining any highway, street, or road, to remain opened, or exposed without the same being secured by a barricade, temporary fence or other protective material.
J. 
Planting of trees or shrubbery, erecting fences or storage of personal property, including motor vehicles at or adjacent to streets, road, highways, alleys or driveways, so as to limit clear view at intersections of any of the above.
K. 
Raking, depositing or blowing grass clippings, organic matter, and/or leaves onto any public highway, street, road or alley which is maintained by the Township or by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[Added by Ord. No. 12-12-2017A, 12/12/2017]
L. 
Dead tree branches over a right-of-way and stormwater runoff from agricultural fields onto public roadways.
[Added by Ord. No. 12-12-2017A, 12/12/2017]
2. 
An owner of a structure or property shall be responsible for the extermination of insects, rats, vermin and other pests in all exterior areas of the premises.
[Ord. No. 09-09-03A, 9/9/2003, § 400]
1. 
No person shall keep, or permit to be kept, harbor, or otherwise maintain any animal which shall disturb the quiet of any public street or other public place or of any neighborhood; provided, however, that a noisy animal shall be defined as one or more animals which makes noise habitually, as to constitute annoyance to a person of ordinary sensibilities.
2. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to keep hogs, swine, or any wild animal in all residential districts within Hemlock Township, except where the same shall be permitted under the Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27], in a park, zoological garden or similar establishment for public exhibitions.
3. 
Large animals shall be confined in quarters, no part of which shall be closer than 100 feet from the exterior limits of any dwelling or of any property line.
4. 
Small animals shall be kept confined in quarters no part of which shall be closer than 10 feet from any property line.
5. 
The keeper of every such domestic animal shall confine the same in an enclosure sufficient to prevent such animals from running at large, and such enclosure shall be of a size conducive to good sanitary practices and adequate and sanitary drainage facilities shall be provided.
6. 
Every keeper of a domestic animal shall cause the litter and droppings therefrom to be collected daily in a container or receptacle that, when closed, shall be rat-proof and fly-tight and after such collection shall cause such containers or receptacles to be kept closed. At least once a week, every keeper shall cause all litter and droppings collected to be disposed of in such a manner as not to permit fly larvae.
[Amended by Ord. No. 12-12-2017A, 12/12/2017]
7. 
Every keeper of a domestic animal shall cause all feed to be stored and kept in a rat-proof and fly-tight building, box, container, or receptacle.
8. 
Household Pets. It shall be unlawful for any person to keep any household pet, except as provided in this section:
A. 
If any such pet shall be kept in a dwelling owned or occupied by its owner, such owner shall be required to follow such procedures and practices as to the number of pets to be kept there so as to insure that no public nuisance shall be created or maintained and no threat to the health of persons living in the dwelling or elsewhere shall be created.
B. 
If any such pet shall be kept in an enclosure outside such a dwelling, the provisions of § 10-105 through § 10-107, of this Part, insofar as the same applies to small animals, shall be applicable to the keeping of such household pets.
[Ord. No. 09-09-03A, 9/9/2003, § 500]
The Board of Supervisors of Hemlock Township recognizes and encourages the continuity, development and viability of agricultural operation within Hemlock Township, and incorporate Act 113 of 1982, the Right to Farm Law, 3 P.S. § 951, in this Part. In the event an agricultural operation is conducted in accordance with normal agricultural operations, none of it shall be considered as a nuisance under the terms of this Part, so long as the operation does not have an adverse effect on the public health and safety.
[Added by Ord. No. 03-09-2021, 3/9/2021[1]]
Private waste haulers shall collect municipal waste and recyclables from properties in all residential districts within the limits of Hemlock Township only between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on any given day.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also renumbered former § 10-106, Penalty for Violation, as § 10-107.
[Ord. No. 09-09-03A, 9/9/2003, § 600; as amended by Ord. No. 03-08-05, 3/8/2005, § 1]
1. 
If the owner and/or occupant receiving due notice refuses to comply with the terms herein:
A. 
Enforcement of this Part shall be by an action brought before the magisterial district judge in the same manner for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. Persons violating this Part shall be subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 90 days in jail. Each day in which a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
B. 
The Board of Supervisors of Hemlock Township may direct the removal, repair or alterations, as the case may be, to be done by the Township, and the cost thereof, with a penalty of 10%, including Township's attorneys' fees, may be collected from the owner, occupant, person of the premises by an action of assumpsit or may file a municipal claim of lien against such real estate.
[Amended by Ord. No. 12-12-2017A, 12/12/2017]
C. 
Hemlock Township, by means of a complaint in equity, may compel the owner to do so or seek relief as such court of law is empowered to afford.
[Ord. No. 01-06-03, 1/6/2003, § 1]
BUSINESS
Any person, corporation, partnership, or other entity engaged in the buying, selling, storing, transferring, transporting, manufacturing or processing of properties, merchandise, chemicals, fuels, waste products or any other goods or services for compensation.
DANGEROUS INCIDENT
Any incident which creates a dangerous condition requiring immediate and emergency action in order to prevent injury to persons or damage to property, and necessitates either or both of the following responses:
A. 
The intervention of the Board of Supervisors of Hemlock Township or the Fire Company or any of the emergency agencies or services which may service Hemlock Township including, but not limited to, fire companies or rescue squads operating in Hemlock Township.
