[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Upper Allen 9-12-1979 by Ord. No. 277. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Upper Allen Township Junk Dealer and Junkyard Ordinance of
1979."
A.
JUNK
JUNK DEALER
JUNKYARD
PERSON
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
Discarded materials, articles or things possessing value
in part, gross or aggregate, and including but not limited to scrapped
and inoperable motor vehicles and parts thereof, but not including
garbage or other organic waste or farm machinery, provided that said
farm machinery is used in connection with a bona fide agricultural
business, or objects or materials accumulated on any premises as the
by-products, waste or scraps of a legitimate business, other than
a junkyard as defined in this chapter, conducted thereon.
Any person who shall be engaged in the business of collecting,
accumulating, buying, selling, storing, disassembling, treating or
processing for scrap automobiles not fit for highway use, secondhand
building materials, rags, bottles, scrap paper and all other items
not intended to be repaired for reuse.
Any place or establishment where junk is stored or accumulated
out of doors or in any manner other than within a building, edifice
or structure that is enclosed on all sides, where the business of
selling, buying or dealing in junk is carried on or where 10 or more
motor vehicles which are unlicensed, inoperable and do not have a
current and valid inspection sticker as required by the Motor Vehicles
Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are stored out of doors;
but not including any place where inoperable motor vehicles intended
to be repaired are stored for a period not in excess of 30 days in
connection with a bona fide automotive repair business.
Any natural person, association, partnership, firm or corporation.
B.
In this chapter, the singular shall include the plural
and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
On and after the effective date of this chapter,
no person shall engage or continue to engage in business as a junk
dealer or establish or operate a junkyard in the Township of Upper
Allen except as authorized by this chapter and without first having
obtained a license therefor from the Board of Commissioners of the
Township of Upper Allen.
Application for such license shall be made in
writing, under oath and in the form prescribed by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Upper Allen, and shall contain the name of the
applicant, his/her address, his/her length of residence at such address,
his/her previous criminal record, if any, the address of the premises
upon which such business is to be conducted or upon which such junkyard
is to be established or operated and the name of the owner or owners
of said property if other than the applicant and, upon any subsequent
applications, a statement that the applicant, during the preceding
term of his/her license, did comply with and did maintain his/her
premises in full compliance with the provisions of this chapter. Each
application shall describe the premises upon which the junkyard is
to be established or operated, specifying therein setback lines, structures
erected thereon, dwellings erected upon premises adjacent to the premises
proposed to be used and a reference to the place where the deed is
recorded. If the applicant is a partnership or association, the application
shall furnish the above information for every member thereof. If the
applicant is a business corporation, the application shall furnish
the above information for each officer and director thereof. The application
shall be signed by the applicant if an individual, by all members
if the applicant is a partnership or association and by the President
and Secretary if the applicant is a business corporation. A separate
application shall be required for each junkyard conducted by a junk
dealer.
[Amended 6-17-1993 by Ord. No. 474]
Every junk dealer or person operating or maintaining
or intending to establish or maintain a junkyard shall pay an annual
license fee as shall be set, from time to time, by resolution of the
Board of Commissioners of Upper Allen Township for every license or
renewal thereof issued hereunder. The current fee resolution shall
be on file with the Township Secretary. All licenses shall be issued
for a term of one year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30 of the
following year. No abatement of the annual license fee shall be made
for any cause whatsoever. All licenses must be renewed annually on
or before the first day of July of each year. Such license shall be
issued upon the condition that the same may be summarily revoked in
the event that said licensee is found to have given any false information
or in any way misrepresented any material fact upon which the issuing
authority has relied in granting such license. No refunds will be
given in such case.
The Board of Commissioners of Upper Allen Township,
upon receipt of an application for license under this chapter, shall
determine whether or not a license shall be issued or a renewal thereof
shall be granted after an examination of the application and upon
the fullest consideration of the suitability of the premises proposed
to be used for the purposes of the license, the character of the property
adjacent thereto and the effect of the proposed use, taking into consideration
the health, welfare and safety of the residents of the township and
any potential hazard which may result to adjacent properties and structures
thereon or to the citizens of Upper Allen Township. Upon approval
of the application for license, the Board of Commissioners of Upper
Allen Township shall issue to the applicant a license upon which said
license shall be designated the name of the junkyard. Such license
shall be at all times conspicuously posted upon the premises licensed
thereunder. No such license issued by the Board of Upper Allen Township
shall be transferable or assignable by agreement, will, intestacy
or otherwise.
No license or renewal of license shall be issued
to any person who, within five years immediately preceding the date
of his/her application, shall have been convicted for any felony or
misdemeanor crimen falsi.
Every licensee hereunder shall provide and shall
at all times keep and maintain records in the English language of
the time of his/her purchase, acquisition or receipt of junk, a full
and complete description, including trade names, serial or manufacturer's
numbers, if any, of every article or item of junk purchased, acquired
or received by him/her, the date and approximate hour of such purchase,
acquisition or receipt and the name and address of the person from
whom such article or item of junk was purchased, acquired or received.
