This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Polk Township
Nuisance Ordinance."
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
AGRICULTURAL OPERATION
The use of any parcel of land containing five or more acres
for economic gain in the raising of agricultural products or livestock.
It includes necessary structures within the limits of the parcel and
the storage of equipment necessary for production.
ANTIQUE VEHICLE
Any vehicle 25 years or older which has been restored to
good operating and roadworthy condition. (See definition of "good
operating and roadworthy condition.")
ASHES
Residue from fire used for cooking and for heating buildings,
or from other burning.
ATTRACTIVE PUBLIC NUISANCE
A condition of property which may reasonably be construed
to be a source of danger to minors who may reside or otherwise be
on the premises, or who may, by reason of something which may be expected
to attract them, come to the premises.
AUTO REPAIR GARAGE
An area where repairs, improvements and installation of parts
and accessories for motor vehicles and/or boats are conducted that
involves work that is more intense in character than work permitted
under the definition of "auto service station." An auto repair garage
shall include, but not be limited to, a use that involves any of the
following work: major mechanical or body work, straightening of body
parts, painting, welding or rebuilding of transmissions.
BUILDING
Any structure having a roof supported by fully enclosed exterior
weight-bearing walls and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure
of any individual, animal, process, equipment, services, goods or
materials of any kind or nature, including, but not limited to, dwellings,
dwelling units, mobile homes, garages, barns, stables, sheds, plants,
factories, warehouses and similar structures.
DANGEROUS PREMISES
Any building, structure or property which has any or all
of the following defects:
A.
Any structure which, exclusive of the foundation, shows damage
or deterioration of the supporting member or members, or damage or
deterioration of the nonsupporting enclosing or outside walls or coverings.
B.
Any structure which has been damaged by fire, wind or other
causes so as to be dangerous to life, safety, or the general health
and welfare of the occupants or the public.
C.
Any structure which is so damaged, dilapidated, decayed, unsafe,
unsanitary, vermin infested or which so utterly fails to provide the
amenities essential to decent living that it is unfit for human habitation,
or is likely to cause sickness or disease, so as to work injury to
the health, safety or general welfare of those living therein.
D.
Any structure which has parts which are so inadequately attached
that they may fall and injure occupants, property or members of the
public.
E.
Any structure used for a residential dwelling or human occupancy,
excluding accessory structures, which lacks illumination, ventilation
and/or sanitation facilities or because of another condition is unsafe,
unsanitary, or dangerous to the health, safety, or general welfare
of the occupants or the public.
F.
Any building, structure or property which because of its location
or due to an accumulation of garbage or rubbish is unsanitary, or
otherwise dangerous, to the health or safety of the occupants or the
public.
G.
Any building, structure or property which can be construed as
an attractive public nuisance.
DWELLING
Any building which is wholly or partly used or intended to
be used for living or sleeping by human occupants.
DWELLING UNIT
Any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling and
forming a single habitable unit with facilities which are used or
intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants.
EMERGENCY CASE
A violation which poses an imminent threat to the public
health, safety or welfare and which requires immediate action to eliminate
such imminent threat.
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
The individual(s), agency or firm appointed by the Polk Township
Board of Supervisors to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
EXTERMINATE
To control and eradicate insects, rodents or other pests
by eliminating their harborage places, removing or making inaccessible
materials that may serve as their food, poisoning, spraying, fumigating,
trapping, or by any other recognized and legal pest elimination methods.
GARBAGE
Animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling,
preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
GOOD OPERATING AND ROADWORTHY CONDITION
A vehicle having both a current and valid registration and
current and valid inspection sticker as required by the motor vehicle
laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or if lacking a registration
and/or inspection sticker, is in full and complete working order and
condition, but for not having said current registration and inspection
sticker could be safely and legally operated on a public roadway.
Registrations and inspections which have been expired for less than
60 days shall be considered current for the purposes of this definition.
