[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Blawnox 11-18-1974 by Ord. No.
358. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The hereinafter listed terms used in this chapter are defined
as follows:
A motor vehicle that is inoperable and is left unattended on
public property for more than 48 hours; or
A motor vehicle that has remained illegally on public property
for a period of more than 48 hours; or
A motor vehicle without registration plates left standing on
or along the highway; or
A motor vehicle that has remained on private property without
the consent of the owner or person in control of the property for
more than 48 hours, provided that vehicles and equipment used or to
be used in construction or the operation or maintenance of public
utility facilities and which are left in a manner which does not interfere
with the normal movement of traffic shall not be considered abandoned
vehicles for the purposes of this chapter.
Automotive repair facilities provide major mechanical repairs,
painting and body work, in addition to parts and routine maintenance.
A car wash may be a separate use or a part of other automotive repair
activities.
[Added 1-19-1987 by Ord.
No. 439]
Automotive facility for washing, cleaning and waxing of automobiles,
trucks, vans, and other operable motor vehicles. A car wash may be
a separate use or part of other automotive repair activities.
[Added 1-19-1987 by Ord.
No. 439]
A gasoline service station shall include a building or buildings
for the sale of petroleum products, tires and automotive service.
It shall not provide major repair facilities, including spray-painting,
body or fender work or separate automobile washing facilities commonly
known as a "car wash."
[Added 1-19-1987 by Ord.
No. 439]
A motor vehicle violating a provision of any Blawnox Borough
ordinance, such as an ordinance prohibiting certain parking; or a
provision of the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code;[1] or a motor vehicle without a current inspection sticker
for that motor vehicle; a motor vehicle without the proper authorized
registration plate for that motor vehicle; which motor vehicle has
remained stationary for a period more than 48 hours.
A motor vehicle which cannot be legally operated; or
A motor vehicle without any of its four required tires or wheels
for normal operation; or
A motor vehicle without one or more of its doors, without its
engine, its battery; or
A motor vehicle without a part necessary to make it self-propelled.
Any vehicle in, upon or by which any person or property is
or may be transported along a public highway or street or way, including
but not limiting it to all automobiles, trucks, truck tractors, truck
trailers, semitrailers, and trailers, which are designed to move on
said highways, streets and or ways, and are designed to be self-propelled
or commonly propelled by a self-propelled motor vehicle.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq.
[Amended 1-19-1987 by Ord. No. 439]
A.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for any person, association,
partnership, corporation and/or other entity to abandon or be responsible
for the abandoning of abandoned, inoperable, illegal, junked, scrapped,
or wrecked motor vehicles or to store the above vehicles with or without
a current inspection sticker on any public street or way, upon any
public property or upon any private property within the Borough of
Blawnox without complying with the following procedure:
(1)
Within 48 hours of the depositing of an abandoned, inoperable, illegal,
junked, scrapped, wrecked, or any vehicle stored without a current
inspection sticker, the owner of any gasoline service station, automotive
repair facility, car wash or towing service must file and register
said vehicle with the Police Chief of the Police Department of the
Borough of Blawnox.
(2)
If the aforesaid vehicle shall be junked or scrapped, the owner of
said vehicle and/or the operator of the tow truck vehicle business,
automotive repair facilities, car wash and gasoline service station
must make provision for the removal of the aforesaid vehicle from
any public property or private property within 24 hours of the filing
of the registration form with the Police Chief of the Police Department
of the Borough of Blawnox.
(3)
If said vehicle is to be repaired, then said vehicle must be removed
from the public street or public way or private property to an indoor
facility within 48 hours of the filing of the registration form with
the Chief of Police of the Police Department of the Borough of Blawnox.
B.
Said registration form shall contain the following information:
(1)
Owner's name, address and telephone number.
(2)
Make, year and color of the vehicle.
(3)
The reason for towing or storage of the vehicle on public or private
property.
(4)
Name, address and telephone number of the gasoline service station,
automotive repair facility or towing service which has stored the
vehicle on the public or private property.
(5)
The proposed disposition of the vehicle.
[Amended 10-16-1978 by Ord. No. 387]
A.
