Any sinkhole, the location of which endangers the foundation of any building, which may cause a building or structure to shift or subside, or which is located in or in close proximity to a parking lot, parking area, driveway, roadway, sidewalk, pathway, detention basin, stormwater swale, any municipal infrastructure, or any utility infrastructure is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and shall be repaired in accordance with accepted engineering practices.
[Adopted 9-18-2003 by Ord. No. 281]
The Township Building Inspector, Township Engineer or Township Manager shall give written notice to the property owner of any property upon which a sinkhole, which is a public nuisance, is located and direct that the sinkhole be promptly and properly repaired. Immediately upon receipt of such notice, the property owner shall erect such barriers, fences, signs or other means to reasonably protect the public from the dangers of the sinkhole. The owner of the property on which the sinkhole is located shall complete all such repairs no later than 10 days after receipt of written notice from the Township.
If the owner of the property on which the sinkhole is located fails to accomplish said sinkhole repairs within 10 days of said written notice, the Township may repair the sinkhole and bill the property owner for the Township's costs, including engineering and any other administrative and legal costs related to said work. If the owner of the property fails to pay said bill in full to the Township within 30 days after said bill has been sent to the property owner, the Township shall thereafter file a municipal claim and lien against the property on which the sinkhole is located for the costs of repairing the sinkhole, including the engineering and other administrative and legal costs related to said work.
A.
Any person, partnership or corporation who or which has violated, or permitted the violation of, the provisions of this article shall, upon being found liable therefore in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by a municipality, pay a judgment of not less than $400 and not more than $600 plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Township as a result thereof. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied or payable 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. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation, unless the District Justice determining that there has been a violation further determines that there was a good faith basis for the person, partnership or corporation violating this article to have believed that there was no such violation, in which event there shall be deemed to have been only one such violation until the fifth day following the date of the determination of a violation by the District Justice, and thereafter each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation. All judgments, costs and reasonable attorneys' fees collected for the violation of this article shall be paid to the Township.
B.
The Court of Common Pleas, upon petition, may grant an order of stay, upon cause shown, tolling the per diem fine pending a final adjudication of the violation and judgment.
C.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed or interpreted to grant to any person or entity other than the municipality the right to commence any action for enforcement pursuant to this section.