[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of McKees Rocks 11-14-2000 by Ord. No. 1595. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, terms shall have the meaning indicated, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context.
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE
A detached structure which is not used or not intended to be used for living or sleeping by human occupants and which is located on or partially on any premises.
BREEDING AREA
Any condition which provides the necessary environment for the birth or hatching of vectors.
COLLECTION OF WATER
Water contained in ditches, pools, ponds, streams, excavations, holes, depressions, open vesspools, privy vaults, fountains, cisterns, tanks, shallow wells, barrels, troughs, urns, cans, boxes, bottles, tubs, buckets, roof gutters, tanks of flush closets, reservoirs, vessels, receptacles of any kind or other containers or devices which may hold water.
COVERED RECEPTACLE
A container of metal, wood, heavy duty plastics or synthetic material of solid construction, with a tight-fitting cover secured against wind and leakage.
DEP
Department of Environmental Protection, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
DILAPIDATED
Fallen into partial ruin or decay.
DISPOSAL
Storage, collection, disposal, or handling of refuse.
EXTERMINATION
The control and elimination of vectors by eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making inaccessible materials that may serve as their food; by poisoning, spraying, fumigating, fogging, larviciding, trapping or by any other recognized and legal vector control elimination methods approved by the local or state authority having such administrative authority.
GARBAGE
All animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking or consumption of food.
HARBORAGE
Any place where vectors can live, nest or seek shelter, including any motor vehicle in a state of disrepair that has not been moved in a period of 30 days. Any motor vehicle that does not have a current license plate or a current inspection or emissions control sticker shall be conclusively presumed not to have been moved in 30 days of the initial inspection of the vehicle.
OCCUPANT
Any person, over one year of age, living, sleeping cooking or eating in, or actually having possession of a dwelling unit or a rooming unit; in dwelling units a guest will not be considered an occupant.
OWNER
Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others shall have:
A. 
Legal title to any premises, dwelling or dwelling unit, with or without accompanying actual possession thereof; or
B. 
Charge, care or control of any premises, dwelling or dwelling unit, as owner or agent of the owner, or an executor, administrator, trustee or guardian of the estate of the owner. Any such person thus representing the actual owner shall be bound to comply with the provisions of this part and of the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, to the same extent as if he were the owner.
PERSON
Any natural person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation.
REFUSE
All solid wastes, except human body wastes, and including handling of refuse.
RUBBISH
Glass, metal, paper, plant growth, wood or nonputrescible solid wastes.
VECTOR
A rodent, arthropod or insect capable of transmitting a disease or infection, including, but not limited to, rats, mosquitoes, cockroaches, flies and ticks.
VECTOR PROOFING
A form of construction to prevent ingress or egress of vectors to or from a given space or building or gaining access to food, water or harborage, including, but not limited to, rat proofing, fly proofing and mosquito proofing.
It shall be unlawful:
A. 
For any person to deposit or to knowingly permit any person acting as agent, employee or servant of said person to deposit any refuse, offal, pomace, dead animals, decaying matter or organic substance of any kind in or upon any street, avenue, alley, parkway, ravine, ditch gutter, storm or sanitary sewer, onto private property or into any stream, waterway, lake or pond or into any of the waters of the commonwealth, so that the same shall or may afford food, harborage or breeding areas for vectors.
B. 
For any person to accumulate or permit to accumulate in or upon any premises, improved or vacant, or on any open lot, or alley, any refuse, offal, pomace, dead animals, decaying matter or organic substance of any kind in or upon any street, avenue, alley, parkway, ravine, ditch gutter, storm or sanitary sewer, or into any stream, waterway, lake or pond or into any of the waters of the commonwealth so that the same shall or may afford food, harborage or breeding areas for vectors.
C. 
For any person to deposit or permit to accumulate in or upon any premises, improved or vacant, or on any open lot, or alley, lumbar, boxes, barrels, bottles, cans, glass, scrap iron, wire metal articles, pipe, broken stone or cement, broken crockery, broken plaster or placed on open racks that are elevated not less than 18 inches above the ground, and evenly over the entire perimeter; or unless the disposed of same is in a manner approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
D. 
To maintain a junkyard or a place for the dumping or wrecking or disassembling of automobiles, trucks, tractors, or machinery of any kind or of any of the parts thereof, or for the storing or leaving of any machinery or equipment used by contractors or builders or by other person, in such a manner as to afford harborage or breeding areas for vectors. Any vehicle which is without a current inspection sticker (mechanical or pollution control) or is without a current license plate for a period of 60 days shall be rebuttably presumed to be an area that harbors or breeds vectors.
E. 
To store refuse in containers other than covered receptacles, which shall be kept clean by rinsing and draining as often as necessary so as not to provide food or breeding areas for vectors.
F. 
To dump, burn, bury, destroy or otherwise dispose of refuse except at an approved refuse disposal site.
G. 
To collect, haul, transport or convey garbage in open unenclosed, non-leak proof vehicles.
H. 
To construct, maintain or use a sewage system, privy, urinal, cesspool or other receptacle for human excrement so that vectors may have access to the excrementitious matter contained therein.
I. 
To have, keep, maintain, cause or permit any collection of standing or flowing water except for agricultural or industrial purposes in which mosquitoes breed or are likely to breed, unless such collection or water is treated or maintained so as effectually to prevent such breeding.
J. 
To have, keep, cause or permit any grass or weeds or any other vegetation whatsoever not planted for some rationale useful or ornamental purpose when found to provide harborage or breeding areas of vectors. Any grass or weeds permitted to grow in excess of six inches and any noxious weeds prohibited by the Noxious Weed Control Law (3 P.S. § 258.8) or by regulations of the Department of Agriculture shall be prohibited. Any grass, weeds or noxious weeds in excess of eight inches within a 200 feet radius of any structure or accessory building shall be conclusive presumed that is an area which harbors and breeds vectors.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A. 
Every owner of a dwelling containing two or more dwelling units shall maintain in a clean and sanitary condition the shared or public areas of the dwelling and premises thereof, in such a manner as to prevent breeding areas and harborage for vectors.
B. 
Every occupant of a dwelling unit in a dwelling containing more than one dwelling unit shall be responsible for extermination within his dwelling unit. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, whenever infestation is caused by failure of the owner to maintain a dwelling in a rodent proof or reasonable insect proof condition, extermination shall be the responsibility of the owner. Whenever infestations exists in two or more of the dwelling units in any dwelling, or in the shared or public parts of any dwelling containing two or more dwelling units, extermination shall be the responsibility of the owner.
A. 
Any dwelling, building, structure, premises or any other place shall be required to be vectorproofed when found to provide harborage or breeding areas for vectors, upon written notice at least five days prior to an inspection thereof.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for the owner, occupant, contractor, public utility company, plumber or any other person to remove and fail to restore in like condition the vectorproofing from any building, structure or accessory structure for any purpose.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The owner or any other person who is in control of any premises, whether an owner, lessee or agent of the owner, or a corporate or noncorporate director, administrator, trustee or guardian of the estate of the owner, who may jointly and severally, violate any provision of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. If the penalty is not paid, the Borough shall initiate a civil action for collection in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a 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 Allegheny County.
This chapter is intended to regulate vectors and to be a supplement to any other ordinance which may regulate like subject matter such as vegetation, junk automobiles and junkyards. Any violation of other ordinances regulating similar subject matter shall be considered a separate offense in addition to any offense occurring under this chapter.