[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
East Whiteland 11-1-1966 by Ord. No. 29-66. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "East Whiteland
Township Junk Control and Storage Ordinance."
A.
BOARD
DEALER
JUNK
JUNKYARD
JUNKYARD LICENSE
PERSON
PRIVATE OWNERS
TEMPORARY STORAGE LICENSE
TOWNSHIP
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words
and phrases shall be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings
herein indicated:
The Board of Supervisors of East Whiteland Township, Chester County,
or its duly authorized agent.
Any person engaged in selling, buying, storing, repairing, servicing,
salvaging, processing, or dealing in junk as defined in this chapter as a
sole business or as an adjunct to another business and who maintains or operates
such a business within East Whiteland Township.
Any discarded material, or parts thereof and shall include but not
be limited to scrap metal or scrapped, abandoned, unlicensed, inoperative,
wrecked or junked motor vehicles, boats, trailers, machinery, equipment, paper,
glass, containers or structures. It shall not include, however, refuse or
garbage as regulated in other ordinances of East Whiteland.
Any place where any junk is stored, processed, accumulated, bought,
sold, serviced, salvaged or repaired.
The permit granted to a person who owns, accumulates, stores, processes,
buys, sells, services, salvages or repairs junk as defined in this chapter.
Any partnership, association, firm, corporation or individual.
Any person or individual other than a dealer who shall maintain title
to, own, store, borrow or otherwise cause junk as defined in this chapter
to be deposited anywhere in the Township other than within an enclosed garage
or structure.
The temporary permit granted to a private owner who is in the process
of repairing, rebuilding, restoring, altering or otherwise temporarily storing
no more than one item of junk at any location in the Township other than within
an enclosed garage or structure.
East Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
B.
The singular shall include the plural, and the plural
shall include the singular.
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer or maintain a junkyard
without first having obtained a junkyard license from the Board, for which
license a fee in accordance with the schedule hereinafter set forth shall
be paid to the Township for the use of the Township. The license shall be
issued for the twelve-month period beginning July 1 and ending June 30 of
the following year and each license must be renewed annually on or before
the first day of July each year.
Any private owner who shall keep junk anywhere in the Township for a
period longer than seven days must obtain a temporary storage license from
the Board, for which temporary storage license a fee in accordance with the
schedule hereinafter set forth shall be paid to the Township for the use of
the Township. A temporary storage license shall be issued for a thirty-day
period and must be renewed every 30 days by the private owner but no license
shall be renewed for more than a total of three months from the date of issuance
of the original license except where the private owner of the junk for which
original license was issued in which case further monthly extensions may be
approved by the Board. No license shall be necessary where certification shall
show that the junk is being held pending a legal settlement. Such exception
shall not exceed two years for the junk in question.
The licenses provided for in this chapter shall be issued by the Board
after written application shall have been made therefor by the person or private
owner desiring to be licensed. Such license shall state the name of the person
or private owner to whom such license is issued and the premises on which
such business is to be conducted, such junkyard is to be maintained or in
the case of a private owner the location where the temporary storage occurs.
Licenses shall be posted conspicuously upon the premises licensed thereunder.
The written application for license herein above mentioned shall be accompanied
by a form, every question of which must be answered, which form will be supplied
by the Board. Applicant shall also submit therewith a plot plan of the premises
used or to be used in connection with the license.
Upon receipt of an application by the Board, the Board shall issue a
license or shall refuse to issue a license to the person or private owner
applying therefor after an examination of the application and taking into
consideration the suitability of the property proposed to be used for the
purposes of the license, the character of the properties located nearby, and
the effect of the proposed use upon the Township, both economic and aesthetic.
In the event that the Board shall issue a license, it may impose upon the
license and the person or private owner applying therefor such terms and conditions
addition to the regulations herein contained and adopted pursuant to this
chapter as may be deemed necessary to carry out the spirit and intent of this
chapter.
A.
[1]The license fee shall be paid immediately upon the issuance or
renewal of a license. The amount of the license fee shall be calculated in
accordance with the schedule as set from time to time by resolution of the
Board of Supervisors, as determined by the actual land to be used by the person
to whom the license is issued, excluding all setback areas, as follows:
B.
No license shall be issued for the use of a tract of
land in excess of five acres, excluding setback areas.