JUNK
Any scrap or abandoned man-made or man-processed material
or articles, such as the following types: metal, furniture, appliances,
motor vehicle parts, aircraft, glass, plastics, machinery, equipment,
containers and building materials.
JUNK VEHICLE
Includes any vehicle or trailer, not in a good operating
and roadworthy condition, that meets any or all of the following conditions:
A.
Cannot be moved under its own power, in regards to a vehicle
designed to move under its own power, other than a vehicle clearly
needing only minor repairs.
B.
Cannot be towed, in regards to a trailer designed to be towed.
C.
Has been demolished beyond repair.
D.
Has been separated from its axles, engine, body or chassis.
E.
Includes only the axle, engine, body parts and/or chassis, separated
from the remainder of the vehicle.
JUNKYARD
An area of land, with or without buildings, used for the
storage, outside a completely enclosed building, of junk as defined
by this chapter, with or without the dismantling, processing, salvage,
sale or other use or disposition of the same. Vehicle sales lots managed
by licensed vehicle dealers operated in accord with this chapter shall
not be considered junkyards. The following shall also be considered
junkyards:
A.
The outside storage or deposit on a lot of three or more abandoned
or junked vehicles.
B.
The outside storage or deposit on a lot of one or more mobile/manufactured
homes or campers which are in such a dilapidated/deteriorated state
so as not to be fit or safe or protected from the elements for the
purpose of storage of personal items or use as a workshop or other
similar use.
NUISANCE
Any unreasonable, unwarrantable or unlawful course of conduct
or use of private or public property which causes or may cause injury,
damage, hurt, inconvenience, interference, or discomfort to others
in the legitimate use and enjoyment of their rights of person or property.
OCCUPANT
The person owning, leasing, renting, occupying or having
charge, care, custody or control of any premises in Polk Township.
ON-SITE UTILITY VEHICLE
Any unregistered vehicle used on a specific property for
plowing snow, hauling fire wood, moving goods or equipment, and other
similar property maintenance or operational activities. An on-site
utility vehicle shall not be considered junk.
OUTSIDE STORAGE
Any items not contained in a building fully enclosed with
completed walls and roof.
OWNER
The person who, alone or jointly or severally with others
is the owner of record of the premises as filed with the Monroe County
Recorder of Deeds. In the case where an owner is represented by an
agent, including but not limited to a manager, executor, executrix,
administrator, administratrix, or guardian of the estate of the owner,
such person thus representing the actual owner shall be bound to comply
with the provisions of this chapter and with rules and regulations
adopted pursuant thereto, to the same extent as if he were the owner.
PERSON
An individual, trustee, executor, other fiduciary, corporation,
firm, partnership, association, organization or other legal entity.
PROPERTY
A piece, parcel, lot or tract of land.
RUBBISH
Includes, but is not limited to, waste such as paper, cardboard,
grass clippings, tree or shrub trimmings, wood, bedding, crockery,
construction waste, or similar waste materials.
SCREENED
Visibly shielded or obscured from any adjoining or neighboring
property, any public or private road right-of-way, or any other premises
which is accomplished by topography, fencing, berms, natural and planted
vegetation or other means approved by the Township.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Polk, Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
TOWNSHIP CODE
The Code of the Township of Polk, Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
UNREGISTERED VEHICLE
Any motor vehicle or trailer that does not display a license
plate, process a current registration, and does not have a valid state
safety inspection sticker. This term shall not apply to vehicles (such
as licensed antique cars) for which state regulations do not require
an inspection sticker. The term also shall not include motor vehicles
displaying a license and inspection stickers that have each expired
less than 60 days prior to the first inspection and notice under this
chapter.
VEGETATION
Any grass, weed, vegetable, crop, shrub, or other plant.