B. 
The need for cleanup or abatement measures to be performed by Township employees, or the need for any responsive action resulting in expense to the Township.
HAZARDOUS ACCIDENT
Any incident that occurs from the storage, transportation, use, manufacturing, processing or discharging of any substance potentially dangerous to the public health and welfare at large which necessitates either or both of the following responses:
A. 
The intervention of the Board of Supervisors of Hemlock Township or the Fire Company or any of the emergency agencies or services which may assist Hemlock Township including, but not limited to, fire companies or rescue squads operating in Hemlock Township.
B. 
The need for cleanup or abatement measures to be performed by Township employees, or the need for any responsive action resulting in expense to the Township.
PUBLIC THOROUGHFARE
Bridges, state highways, county roads, town streets, any navigable waterways or other roadways or watercourses owned by a governmental unit, or a privately owned street, parking lot or access way to which the public has access.
[Ord. No. 01-06-03, 1/6/2003, § 2]
1. 
The business which owns or leases the premises on which a hazardous accident occurs shall be responsible for all costs that occur as a direct or consequential result of a hazardous accident. In the event a hazardous accident occurs during transportation on a public thoroughfare, or in delivery to an entity other than a business as defined in § 10-201 above, the entity who owns or has custody or control of the vehicle or substance involved in the hazardous accident shall be responsible for all costs that occur as a direct or consequential result of such accident. Nothing contained herein shall prevent such business or entity from recovering any costs from a third party whose negligence may have caused such hazardous accident.
2. 
In the event that any person undertakes, either voluntarily or upon order of an official of the Board of Supervisors of Hemlock Township, to clean up or abate the effects of any hazardous accident, the Township may take such action as deemed necessary to supervise or verify the adequacy of the cleanup or abatement. The business or entity described in Subsection 1 above shall be liable to the Township for all costs incurred as a result of such supervision or verification.
3. 
For the purposes of this Part, costs of a hazardous accident shall include, but are not limited to, the following: expenses incurred by police, fire, or emergency medical services; actual labor costs of Township personnel, including benefits and administrative overhead; costs of consultants or others preparing reports concerning the hazardous accident; costs of equipment operations; costs of materials obtained directly by the Township; costs of any contractual labor and materials for cleanup or abatement; costs of the Township Solicitor or Township Engineer connected with the hazardous accident; costs to replace or repair any damage caused to equipment utilized by the Township or any service agency which responded to the accident.
4. 
The costs resulting from the hazardous accident shall be paid directly to the Township within 30 days from the date on which the Township issues an invoice or other appropriate demand for such costs. Interest shall accrue on any unpaid invoice at the rate of 1 1/2% per month commencing after the expiration of the thirty-day grace period.
[Ord. No. 01-06-03, 1/6/2003, § 3]
1. 
Any entity which owns or has custody or control of any motor vehicle or other instrumentality that creates a dangerous incident, as defined by this Part, or any entity which owns or leases any real property upon which a dangerous incident takes place, shall be responsible for all costs of any emergency response that arise as a direct or consequential result of such incident. Nothing contained herein shall prevent such entity from recovering any costs from a third party whose negligence may have caused such dangerous incident.
2. 
In the event that any person undertakes, either voluntarily or upon order of any official of the Board of Supervisors of Hemlock Township, to clean up or abate the effects of any dangerous incident, the Township may take such action as deemed necessary to supervise or verify the adequacy of the cleanup or abatement. The entity described in Subsection 1 above shall be liable to the Township for all costs incurred as a result of such supervision or verification.
3. 
For the purpose of this Part, costs of a dangerous incident shall include, but are not limited to, the following: expenses incurred by police, fire, or emergency medical services; actual labor costs of Township personnel, including benefits and administrative overhead, costs of consultants or others preparing reports concerning the dangerous incident; costs of equipment operations; costs of materials obtained directly by the Township; costs of any contractual labor and materials for cleanup or abatement; costs of the Township Solicitor and Township Engineer connected with the dangerous incident, costs to replace or repair any damage caused to equipment utilized by the Township or any other service agency which responded to the incident.
4. 
The costs resulting from the dangerous incident shall be paid directly to the Township within 30 days from the date on which the Township issues an invoice or other appropriate demand for such costs. Interest shall accrue on any unpaid invoice at the rate of 1 1/2% per month commencing after the expiration of the thirty-day grace period.
[Ord. No. 01-06-03, 1/6/2003, § 4]
1. 
The Board of Supervisors of Hemlock Township hereby recognizes the authority of and authorize the Fire Company to recover the reasonable costs of equipment and materials involved in any hazardous material incident, environmental incident, or any safety and rescue incident or operation, including structure and nonstructure fires and vehicle accidents, from a person's or persons' or entity's or entities' insurance company.
2. 
Said reasonable costs may be recovered directly by the Fire Company or through a third-party agency agreement.
3. 
In addition to the aforementioned reasonable costs, the Fire Company shall be authorized to collect reasonable interest, administrative fees and any and all additional fees that may be authorized by the Hazardous Material and Emergency Planning and Response Act, 35 P.S. § 6022.101 et seq., or as authorized by any other statutes or laws.