Any motor vehicle in violation of this chapter shall be removed from
any public street, way or public property and impounded in a storage
place as provided herein as follows, unless, at the time of such intended
removal, the owner or person for the time being in charge of such
motor vehicle is present and expresses a willingness and intention
to immediately remove such motor vehicle, and, in that event, the
removal by public authority shall be delayed for a period of one hour
to give that party an opportunity to remove it, but public removal
shall take place if no action is taken by the party within the hour.
No prior public notice of the removal is required. The removal charges
and procedure are as follows:
(1)
The removal shall be to the Borough Salvor's property. The Borough
Salvor shall be appointed by resolution of Council and shall be bonded
in the minimum amount of $10,000 to indemnify the owner of the impounded
vehicle against the loss thereof, or injury or damage thereto, while
in the Salvor's custody.
(2)
The removal or towing charge for each motor vehicle shall be a reasonable
rate set by the Borough Salvor and approved by Borough Council. The
storage charge for each motor vehicle shall be a reasonable rate set
by the Borough Salvor and approved by Borough Council. Such storage
charge shall be based on a 24-hour period.
[Amended 1-19-1987 by Ord. No. 439]
(3)
Within 12 hours after the removal of such motor vehicle, notice of
the fact that such vehicle has been removed and impounded shall be
sent by Borough police officer or Borough Secretary to the owner of
record of such motor vehicle, describing the place from which said
motor vehicle was removed, the reason for the removal and impounding,
and the storage place in which it has been impounded.
(4)
The payment of the towing charge and storage charge, unless such
payment shall be made "under protest," shall be final and conclusive
and shall constitute a waiver of any right to recover the money so
paid.
(5)
In the event the towing and impounding charges are paid "under protest"
the offender shall be entitled to a hearing before a Magisterial District
Judge or court of record having jurisdiction, in which case defendant
shall be proceeded against and receive such notice as is provided
by the Motor Vehicle Code[1] in other cases of summary offenses, and shall have the
same rights as to appeal and waiver or hearing.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 101 et seq.
B.
If the Magisterial District Judge or court of record shall find either:
(3)
That, at the time the vehicle was towed away, the owner or person
for the time being in charge was present and ready and willing to
remove the same.
(4)
That the vehicle was parked by a person other than the owner or someone
in charge thereof, without the owner's consent, after having
been stolen, or for any other reason the towing or impounding was
unlawful, and the defendant is acquitted, said Magisterial District
Judge shall forthwith certify to the Borough Treasurer the facts,
and the Borough Treasurer shall, within five days, refund to the defendant
the amount of said towing and storage charges paid by him or in his
behalf.
No vehicle shall be removed under the authority of an impounding
ordinance if, at the time of such intended removal, the owner or person
for the time being in charge of such vehicle is present and expresses
a willingness and intention to immediately remove said vehicle.
C.
This section is adopted pursuant to the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle
Code, as amended, and 73 P.S. Chapter 28B, §§ 1971.1
through 1971.5, the Towing and Towing Storage Facility Standards Act.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
If a motor vehicle is abandoned on a private property, the Borough
may proceed by complaint before a Magisterial District Judge or other
court having jurisdiction unless the owner consents to the removal.
[Amended 1-19-1987 by Ord. No. 439; at time of adoption of Code (see
Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
In addition to the towing and storage charges, a violator of
this chapter shall be subject to a maximum fine of up to $500 for
a first offense and up to $1,000 for a second offense plus the costs
of removal, to be collected by summary conviction before a Magisterial
District Judge or other local court having jurisdiction. In the event
of nonpayment of fines and costs, the Magisterial District Judge may,
upon conviction, imprison said violator for not more than 10 days
with the right to appeal the summary conviction. Passed pursuant to
Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code, 75 P.S. § 3712(d)(1) and
(2).
Chapter 322, Junk Dealers, of the Code of the Borough of Blawnox, approved May 19, 1958, regulating and requiring the licensing of junk dealers in the Borough of Blawnox and prescribing penalties for violation, shall continue in effect.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances, including Ordinance No.
280, conflicting with the provisions of this chapter shall be and
the same are hereby repealed so far as it affects this chapter.
If any part of this chapter is declared invalid for any reason
it shall not affect the validity of the remaining part of the chapter.