VEHICLE
Any device in, upon or by which any person or property is
or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway or upon any land,
including, but not limited to, automobiles, trucks, vans, buses, utility
trailers, tractors, truck tractors, recreational vehicles, motor homes,
travel trailers, motorcycles, machinery, trailers, farm machinery
and implements, and other wheeled equipment; boats; and aircraft.
VEHICLE OR EQUIPMENT REPAIR/TOWING OPERATION
An establishment, operating in accord with the Township requirements,
engaged in the service and/or repair of vehicles, including, but not
limited to, auto body shops, repair garages, truck repair garages,
towing companies and agriculture equipment repair.
VERMIN INFESTED
The presence, within or upon a premise, of any insects, rodents
or other pests which constitute a public nuisance.
WASTE
A.
GARBAGEAll animal and vegetable wastes subject to decay resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
B.
HAZARDOUS WASTEAny waste or combination of wastes, which, because of quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illnesses, or pose a present or potential threat to humans and/or the environment.
C.
INFECTIOUS WASTEWaste that is capable of producing an infectious disease because it contains pathogens of sufficient virulence and quantity so that exposure to the waste by a susceptible human host could result in an infectious disease. These wastes include blood and blood products, sharps and other items contaminated with blood, discarded biological products, human and animal by-products, etc.
D.
MUNICIPAL WASTEHousehold wastes and commercial, agricultural, governmental, industrial and institutional wastes which have chemical and physical characteristics similar to household wastes.
E.
RECYCLABLE MATERIALSThose materials which can be diverted, removed, or recovered from the waste stream to be used, reused, sold or recycled, whether or not they require subsequent separation and processing. Recyclable materials include but are not limited to paper, paper products, cardboard, plastics, bottles, cans, glass, metals, etc.
F.
REGULATED WASTEAny waste material requiring special handling and/or disposal as specified by law. Regulated waste includes, but is not limited to, lead-acid batteries, yard waste, tires, major appliances, small appliances, mattresses, used oil, asbestos, contaminated soil, etc.
G.
SOLID WASTEMunicipal wastes, garbage, refuse, and other discarded materials, including, but not limited to, solid and semisolid waste materials resulting from residential, commercial, institutional, industrial, and governmental activities.
This chapter is ordained and enacted under the authority granted
by §§ 1529 and 1601 of the Pennsylvania Second Class
Township Code, 53 P.S. §§ 66529 and 66601.
A. State-protected agricultural operations. Nothing in this chapter
is intended to preclude the rights and protections of bona fide agricultural
operations afforded by the Pennsylvania Right to Farm Law, as amended; the Pennsylvania Agricultural Area Security Law, as amended; and other applicable state statutes.
It shall be the responsibility of the property owner of the
premises upon which any public nuisance, as described in this chapter,
is situated and/or occurring, jointly with the owner of any junk,
rubbish, structure, building or other item which constitutes such
public nuisance, to provide for the removal or abatement of any such
public nuisance and the remediation of any environmental problems
associated with the activity or property condition which constitutes
the public nuisance. Any owner of property upon which a public nuisance
is located or taking place, and/or any person who or which owns junk,
rubbish, structures or buildings which constitute a public nuisance,
and/or any person who or which owns or is engaged in conduct which
constitutes a public nuisance, shall be deemed to be in violation
of this chapter, and shall be subject to the penalties and remedies
prescribed herein.
The following are hereby declared to be public nuisances and
shall be removed, disposed of, or corrected as herein provided.
A. Junk: any junk not stored in a junkyard, lawfully permitted in accord
with Township Zoning Ordinance, Township Code, in a fully enclosed building, or in an
exempted storage area.
B. Vehicles: the outside storage or deposit on a lot of three or more
junk and/or unregistered vehicles that are partly or fully visible
from an exterior lot line, dwelling and/or public street.
C. Unsanitary or dangerous material. The accumulation of junk, garbage,
rubbish, food materials and/or consumer goods is prohibited. The storage
of garbage and/or biodegradable material is prohibited, other than
what is customarily generated on site and routinely awaiting pickup
not to exceed the time limit of 30 days.
