[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Hamilton 3-6-1973 by Ord. No. 3A. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Hamilton 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:
The Board of Supervisors of Hamilton Township.
Old, dilapidated, scrap or abandoned metal, paper, building
material and equipment, bottles, glass, appliances, furniture, beds
and bedding, rags, rubber, unlicensed motor vehicles, and parts thereof.
[Amended 9-13-2004 by Ord. No. 108]
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 Hamilton.
An open area where junk is bought, sold, exchanged, stored,
processed, or handled. An automobile wrecking yard shall be considered
a junkyard.
[Amended 9-13-2004 by Ord. No. 108]
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or
disposes of junk as hereinbefore defined.
Includes any vehicle or machine which:
Excluded shall be:
Vehicles or machinery housed in a garage or
barn or where said machinery is not normally visible in any part from
a public road;
Vehicles or machinery either originally intended
or subsequently modified for use in agricultural or forestry pursuits,
provided said machinery is demonstrably operable and owned by a person
engaged in agricultural or forestry pursuits;
Any vehicle having up-to-date registration with
the Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles.
Includes any partnership, association, firm and corporation.
Hamilton Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania.
No person shall engage in business as a junk
dealer, or maintain a junkyard, without first having obtained a license
from the Board, for which license a fee in accordance with the schedule
hereinafter set forth shall be paid to the Township for the use of
the Township. The license shall be issued for a 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.
The license provided for in this chapter shall
be issued by the Board after written application shall have been made
therefor by the person desiring to be licensed. 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, illustrating how junk
is to be arranged on the premises.
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 purposes 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 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. It shall be unlawful
for any person to have a junkyard within a distance of 500 feet from
the property boundaries of a school, church, cemetery, playground
or housing scheme.
A.
The license fee shall be paid immediately upon the
issuance or renewal of a license. The amount of the license fee shall
be as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Supervisors
and as determined by the actual land to be used by the person to whom
the license is issued, excluding all setback areas.
B.
No license shall be issued for the use of a tract
of land in excess of 20 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 licenser 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 § 81-4 of this chapter, 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 as set from time to time by resolution of the Board
of Supervisors.
[Amended 9-13-2004 by Ord. No. 108]
Every person licensed under this chapter shall
provide and shall constantly keep a book, in which shall be fairly
written down in the English language at the time of the 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 or received, and such book
and all junk purchased, received or handled by such person shall at
all times be subject to the inspection of any official of the Township.
[Amended 9-13-2004 by Ord. No. 108]
Every person licensed under this chapter shall
keep and retain upon the licensed premises, for a period of 48 hours
after the purchase or receipt thereof, all junk received or purchased
by him, 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.
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.
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored
in such premises.
C.
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be received in such
premises as junk, all gasoline and oil shall be drained and removed
therefrom. Gasoline in an amount not exceeding 10 gallons may be stored
above ground in said junkyards provided the same be placed in containers
approved by the Board.
[Amended 9-13-2004 by Ord. No. 108]
D.
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.
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.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 12(f), regarding
the burning of vehicles, was deleted 9-13-2004 by Ord. No. 108.
F.
The junkyard to be licensed shall be set back within
the property to distances measured at right angles from the surrounding
road(s) and properties as follows:
G.
Every junkyard shall be made inaccessible to the public
by provision of an enclosure which will not detract from the amenity
of the surroundings in the opinion of the governing body. The use
of evergreen screen plantings and substantial wire fencing equivalent
to cyclone fencing, not less than six feet high, shall be the basis
for this provision. Such fencing shall be placed along the setback
lines with entrances locked when the yard is unattended. Areas external
to the fenced setback areas shall be kept clear of junk at all times
and shall have definable entranceways and site landscaping planned
and executed to the approval of the governing body. The governing
body may set forth the fence and planting requirement at the time
of the issuance of license or at the time of renewal or transfer of
a license.
[Amended 12-3-1996 by Ord. No. 75; 5-6-1997 by Ord. No.
76]
Any person who violates or permits a violation
of this chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought
before a District Justice under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal
Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable
by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default
of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that
such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute
a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated
shall also constitute a separate offense. Hamilton Township police
officers, or other appropriate officer(s) of Hamilton Township, shall
have the power to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
In addition to the remedies provided in § 81-13 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.
In addition to the provisions and penalties for violations and abatement of nuisances as given at §§ 81-13 and 81-14 above, the governing body may give reasonable notice for the remedying of violations and if such violations are not remedied within the prescribed time, the governing body may declare the license revoked.
