[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Hanover 10-24-1989 by Ord. No. 89-3. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "Hanover Township Junkyard
and Refuse Ordinance."
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 Hanover Township.
Any discarded material or article and shall include, but not be limited
to, scrap metal, scrapped, abandoned or junked motor vehicles, machinery,
equipment, paper, glass, containers and structures. It shall not include,
however, refuse or garbage kept in a proper container for the purpose of prompt
disposal.
Any person, as hereinafter defined, who shall engage in the business
of selling, buying, salvaging, and dealing in junk and who maintains and operates
a junkyard within the Township of Hanover.
Any place where any junk, as hereinafter defined, is stored, disposed
of, or accumulated.
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or disposes
of junk as hereinbefore defined.
Includes any partnership, association, firm and corporation.
Hanover Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer, or maintain a junkyard,
without first having obtained a 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 of each year.
The license provided for in this chapter shall be issued by the Board
after written application shall have been made therefor by the person desiring
to be licensed. Such license shall state the name of the person to whom such
license is issued and the premises on which such business is to be conducted,
or such junkyard is to be maintained. Such license shall be posted conspicuously
upon the premises licensed thereunder. The written application for license
hereinabove 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 of the premises used or to be used in connection
with such 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 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 the Board
shall issue a license, it may impose upon the license and the person applying
therefor such terms and conditions in 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.
The license fee shall be paid immediately upon the issuance or renewal
of a license, which license fee shall be adopted by resolution of the Board
from time to time. No license shall be issued for the use of a tract of land
less than three acres excluding setback areas, nor for the use of a tract
of land in excess of five acres excluding setback areas.
No person 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 and 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 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 in writing, which notification shall be accompanied by an application for a license, as described in § 106-4 of this chapter, by the transferee.
In the event the Board shall approve the transfer of a license, the
transferee shall immediately pay to the Township a fee, which fee shall be
adopted by resolution of the Board from time to time.
Every person 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 the purchase of any junk, a description of every article or
material purchased or received by him, the date and hour of such purchase
or receipt, and the person from whom such article or material was purchased
or received. Such book and all junk purchased, received or handled by such
person shall at all times be subject to the inspection of any official of
the Township.
Every person 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 person 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 a menace to the health of the community or
of residents nearby or a place conducive to the breeding of rodents and vermin.
B.
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored or
accepted in such premises.
C.
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be received in such
premises as junk, all gasoline and oil shall be drained and removed therefrom.
Gasoline in an amount not exceeding 10 gallons may be stored above ground
in said junkyards provided the same be placed in containers approved by the
Board. All other gasoline which is kept in the premises shall be stored underground,
which underground storage must be approved by the Department of Environmental
Protection, and be consistent with state and federal regulations.[1]
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, and said premises must be located within 600 feet of a fire hydrant.
E.
All junk kept, stored, or arranged on the licensed premises shall at all times be kept, stored and arranged within the junkyard as described in the application for license hereunder, and as limited under Subsection D above.
F.
Burning of any material is specifically prohibited.
G.
The premises to be licensed shall be set back a minimum
distance of 100 feet from the right-of-way lines on all streets or roads and
a minimum distance of 100 feet from all other property lines. The area between
the setback line and the right-of-way line and all streets and roads and all
other property lines shall at all times be kept clear and vacant.
H.
When the Board shall deem it necessary and desirable,
the premises to be licensed shall at the setback lines be enclosed by an eight-foot
opaque fence, the type and style to be determined by the Board, and by evergreen
plantings 25 feet in depth. The Board may set forth the fence and planting
requirements at the time of the issuance of a license or at the time of renewal
or transfer of a license.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter shall,
upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a District Justice
under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary
offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than
$1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant
may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day
or portion thereof that such violation continues or is permitted to continue
shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that
is violated shall also constitute a separate offense.
