[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Unity 5-16-1974 by Ord. No.
51674. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as the "Unity
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:
Any and all types of motor vehicles, including self-propelled
machinery of all kinds, with the exception of usable farm machinery.
The Board of Supervisors of Unity 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 Unity.
Any place within the Township where junk as herein defined
is stored, disposed of, accumulated or maintained. Any premises as
herein defined having one or more used, unlicensed or without a current
inspection sticker and inoperable automobiles or other vehicles thereon
shall, in any event, be deemed a "junkyard"; provided, however, that
any used automobile dealer or any automobile or truck dealer who is
licensed or franchised as such dealer may store upon premises occupied
by him, for a period not to exceed 30 days, any one junked automobile,
with no more than three junked automobiles at any one time ever to
be upon such premises. Should such used automobile dealer or any licensed
or franchised automobile or truck dealer have a junked automobile
upon the premises for more than 30 days or in excess of the permitted
number of junked automobiles, the premises of the used automobile
dealer or the licensed or franchised truck or automobile dealer shall
be a "junkyard" under the terms of this chapter.
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or
disposes of junk as hereinabove defined.
Any natural person, partnership, association, firm, corporation
or other legal entity, including singular and plural, male and female.
Unity Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer or maintain
a junkyard without first having obtained a license to operate a junkyard
as a junk dealer. 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.
Application for a license or any renewal thereof shall be filed
in writing with the Secretary of the Board. 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 purpose
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 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. No license shall be renewed
for an existing junkyard which does not comply with this chapter.
A.Â
A
license fee shall be paid immediately upon the issuance or renewal
of a license. The amount of the license fee shall be in an amount
as shall be set forth in a resolution duly adopted by the Board of
Supervisors of Unity Township.
[Amended 10-12-2000 by Ord. No. O-6-00]
B.Â
No
license shall be issued for the use of a tract of land in excess of
10 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 § 72-4, by the transferee.
In the event the Board shall approve the transfer of a license,
the transferee shall immediately pay to the Township a transfer fee
of $5.
[Amended 4-25-1988 by Ord. No. O-3-88]
Every person licensed under this chapter shall provide and shall
constantly keep a book in which shall be 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, and said book 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 all junk received or purchased by him for
a period of 48 hours after the purchase or receipt thereof, 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.Â
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 for the breeding of rodents and
vermin.
B.Â
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored in
such premises.
C.Â
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be received in such
premises as junk, all gasoline shall be drained and removed therefrom.
Gasoline in an amount not exceeding 10 gallons may be stored above
ground in said junkyards, provided that the same shall 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 Board.
D.Â
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.Â
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.Â
A person licensed under this chapter shall control
burning within the junkyard of tires, gasoline or other similar material
so as not to be dangerous or to produce dangerous, obnoxious smoke
or odors. Burning of vehicles must be attended and controlled at all
times.
[Amended 4-25-1988 by Ord. No. O-3-88]
G.Â
The premises to be licensed shall be set back a minimum
distance of 25 feet from the right-of-way lines of all streets or
roads and a minimum distance of 25 feet from all property lines. The
area between the setback line and the right-of-way line of all streets
and roads and all other property lines shall be at all times kept
clear and vacant.
H.Â
The premises to be licensed shall, at the setback lines,
be enclosed by a fence of six feet in height made of steel, wire or
wood and capable of confining or screening the confined area. Gates
shall also be provided which shall at all times be securely locked
except during business hours when an adult employee, as such, is on
the premises. The Board may set forth the fence and planting requirement
at the time of the issuance of a license or at the time of renewal
or transfer of a license.
I.Â
The Board may from time to time adopt regulations to
carry out the provisions of this chapter upon giving public notice
as required by law to all persons affected by such regulations.
J.Â
The Township Supervisors shall appoint and provide
for the compensation of a Township employee to be known as the "Ordinance
Officer." It shall be the duty of the Ordinance Officer to make periodic
inspections of all junkyards licensed pursuant to the terms of this
chapter and to file with the Board of Supervisors a written report
of each such inspection. In making such inspections, the Ordinance
Officer shall ascertain whether the provisions of this chapter are
being complied with, shall note any violation thereof in his report
of inspection, shall check the licensee's records of junk received
and removed with his inventory, shall examine the titles to all junked
automobiles on the premises and shall check into such other matters
as come within the scope of this chapter.
[Amended 4-25-1988 by Ord. No. O-3-88]
[Amended 4-25-1988 by Ord. No. O-3-88; 11-28-2000 by Ord. No. O-10-00]
Any person violating any provision of this chapter shall, upon
conviction thereof by the District Justice in a summary criminal proceeding,
be punishable by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000,
together with costs of prosecution and reasonable attorneys'
fees or, in default thereof, by imprisonment for not more than 30
days. Each day's violation shall constitute a separate enforceable
offense.
In addition to the remedies provided in § 72-13 above, any continued violations of this chapter which shall constitute a nuisance in fact or which shall, in the opinion of the Board, constitute a nuisance may be abated by proceeding against the violator in a court of equity for relief.
