[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Washington
10-26-1995 by Ord. No. 26-1995 as Sec. 4-11 of the 1994 Code. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
For the purpose of this chapter the following terms, phrases, words
and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein:
A place where gasoline, oil, services for automobiles and other motor
vehicles are sold either at wholesale or retail prices.
Putrescible animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling,
preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
Any used or unconsumed substance or waste material which has been
discarded whether made of aluminum, glass, plastic, rubber, paper or other
natural or synthetic material, or any combination thereof, including, but
not limited to, any bottle, jar or can, any top, cap or detachable tab of
any bottle, jar or can, any unlighted cigarette, cigar, match or any flaming
or glowing material or any garbage, trash, refuse, debris, rubbish, grass
clippings or other lawn or garden waste, newspaper, magazines, glass, metal,
plastic or paper containers or other packaging or construction material, but
does not include the waste of the primary processes of mining or other extraction
processes, logging, sawmilling, farming or manufacturing. "Litter" shall also
include garbage, refuse and rubbish.
A container suitable for the depositing of litter.
Any street, sidewalk, alley or other public way and any and all public
parks, squares, spaces, grounds and buildings.
Any structure or building owned or operated by the federal, county
or state government or any governmental agency.
All putrescible solid wastes, including garbage, rubbish, ashes,
street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles, dismantled automobiles
and parts thereof, scrap metal, junk, machinery and solid market and industrial
wastes.
Nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and noncombustible
wastes, such as paper, wrappings, cigarettes, cardboard, tin cans, yard clippings,
leaves, wood, glass, bedding, crockery, building materials and similar materials.
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, drop, discard or otherwise
place litter, of any nature, upon any public or private property, other than
in a litter receptacle.
A.Â
Litter receptacles and their servicing are required at
the following public places which exist in the Township, including:
(1)Â
Sidewalks used by pedestrians in active retail commercially
zoned areas, such that at a minimum there shall be no single linear quarter-mile
without a receptacle.
(2)Â
Buildings held out for use by the public, including schools,
government buildings, and railroad and bus stations.
(3)Â
Parks.
(4)Â
Drive-in restaurants.
(5)Â
All street vendor locations.
(6)Â
Self-service refreshment areas.
(7)Â
Construction sites.
(8)Â
Gasoline service stations islands.
(9)Â
Shopping centers.
(10)Â
Parking lots.
(11)Â
Campgrounds and trailer parks.
(12)Â
Marinas, boat moorage and fueling stations.
(13)Â
Boat launching areas.
(14)Â
Public and private piers operated for public use.
(15)Â
Beaches and bathing areas.
(16)Â
At special events to which the public is invited, including
sporting events, parades, carnivals, circuses, and festivals.
B.Â
The proprietors of these places or the sponsors of these
events shall be responsible for providing and servicing the receptacles such
that adequate containerization is available.
C.Â
Persons placing litter in litter receptacles shall do
so in such a manner as to prevent such litter from being carried or deposited
by the elements upon any public or private property.
A.Â
No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial
handbill in or upon any sidewalk, street or other public place within the
Township. No person shall hand out, distribute or sell any commercial handbill
in any public place. It shall not be unlawful on any sidewalk, street or other
public place within the Township for any person to hand out or to distribute
without charge to the receiver thereof any noncommercial handbill to any person
willing to accept it.
B.Â
No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial
handbill in or upon any vehicle. It shall not be unlawful in any public place
for a person to hand out or distribute, without charge to the receiver thereof,
a noncommercial handbill to any occupant of a vehicle who is willing to accept
it.
C.Â
No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial
handbill in or upon any private premises which is temporarily or continuously
uninhabited or vacant.
D.Â
No person shall throw, deposit or distribute any commercial
or noncommercial handbill upon any private premises if requested by anyone
thereon not to do so or if there is placed on such premises in a conspicuous
position near the entrance thereof a sign bearing the words "No Trespassing,"
"No Peddlers or Agents," "No Advertisement" or any similar notice, indicating
in any manner that the occupants of such premises do not desire to be molested
or have their right of privacy disturbed or to have any such handbills left
upon such premises.
E.Â
No person shall throw, deposit or distribute any commercial
or noncommercial handbill in or upon private premises which are inhabited,
except by handling or transmitting any such handbill directly to the owner,
occupant or other person then present in or upon such private premises. In
case of inhabited private premises which are not posted, as provided in this
chapter, such person, unless requested by anyone upon such premises not to
do so, shall have the authority to place or deposit any such handbill in or
upon such inhabited private premises, if such handbill is so placed or deposited
as to secure or prevent such handbill from being blown or drifted about such
premises or sidewalks, streets or other public place, and except that mailboxes
may not be used where so prohibited by federal postal law or regulations.