D. Dangerous premises: maintaining or causing to be maintained any dangerous
premises, including, but not limited to, abandoned or unoccupied dwellings
or buildings in a state of dilapidation or disrepair.
E. Vegetation: permitting the growth of any vegetation which presents
a public safety hazard by limiting the vision or right-of-way of travelers
on any public road.
F. Noise:
(1) For any person to make, continue or cause to be made any unnecessary
or unusually loud noise which annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers
the comfort, health, safety or peace of others within and which can
be heard a distance of 150 feet from its source or such person's
property line between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. or during
the daytime of three consecutive hours or more.
(2) The following acts, and the causing thereof, are declared to be sound/noise
disturbances, and therefore in violation of this chapter:
(a)
Radios, television sets, musical instruments, and similar devices:
operating, using or playing of any radio, television, musical instrument,
sound/noise amplifier, automobile radio, automobile stereo, high-fidelity
equipment, or similar device which produces, reproduces, or amplifies
sound/noise to the extent that such use creates a sound/noise disturbance.
(b)
Yelling and shouting: engaging in loud or raucous yelling, hooting,
whistling, or singing.
(c)
Construction tools or equipment: operating or permitting the
operation of any tools or equipment used in construction operations,
drilling, or demolition work between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00
a.m., such that sound/noise creates a sound/noise disturbance across
a residential property line (boundary), except for emergency work.
(d)
Domestic power tools: operating or permitting the operation
of any mechanically powered saw, drill, sander, grinder, lawn/garden
tool, or similar device used outdoors between the hours of 9:00 p.m.
and 7:00 a.m. as to cause a sound/noise disturbance across a residential
property line (boundary), except in an emergency.
(e)
Vehicle, motorboat, or aircraft repairs and testing. No person
shall build, repair, rebuild, test, or otherwise work on any motorcycle,
automobile, or other motor vehicle, motorboat, or aircraft between
the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in such a manner as to cause
a sound/noise disturbance across a property line.
(f)
Any and all other noises, from whatever source constituting
unnecessary or unusually loud noise as set forth above.
G. Streets, sidewalks or other public places:
(1) All obstructions caused or permitted on any street or sidewalk to
the danger or annoyance of the public, and all snow, stones, rubbish,
dirt, filth, slops, vegetable matter or other article thrown or placed
by any person on or in any street, sidewalk or other public place
which in any way may cause any injury to the public.
(2) Placing a vehicle or other obstruction on or along any street of
the Township so as to interfere with vehicular or pedestrian traffic,
unless it should become necessary to drive or place the vehicle in
such position to load or unload materials, merchandise or furniture,
and then such vehicle shall only be permitted to remain for such lengths
of time as is necessary to load or unload the same.
H. Drainage:
(1) Draining or flowing, or allowing to drain or flow, by pipe or other
channel, whether natural or artificial, any foul or offensive water
or drainage from sinks, bathtubs, washstands, lavatories, water closets,
swimming pools, privies, or cesspools of any kind or nature whatsoever,
or any foul or offensive water or foul or offensive drainage of any
kind, from property along any public highway, road, street, avenue,
lane or alley, or from any property into or upon any adjoining property.
(2) Throwing, spreading or depositing in any watercourse, drainageway,
channel or gutter, and permitting it to remain there, any stone, soil,
vegetation or any other material.
(3) Any storage of junk shall be maintained a minimum distance of 100
feet from the center line of any waterway, and shall be kept out of
any drainage swale.
I. Open excavations: allowing or permitting any excavation, material
excavated or 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 materials.
J. Advertisements; solicitations; signs:
(1) For any person to distribute or throw upon doorsteps, into doorways,
vestibules, yards, enclosures or anywhere within the Township, samples
of merchandise of any character whatsoever; or for any person to distribute,
throw upon doorsteps, or into doorways or vestibules, place upon doorknobs
or fences, or cast into yards or anywhere else, handbills, advertising
and printed matter of any nature whatsoever without prior authorization
by the Township Board of Supervisors.
