[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Baldwin 5-23-1966 by Ord. No. 322. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicle and traffic regulations — See Ch. 157.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any vehicle in such a state of disrepair as to be incapable
of being moved under its own power or with any tire missing or without
a wheel or wheels or with any window broken or missing or in a dismantled
condition or without current license plates or without a current inspection
sticker, which vehicle has not been moved or used for more than seven
consecutive days. In the case of any such vehicle bearing current
license plates, the seven-day period shall commence only when the
Department of Police has sent, by registered mail, notice to the registered
owner stating that the vehicle, if not immediately moved, shall be
deemed to be abandoned.
All automobiles, tractors, trucks, truck-tractors, truck
trailers and other motor vehicles of any kind.
A device consisting of metal clamps or jaws and a padlocking
device which, when attached to the wheel of a motor vehicle, prevents
the vehicle from being driven.
[Added 7-21-1997 by Ord. No. 712]
No person, association, partnership or corporation shall abandon
vehicles or place an abandoned vehicle on any public street or way
or upon any other public or private property within the Borough of
Baldwin.
The Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to designate a storage
garage or garages, subject to the approval of the Borough Council,
to be operated by the Police Department as an official vehicle pound
or pounds to which vehicles impounded as hereinafter provided shall
be removed.
Any garage designated, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter,
as a pound shall furnish a bond in favor of the Borough of Baldwin
in the amount of $10,000 indemnifying the owner of such impounded
vehicle against the loss thereof, or injury or damage thereto, while
in the custody of such poundkeeper.
Any vehicle bearing current license plates and a current inspection
sticker, regardless of its condition, shall be deemed an abandoned
vehicle, where it is not used or moved for a period of 30 consecutive
days after the Department of Police has sent registered mail notice
to the registered owner stating that the vehicle, if not immediately
moved, shall be deemed to be abandoned.
Where the party abandoning the vehicle cannot be ascertained,
then the Department of Police shall presume that the last owner, whether
an individual person, association, partnership or corporation, registered
with the Department of Revenue of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or similar department of any other state or territory or with any
department of the United States or other nation, is the party guilty
of the violation and is subject to the penalties prescribed in this
chapter unless proof to the contrary is presented; however, this provision
shall not apply to those persons, partnerships, associations or corporations
who hold title to a vehicle solely as security under finance purchase
agreements or as security for loans, and in such cases, the Department
of Police shall presume that the party having control and custody
of the vehicle under the finance or loan agreement is the party guilty
of the violation and is subject to the penalties prescribed in this
chapter, unless proof to the contrary is presented.
When any vehicle shall be found wrecked, abandoned or parked
in violation of laws and ordinances now or hereinafter in force or
shall be seized, such vehicle shall be removed either by Borough-operated
towing equipment or by a contract tower upon the authorization of
the Chief of Police to a designated storage garage operated as a pound
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
A person removing or directing the removal of any vehicle shall
immediately make a report thereof to the Chief of Police giving the
registration number and location of the pound to which the vehicle
has been removed and the reason for its removal and, within 12 hours
from the time of removal, provided that the vehicle has not already
been released from the pound, the Chief of Police shall notify the
owner of record of such vehicle by registered mail that the same has
been impounded, designating the place from which such vehicle was
removed, the reason for its removal and impounding and the pound in
which it has been impounded.
The Chief of Police shall keep a record of all vehicles impounded
and be able at all times to furnish the owners or agents thereof with
information as to the place of impounding.
Before the owner or his agent shall be permitted to remove an
impounded vehicle from a designated pound he shall:
A.
Pay the duly authorized agent of the Borough Treasurer at the location
of the pound a fee of $12 to cover the administrative cost of the
operation of the pound.
B.
Pay the towing charges incurred.
C.
If the vehicle has been impounded in the garage for a period longer than five hours, pay $1 per day or fraction thereof. This storage charge is in addition to the administrative charge referred to in Subsection A.