F.Â
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the
distribution of mail by the United States, nor to newspapers.
No person shall post or affix any notice, poster or other paper or device
calculated to attract the attention of the public to any lamppost, public
utility pole or shade tree, or upon any public structure or building, except
as may be authorized by the owners thereof or required by law.
It shall be unlawful for any person to discard or dump along any street
or road, on or off any right-of-way, or on any private property, any household
or commercial solid waste, rubbish, refuse, junk, vehicle or vehicle parts,
rubber tires, appliances, furniture or private property, except by written
consent of the owner of such property, in any place not specifically designated
for the purpose of solid waste storage or disposal.
It shall be unlawful for any residential property owner to store or
permit storage of any bulky household waste, including household appliances,
furniture and mattresses, in areas zoned residential, except in a fully enclosed
structure or during days designated for the collection of bulky items.
It shall be unlawful for any residential property owner to store or
permit the storage of tires in areas zoned residential, except in a fully
enclosed structure or on days designated for the collection of tires.[1]
It shall be unlawful for any residential property owner to park or permit
the parking of any vehicle on his/her residential lawn.
It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or permit the keeping on
streets, vacant lots, and residential lawns, except in a fully enclosed structure,
any motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer which is:
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for any vehicle to be driven, moved,
stopped or parked on any highway unless such a vehicle is constructed or loaded
to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping
therefrom. Any person operating a vehicle from which any glass or objects
have fallen or escaped which could cause an obstruction, damage a vehicle
or otherwise endanger travelers or public property shall immediately cause
the public property to be cleaned of all glass or objects and shall pay the
costs therefor.
B.Â
No person shall drive or move any vehicle within the
Township, the wheels or tiers of which carry or deposit in any street, alley,
or other public place, mud, dirt, sticky substance or foreign matter of any
kind.
It shall be unlawful for any owner, agent or contractor in charge of
construction or demolition site to permit the accumulation of litter before,
during or after completion of any construction or demolition project. It shall
be the duty of the owner, agent or contractor in charge of a construction
site to furnish containers adequate to accommodate flyable or nonflyable debris
or trash at areas convenient to construction areas, and to maintain and empty
the receptacles in such a manner and with such a frequency as to prevent spillage
of refuse.
No persons shall discharge material which shall constitute litter into
the atmosphere from any point within the corporate limits of the Township.
It shall be unlawful for any residential or commercial property owner
to permit open or overflowing waste disposal bins on his/her property.
It shall be the duty of the owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or person
in charge of any structure to keep and cause to be kept the sidewalk and curb
abutting the building or structure free from obstruction or nuisances of every
kind, and to keep sidewalks, areaways, backyards, courts and alleys free from
litter and other offensive material. No person shall sweep into or deposit
in any gutter, street, catch basin or other public place any accumulation
of litter from any public or private sidewalk or driveway. Every person who
owns or occupies property shall keep the sidewalk in front of his/her premises
free of litter. All sweepings shall be collected and properly containerized
for disposal.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as denying any person the
right to maintain a mulch pile or accumulation of grass cuttings, leaves or
other inoffensive materials on his/her own or leased property, as long as
dust, odors or other nuisances are not permitted to develop from the resulting
compost. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as denying any person
the right to use ashes or other clean material as fill on the property so
long as dust or any other nuisance is not permitted to develop therefrom.
The Zoning Officer is hereby empowered to require persons to remove
from their lands brush, weeds, dead and dying trees, stumps, roots, obnoxious
growth, filth, garbage, trash and debris. The Zoning Officer shall give notice
to remove the same, in writing, delivered personally to those owners that
reside in the Township and by certified mail to those owners who live outside
the Township, requiring them to remove the litter within 10 days following
the receipt of the notice.
If after proper notice the owner of lands in the Township shall fail
or neglect to remove the litter, the Zoning Officer is hereby authorized to
have the same removed and to certify the cost thereof to the Township Council.
If the Township Council shall find the cost to be correct, the amount so charged
shall forthwith become a lien upon such lands and shall be added to and become
and form part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon such lands.
The same to bear interest at the same rate as taxes and shall be collected
and enforced by the same officers and in the same manner as taxes.