(2) Signs: for any person to erect signs projecting across walkways,
rights-of-way or in places dangerous to life and limb.
(3) For any person to post, paste or fasten any printed, painted or written
signs, show bill, placard, circular or advertisement of any description
whatsoever upon any tree, telephone or electric light pole within
the Township limits unless authorized by the Township Board of Supervisors.
In recognition of the need to allow limited storage of junk
or unregistered vehicles, or vehicles awaiting repair or insurance
coverage resolution at an active and bona fide auto repair garage
or auto service station, the standards in this section shall apply.
A. Insurance; impoundment; awaiting repair. Not more than a combined
total of 12 junk vehicles, unregistered vehicles, vehicles stored
in anticipation of the resolution of insurance coverage, vehicles
impounded by the state police, or vehicles awaiting repair may be
stored outside a fully enclosed building except at a permitted junkyard
or exempted storage area. The owner of the establishment shall maintain
accurate and current records on the date of receipt, ownership, status
and disposition for all such vehicles on the premises, and the records
shall be open for inspection by the Township.
B. Used tires and parts. Used tires and vehicle parts awaiting disposal
may be stored outdoors on the premises, provided such material is
screened. The amount of such stored material shall not exceed that
which would be accumulated from one month of normal operation. Any
tires or parts in which water can collect and serve as a breeding
area for mosquitos and other insects shall be covered by a roof.
Any dangerous premises are hereby declared to be a public nuisance,
and shall be repaired, improved, vacated or demolished as required
by this chapter. The following standards shall be followed in substance
by the enforcement officer in ordering repair, improvement, vacation
or demolition:
A. Repair/improve. If the dangerous premises can reasonably be repaired
or improved so that it will no longer exist in violation of this chapter,
it shall be ordered to be repaired or improved.
B. Vacate. If the dangerous premises is in such condition as to make
it dangerous to the health, safety or general welfare of its occupants
or the public, and is so placarded, it shall be ordered to be vacated
within such length of time, not exceeding 30 days, as is reasonable.
C. Habitation. No premises which have been placarded as unfit for human
habitation shall again be used for human habitation until written
approval is secured from, and such placard is removed by, the enforcement
officer. The enforcement officer shall remove such placard whenever
the defect or defects upon which the placarding action was based have
been eliminated.
D. Demolition. If a dangerous building is damaged or decayed, or deteriorated
50% or more from its original condition; if a dangerous building cannot
be repaired so that it will no longer exist in violation of the terms
of this chapter; or if a dangerous building is a fire hazard existing
or erected in violation of the terms of this chapter or any other
local or state regulations, it shall be ordered to be demolished.
E. Disposal. All demolition waste shall be disposed of in accord with
the Township Code and all applicable state and federal regulations.
F. Such premises shall at all times be maintained so as not to constitute
a nuisance or a menace to the health of the community or of residents
nearby or a place for the breeding of insects, rodents and vermin.
No person shall remove or deface the notice of a dangerous premises except as provided in §
261-7.
Whenever the enforcement officer finds that an emergency exists
which requires immediate action to protect the public health, he may,
without notice, issue an order reciting the existence of such an emergency
and requiring that such action be taken as is necessary to meet the
emergency. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this chapter, such
order shall be effective immediately. Any person to whom such order
is directed shall comply therewith immediately, but upon petition
to the enforcement officer, shall be afforded a hearing as soon as
possible in accord. After such hearing, depending upon the findings
as to whether the provisions of this chapter have been complied with,
the enforcement officer shall continue such order in effect, or modify
or revoke it. The costs of such emergency repair, improvement, vacation
or demolition of such dangerous building shall be collected in the
same manner as provided herein for other cases.