[Amended 1-24-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-2]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Abandoned, Wrecked, Dismantled, Inoperable or Unregistered
Vehicle Ordinance."
For the purposes of this chapter, the following
terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning
given herein. When not inconsistent 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. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely
directory.
ABANDONED VEHICLE
Any vehicle which is left unattended on public property for
a period in excess of 72 hours under such circumstances as to cause
such vehicle reasonably to appear to have been abandoned.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
PRIVATE PROPERTY
Any real property in the town which is privately-owned and
which is not defined as public property herein.
PUBLIC PROPERTY
Any real property in the town which is owned by a governmental
body and includes buildings, parking lots, parks, streets, sidewalks,
rights-of-way, easements and other similar property.
TOWN
The Town of Georgetown.
VEHICLE
A machine propelled by power other than human power designated
to travel along the ground by use of wheels, treads, runners or slides
and transport persons or property or pull machinery and shall include,
without limitations, automobiles, trucks, trailers, motorcycles, tractors,
buggies, wagons, lawn mowers and boats.
WRECKED, JUNKED, DISMANTLED OR INOPERATIVE VEHICLE
Any vehicle, the condition of which is wrecked, junked, dismantled,
partially dismantled, is in such a state of disrepair to be incapable
of being operated in the manner for which it was designed, or from
which the wheels, engine, transmission or any substantial part thereof
have been removed, regardless of whether said vehicle bears a current
registration.
[Amended 1-24-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-2]
No person shall abandon or leave any wrecked,
dismantled, inoperable or unregistered vehicle, whether attended or
not, upon any public property within the town for a period of time
in excess of 72 hours. The presence of such vehicle, or parts thereof,
on public property is hereby declared to be a nuisance which may be
abated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. The temporary
or intermittent movement or removal of such vehicle shall not be deemed
to interrupt the running of the seventy-two-hour period. This section
does not apply to vehicles parked or stored on public property by
the town.
[Amended 1-24-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-2]
A. No person shall park, store, leave or permit the parking,
storing or leaving of any wrecked, dismantled, inoperable or unregistered
vehicle of any kind, whether attended or not, upon any private property
within the town in excess of 15 days. The temporary or intermittent
movement or removal of such vehicle shall not be deemed to interrupt
the running of the fifteen-day period. The presence of such vehicles,
or parts thereof, on private property is hereby declared a public
nuisance which may be abated in accordance with the provisions of
this chapter. The Georgetown Police Department or the Code Enforcement
Officer are authorized to obtain information from any vehicle parked
on any property in violation of this section, with or without the
property owner’s permission, in an effort to identify the vehicle’s
registered owner.
B. This section shall not apply to:
(1) Any vehicle enclosed within a building or fence on
private property in such a manner that it is not visible from without
such enclosure.
(2) Any vehicle held in connection with a business enterprise lawfully licensed by the appropriate governmental agency for the servicing and repair of such vehicles, provided that any vehicle being repaired shall not remain on the property and visible to the public in excess of 30 days. The business conducting the repairs must be in an appropriate business zone pursuant to Chapter
230, Zoning.
Within the time for removal set forth in the
order for removal, or within 72 hours of the hearing at which the
Town Council determines that the vehicle is a nuisance in violation
of this chapter, the owner of the abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or
inoperable vehicle and (if on private property) the owner or occupant
of the private property on which the same is located, any or all of
them, shall cause the removal of the vehicle. If the violation is
not remedied within the time set forth herein, the Georgetown Police
Department is hereby authorized to remove or have removed such vehicle
from the premises. Except for the Georgetown Police Department and
employees of the town working in concert with the Georgetown Police
Department, such vehicles shall be removed only by wreckers or towing
services duly licensed by the State of Delaware. It shall be unlawful
for any person to interfere with, hinder or refuse to allow the Georgetown
Police and/or any person acting in concert with or at the direction
of the Georgetown Police Department to enter upon private property
for the purpose of removing a vehicle under the provisions of this
chapter.
Any person who tows, removes, stores or keeps a vehicle at the direction of the Georgetown Police Department acting under the provisions of this chapter shall, from the time of taking possession thereof, be entitled to all rights, remedies and authority as provided under the Delaware "garagemen's lien" statute, 25 Del. C. Chapter
39, as it may be amended from time to time hereafter, or any future corresponding provision of law. In exercising such rights, remedies and authority, such persons shall be governed, in all respects, by the terms of that statute.
In the event that the town should be or become
liable for all or any portion of the expenses incurred in the removal
and storage of such vehicle, the town may:
A. Recover the same from the owner of the vehicle and/or
the owner of the private property from which it was recovered in an
action for debt; or
B. Add that amount to the tax bill of the person owning
the private property from which such vehicle has been removed. If
occupied by a person other than the owner of that property, the occupant
shall be primarily responsible and the town shall not seek to recover
from the owner of the property (either in an action at law or by tax
collection proceedings) before it exhausts reasonable efforts to recover
from the occupant, but this shall not prohibit the town from joining
both the property owner and the occupant in one action for debt.
[Amended 10-28-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-16]
Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall pay such fines as set out in Chapter
1, Article
III, General Penalty.