D.
Secure from such duly authorized agent of the Borough Treasurer a
certified release in duplicate, such release indicating whether or
not the payments were made under protest. The agent of the Borough
Treasurer shall retain the original release and, upon proper identification
and ownership by the owner or his agent, said vehicle shall be released
to him.
E.
Sign a receipt for such vehicle.
The payment of towing and storage charges shall not operate
to relieve the owner from liability for any fine or penalty for violation
of any law or ordinance on account of which the vehicle was impounded,
and provided, further, that payments of such charges, unless made
under protest, shall be final and conclusive and shall constitute
a waiver of any right to recover the money so paid.
In the event that towing and impounding charges are paid under
protest, the offender shall be entitled to a hearing before a District
Justice having jurisdiction, in which case the defendant shall be
proceeded against and receive such notice as is provided by the Vehicle
Code in other cases of summary offenses and shall have the same rights
as to appeal and waiver of hearing. If the District Justice shall,
in accordance with law, acquit the defendant, the Justice shall forthwith
certify to the Borough Treasurer the facts, and the Borough Treasurer
shall, within five days, refund to the defendant the amount of said
towing and storage charges paid by him or in his behalf.
The person removing or directing the removal of any vehicle
under the provisions of this chapter shall affix securely a towing
notice form in a prominent place on such vehicle, such form to bear
the license number of the vehicle, the date, time, place and nature
of the violation, and the name or identifying badge number of the
person removing or directing the removal of the vehicle.
For the purpose of ascertaining any damage to the vehicle which
may have occurred while in the custody of the poundkeeper, the person
removing or directing the removal of any vehicle to the pound under
the provisions of this chapter shall affix securely thereto and in
a prominent place thereon a towing receipt form; such form to bear
a schedule of obvious or apparent damage to said vehicle and any other
additional information that may be deemed necessary.
[Amended 12-19-1985 by Ord. No. 566]
Any person, partnership, association or corporation violating
any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon judgment of the
District Justice having jurisdiction to determine such violation,
be subject to a fine not exceeding $300 and costs for each offense
or imprisonment in the Allegheny County Jail or Allegheny County Work
House for a period not exceeding 30 days. A separate offense shall
be deemed to have been committed on each calendar day during or on
which the violation occurs or continues. In the case of associations
and partnerships, the penalty may be imposed upon the members or partners
thereof and, in the case of corporations, upon the officers thereof.
A.
Any vehicle having five or more unpaid summonses issued against it
within an eighteen-month period, charging that such vehicle was parked,
stopped or standing in violation of the Motor Vehicle Code of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any other traffic ordinance or regulation
of the Borough of Baldwin, is deemed to be a public nuisance, and
the Police Department of the Borough of Baldwin or any police officer
of the Borough of Baldwin, or any other agent assigned by the Borough
of Baldwin to traffic duty, is hereby authorized to:
[Added 7-21-1997 by Ord. No. 712]
(1)
Remove such vehicle or cause it to be removed at the sole cost and
expense of the owner.
(2)
Immobilize such vehicle(s) by means of applying a wheel lock. If
the vehicle has remained immobilized for a period of 24 hours and
release has not been obtained, the police or other Borough authority
shall have the authority to remove such vehicle or cause it to be
removed at the sole cost and expense of the owner. In any case involving
the immobilization of a vehicle pursuant to this section, a notice
shall be placed on such vehicle, in a conspicuous manner, sufficient
to warn any individual that such vehicle has been immobilized and
that any attempt to move such vehicle may result in damage thereto.
B.
The police or other Borough authority shall have the power and is hereby authorized to remove the vehicle by either private or governmental equipment in accordance with the provisions of Ordinance No. 322 of the Borough of Baldwin, adopted the 23rd day of May, 1966, as amended (this Chapter 157, §§ 57-1 through 57-15 of the Code of the Borough of Baldwin).
[Added 7-21-1997 by Ord. No. 712]