The license fee shall be paid immediately upon the issuance or renewal
of a license. The amount of the license fee shall be calculated in accordance
with the schedule as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors,
as determined by the length of storage time, as follows:
No dealer licensed under this chapter shall, by virtue of one license,
keep more than one place of business within the Township or maintain more
than one junkyard, for the purpose of buying, selling or dealing in junk.
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer in any place other than
the place designated upon his license, or maintain a junkyard in any place
other than the place designated upon his license. No private owner shall maintain
junk at more than one location at any one time.
No junkyard license issued by the Board shall be transferable by the licensee to any other person unless such a transfer is authorized by the Board. Any person desiring to transfer his license shall notify the Board. Any person desiring to transfer his license shall notify in writing, which notification shall be accompanied by an application for a license, as described in § 110-5 of this chapter, by the transferee. Temporary storage licenses are not transferable.
In the event that the Board shall approve the transfer of a junkyard
license the transferee shall immediately pay to the Township a transfer fee
as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
Every dealer licensed under this chapter shall provide and shall constantly
keep a book, in which shall be fairly written down in the English language
at the time of purchase of any junk a description of every article or material
purchased or received by him, the date and hour of such purchase and the person
from whom such article or material was purchased or received, which shall
at all times be subject to the inspection of any official of the Township.
Every dealer licensed under this chapter shall keep and retain upon
the licensed premises, for a period of 48 hours after the purchase or receipt
thereof, all junk received or purchased by him, and he shall not disturb or
reduce the same or alter the original form, shape or condition until such
period of 48 hours shall have elapsed.
Every dealer licensed under this chapter shall constantly maintain the
licensed premises in accordance with any special provisions imposed by the
Board and in the manner prescribed by this section and any subsequent regulations
adopted by the Board.
A.
Such premises shall at all times be maintained so as
not to constitute a nuisance or menace to the health of the community or of
residents nearby or a place for the harborage or breeding of rodents of vermin.
B.
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored on
such premises.
C.
Gasoline in an amount not exceeding 10 gallons may be
stored above ground in said junkyards, provided that the same be placed in
containers approved by the Board. All other gasoline which is kept on the
premises shall be stored underground, which underground storage must be approved
by the Board.
D.
The manner of storage and arrangement of junk and the
drainage facilities of the premises shall be such as to prevent the accumulation
of stagnant water upon the premises, and to facilitate access for fire-fighting
purposes.
E.
All junk kept, stored, or arranged on the licensed premises shall at all times be kept, stored and arranged within the area as described in the application for license hereunder, and as limited under Subsection D above.
F.
Open burning of junk of any kind shall not be permitted
under this chapter. Any burning of junk must be in an enclosed incinerator
of approved design as covered under applicable ordinance. No oil, grease,
tires, gasoline or other similar material that might be dangerous or tend
to produce obnoxious smoke or odors shall be burned within a junkyard at any
time.
G.
The premises of junkyards to be licensed shall be set
back a minimum distance of 40 feet from the right-of-way lines of all streets
or roads and a minimum distance of 20 feet from all other property lines.
The area between the setback lines and the right-of-way lines of all streets
or roads and all other property lines shall be at all times kept clear of
junk.
[Amended 4-4-1967]
H.
Junkyards shall be enclosed by a fence. The fence shall
have a minimum height of six feet and shall be solid and shall be maintained
in good condition by the owner of the property at all times. No advertising
of any nature shall be displayed on the fence. The Board may permit the substitution
of trees for a fence when it determines that the public welfare will not be
adversely affected. The trees shall provide an immediate and effective screen
at least six feet in height.
[Amended 4-4-1967]
Unless a license has been obtained from the Board, it shall be unlawful
for any person or private owner to accumulate or abandon any junk on any private
or public property within the Township or to own or maintain any property
on which any such junk is located.
[Amended 7-2-1996 by Ord.
No. 111-96]
Any person who violates or permits the violation of any provision of
this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement
proceeding commenced by the Township before a District Justice, pay a fine
for each such violation in an amount not less than $100 and not more than
$600 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorneys fee's, incurred
by the Township. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of the determination
of a violation by the District Justice. If the defendant neither pays nor
timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant
to the applicable rules of civil procedure.
In addition to the remedies provided in § 110-16 above, any continued violation of this chapter which shall constitute a nuisance in fact or which in the opinion of the Board constitutes a nuisance may be abated by proceeding against the violator in a court of equity for relief.
