[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Downingtown 1-11-1954. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Disease control — See Ch. 127.
Housing standards — See Ch. 164.
Plumbing standards — See Ch. 215.
Property maintenance — See Ch. 222.
No garbage, offal, pomace, dead animals, decaying matter or organic waste substance of any kind shall be thrown or deposited in any ravine, ditch or gutter, on any street or highway, into any waters of the Borough or be permitted to remain exposed upon the surface of the ground. The transportation of garbage and offal shall be effected in watertight vehicles or containers, properly covered to avoid spillage and shall be cleansed at sufficient intervals to prevent obnoxious odors.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former §§ 79-1 through 79-8, which immediately preceded this section and dealt with privies and cesspools, disposal of human excrement, toilet accommodations and discharge of kitchen or laundry water, were deleted 10-10-1990 by Ord. No. 90-16.
Manure shall not be allowed to accumulate in any place where it can prejudicially affect any source of drinking water or where, as a source of fly breeding, it may become a menace to public health.
The carcass of any dead animal not killed for food shall be removed and disposed of by burial or incineration or other sanitary method within 24 hours after death. If the carcass is buried it shall be placed so that every part shall be covered by at least two feet of earth and at a location not less than 100 feet from any waters of the Borough and not subject to overflow by said waters. In all cases of death from communicable disease the carcass shall be thoroughly enveloped in unslacked lime.
No person shall maintain or permit to be maintained any pond, privy vault, cesspool, well, cistern, rain barrel or other receptacle containing water in such a condition that mosquitoes breeding therein may become a menace to public health.
No person, partnership, firm or corporation shall maintain a slaughterhouse, rendering works, depository of dead animals, piggery or pigsty in the Borough.
No person, partnership, firm or corporation owning or operating an industrial plant or establishment shall allow any noxious or offensive gases, smoke or exhalations that are deleterious or detrimental to public health to escape into the air or any substance that is deleterious or detrimental to public health to accumulate upon the premises or be thrown or allowed to discharge into any street, roadway or public place or be thrown or allowed to discharge into any stream or other waters of the Borough.
No owner or occupant of any premises shall maintain any well, spring, cistern or other source of water supply used for drinking or household purposes to which the public has or may have access and which is polluted or which is so situated or constructed that it may become polluted in any manner that may render such water supply injurious to health.
[Amended 7-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-18]
All properties shall be maintained free from weeds or plant growth in excess of eight inches. All noxious weeds shall be prohibited. "Weeds" shall be defined as all grasses, annual plants and vegetation other than trees or shrubs; provided, however, that this term shall not include cultivated flowers and gardens. The owner, lessee or occupant of any property who fails to comply with this regulation shall be notified of such noncompliance by the Code Enforcement Officer. Said owner, lessee or occupant shall have 14 days from the date of such notification to comply with this regulation. If, after the fourteen-day period, the required trimming has not been done, the Code Enforcement Officer or his designee shall cause said work to be done, and the costs therefor shall be borne by the owner, lessee or occupant of said property. In the case of a dispute, the responsibility for such trimming shall be determined by the Borough Council.
[Amended 12-11-1991 by Ord. No. 91-29]
Any and every person who creates, continues or maintains any nuisance, so adjudged by the Code Enforcement Officer within the Borough of Downingtown, shall be liable for the expense of the abatement and remedy thereof.
[Amended 10-10-1990 by Ord. No. 90-16; 12-11-1991 by Ord. No. 91-29]
Any person or persons, partnership, firm or corporation who or which shall violate any section or part thereof of the regulations of the Code Enforcement Officer shall, upon conviction thereof before any District Justice, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and costs of prosecution and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days, provided that if any such violation is a violation for which a different penalty and/or a different method of prosecution is specified by any law or regulation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or of the United States of America, such state or federal law or regulation shall govern such penalty or method of prosecution, as the case may be.