Such written records shall at all times be subject to the inspection
of the Township Chief of Police for just cause. Such records shall
be retained for a period of five years.
Every licensee hereunder shall keep and retain
upon the licensed premises, for a period of 24 hours after the purchase,
acquisition or receipt thereof, every item or article of junk so purchased,
acquired or received by him/her and placed on the licensed premises.
The licensee shall not disturb or reduce or alter the original form,
shape or condition of the same until such period of 24 hours shall
have elapsed.
Every licensee hereunder shall constantly maintain
the licensed premises in the manner hereinafter prescribed:
A.
Such premises shall at all times be maintained so
as not to constitute a nuisance or a menace to the health and welfare
of the community or to residents nearby or a place for the breeding
of rodents and vermin.
B.
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored
on such premises.
C.
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 licensed land and to facilitate
access for inspection purposes and fire fighting.
D.
No junk shall be stored or accumulated nor shall any
structure be erected within 25 feet of the side and rear lines of
the licensed premises nor within 75 feet of any existing dwelling
house erected upon premises adjacent to the licensed premises, nor
shall any junk be stored or accumulated or any structure be erected
that is used in connection with said junkyard within 40 feet of that
line of the licensed premises abutting a public street or highway
within the Township of Upper Allen, provided that in cases where two
or more lines of the licensed premises abut public streets or highways
within the township, one line only of such premises shall be governed
by the above-provided setback of 40 feet, provided that nothing contained
in this subsection shall apply to existing structures pertaining to
and being used in connection with junkyards presently established
and operating.
E.
Every structure erected upon the licensed premises
and used in connection therewith shall be of fireproof construction.
F.
The premises shall be enclosed by a metal chain link fence constructed of good heavy-duty steel and supported upon steel posts or, in lieu thereof, a solid masonry or metal wall of a uniform design, texture and structure. The erection of such fence or wall shall be controlled by the setback provisions of Subsection D hereof. Such fence or wall shall not be less than six feet in height, nor shall two or more vehicles or major parts thereof be stacked on top of one another or otherwise as to protrude above it. The erection of said fence shall be completed within 12 months after the effective date of this chapter. If, in the sole and exclusive opinion of a majority of the Board of Commissioners of Upper Allen Township, it should appear that the owner and/or operator of a junkyard situate within the township have clearly demonstrated that they are making a continuing bona fide effort to comply with the fencing provisions of this subsection, then and in such event the Board may, in its sole discretion, grant an extension of time to such owner or operator of a junkyard for the completion of the erection of said fence, upon receipt of a written letter from said junkyard owner or operator requesting such an extension of time. It is further provided that the foregoing fencing provisions shall be applicable only to that portion of the premises being immediately used for the storage of junk and shall not be applicable to the balance of the property owned or used by said junkyard operator so long as said remaining portion of land is not being used for the storage of junk, as defined in this chapter.
G.
The land area between the above-provided chain link
fence or wall and any public highway, street or avenue shall be implanted
with shrubbery, bushes and evergreens at reasonable intervals between
each such plant.
The Township Chief of Police shall, from time
to time, regularly inspect the premises of every licensee hereunder
for the purpose of determining whether said licensee has established
and maintained his/her premises in full compliance with the provisions
of this chapter and such rules and regulations which may hereafter
be adopted by the Township of Upper Allen regulating and licensing
junk dealers and the establishment and maintenance of junkyards. The
Township Chief of Police shall forthwith prosecute any discovered
violation of this chapter. The Township Chief of Police shall not
less than twice yearly furnish to the Board of Commissioners of Upper
Allen Township a report of such inspections, the same to be in writing
and in the form prescribed by the Board of Commissioners of the Township
of Upper Allen.
Every junkyard in the Township of Upper Allen
shall at all times be subject to inspection during reasonable hours
of the day by the Township Chief of Police. To facilitate such inspection,
all junk therein shall be arranged and maintained in a neat and orderly
fashion. All of such junk vehicles and other junk are to be arranged
in rows, with a minimum of 20 feet of clear space between each row
and each of said rows to be no greater in width than 40 feet.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 13, which
dealt with the burning of junk and which immediately followed this
section, was repealed 6-17-1993 by Ord. No. 474.
[Amended 6-17-1993 by Ord. No. 474]
No junk, scrap or automobile bodies, motors
or any other item of junk, as defined in this chapter, shall be stored,
maintained, situate, placed or otherwise located within 20 feet of
any river, stream, run, creek, floodplain, wetlands, groundwater recharge
area, public water watershed, public utility groundwater pumping facility,
private well, irrigation ditch or any other natural watercourse within
the boundary lines of Upper Allen Township.
No junkyard, as defined in this chapter, shall
be granted a license under the provisions hereof unless off-street
parking is provided within the property owner's boundary lines.
[Amended 6-17-1993 by Ord. No. 474]
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $1,000 and costs of prosecution and, in default
of payment thereof, to imprisonment for not more than 30 days, provided
that each day's violation of any of the provisions of this chapter
shall constitute a separate offense.
