[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Middle Smithfield as indicated in article histories.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Littering — See Ch. 132.
[Adopted 6-10-1998 by Ord. No. 86]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Middle Smithfield Township Nuisance Ordinance."
For purposes of this article, the following
terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings
given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in
the present tense include the future, words in the plural number include
the singular number, and words in the singular number include the
plural number, and the word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely
directory.
Any vehicle in nonserviceable condition or without having
both a current inspection sticker and current registration plate.
The Board of Supervisors of Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe
County, Pennsylvania.
The unreasonable, unwarrantable or unlawful use of public
or private property which causes injury, damage, hurt, inconvenience,
annoyance or discomfort to any person or resident in the legitimate
enjoyment of his or her reasonable rights of person or property.
A person owning, leasing, occupying, or having charge of
any premises within the Township.
Any natural person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company, club, copartnership, society or any organization of any kind.
The Township of Middle Smithfield which is located in Monroe
County, Pennsylvania.
Nuisances, including, but not limited to the
following, are hereby declared to be illegal and are prohibited:
A.
Storing or accumulating the following:
(1)
Garbage or rubbish.
(2)
Unless otherwise permitted by the Township, junk material,
including but not limited to unused or abandoned machinery, equipment
or appliances and all forms of waste and refuse of any type of materials,
including scrap metal, glass, vehicle tires, industrial waste and
other salvageable materials, in a manner such that they can be seen
from any public highway, road, street, avenue, lane or alley.
B.
Unless otherwise permitted by the Township, storing
or accumulating abandoned or junked motor vehicles, mobile homes or
trailers that can be seen from any public highway, road, street avenue,
lane or alley. All such vehicles must be moved within 30 days or,
if at vehicle repair businesses, within 60 days.
C.
Storing or accumulating more than three antique or
collector motor vehicles for restoration which are neither sheltered
by a building nor enclosed behind an evergreen or solid fence as permitted
by applicable zoning ordinances, or storing or accumulating in an
unorderly fashion three or fewer antique or collector motor vehicles
for restoration.
D.
Draining or flowing, or allowing to drain or flow,
by pipe or other channel, whether natural or artificial, any foul
or offensive water or drainage from sinks, bathtubs, wash stands,
lavatories, water closets, swimming pools, privies or cesspools of
any kind or nature whatsoever, or any foul or offensive water, or
foul or offensive drainage of any kind, from property along any public
highway, road, street, avenue, lane or alley, or from any property
into or upon any adjoining property.
E.
Draining or flowing, or allowing to drain or flow,
any water or drainage from any property along any public highway,
road, street, avenue, lane or alley in the Township, into or upon
the cartway or traveled portion of any public highway, road, street,
avenue, lane or alley in the Township.
F.
Burning of tires or tar products.
G.
Maintaining, or causing to be maintained, any dangerous
structure, including but not limited to abandoned or unoccupied buildings
or parts of buildings in a state of dilapidation or disrepair.
H.
Permitting or allowing any well, cistern or open pit
to be or remain uncovered.
I.
Pushing, shoveling or otherwise depositing snow upon
the cartway or traveled portion of any public highway, road or street
which is maintained by the Township or by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and allowing same to remain thereon.
J.
Allowing or permitting any excavation, material excavated
or obstruction on or adjoining any highway, street, or road to remain
opened or exposed without the same being secured by a barricade, temporary
fence or other protective materials.
A.
Whenever a condition constituting a nuisance is created
or maintained, the Board of Supervisors shall cause written notice
to be served upon the owner in one of the following manners:
(1)
By making personal delivery of the notice to the owner;
(2)
By handing a copy of the notice, at the residence
of the owner, to an adult member of the family with which the person
resides, but if no adult member of the family is found, then to an
adult person in charge of such residence;
(3)
By fixing a copy of the notice to the door at the
entrance of the premises in violation;
(4)
By mailing a copy of the notice to the last known
address of the owner, by certified mail; or
(5)
By publishing a copy of the notice in a local newspaper
of general circulation within Monroe County, Pennsylvania, once a
week for three successive weeks.
B.
Such notice shall set forth in what respect such condition constitutes a nuisance, whether removal is necessary and required by the Township or whether the situation can be corrected by repairs, alterations or by fencing or boarding or in some way confining and limiting the nuisance. Such notice shall require the owner to commence action in accordance with the terms thereof within 20 days, and thereafter to comply fully with its terms with reasonable dispatch, with all material to be supplied and work to be done at the owner's expense; provided, however, if any provision of § 136-3F, H, I or J is violated, and if the circumstances require immediate corrective measures, such notice shall require the owner to immediately comply with the terms thereof.
[Added 3-8-2000 by Ord. No. 97[1]]
A.
Any person aggrieved by a notice of violation may
request and shall then be granted a hearing before the Board of Supervisors;
provided that such person files with the Board of Supervisors, within
10 days after notice of the violation, a written petition, signed
by such person, requesting a hearing and setting forth a brief statement
of the grounds therefor and accompanied with the applicable filing
fee. The hearing shall commence not later than 30 days after the date
on which the petition was filed unless postponed for sufficient cause.
B.
After such hearing, the Board of Supervisors shall
sustain, modify or overrule the notice of violation.
If the owner, after receiving due notice, refuses
to comply with the terms thereof:
A.
The owner shall be guilty of a violation of this article
and shall, upon conviction thereof, pay a fine of not more than $1,000
and the costs of prosecution and, in default of payment of such fine
and costs of prosecution, to undergo imprisonment to the extent allowed
by law for the punishment of summary offenses, provided further that
each day's continuance of a violation shall constitute a separate
offense.
B.
The Board of Supervisors may direct the removal, repair
or alteration, as the case may be, to be done by the Township and
to certify the costs thereof to the Township Solicitor. The cost of
such removal, repairs or alteration shall be a lien upon such premises
from the time of such removal, repairs and alterations, which date
shall be determined by the certificate of the person doing such work
and filed with the Township Secretary, and which claim shall be filed
against the owner of the subject premises in the manner allowed by
law for the filing of a municipal lien.
C.
The Township, by means of a complaint in equity, may
compel the owner of the premises to comply with the terms of any notice
of violation or seek any such other relief as any such court of competent
jurisdiction is empowered to afford.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase or portion of this article is for any reason held to be invalid
or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion
shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision, and
such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions
thereof.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent
herewith are hereby repealed.
This ordinance shall take effect five days after
its enactment.
[Adopted 7-27-2012 by Ord. No. 187]
Words and phrases defined by the Blight Act[1] shall have the same meaning in this article unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Neighborhood Blight Reclamation and
Revitalization Act. See 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 6101 et seq.
A.
Unless otherwise required by law, the Township, including any Township
board, commission, committee, officer or employee, shall deny issuing
to an applicant a municipal permit if the applicant owns real property
in any municipality for which there exists on the real property:
(1)
A final and unappealable tax, water, sewer or refuse collection delinquency
on account of the actions of the owner; or
(2)
A serious violation of state law or a code and the owner has taken
no substantial steps to correct the violation within six months following
notification of the violation and for which a fine or other penalties
or a judgment to abate or correct were imposed by a magisterial district
judge or municipal court, or a judgment at law or in equity was imposed
by a court of common pleas.
C.
No permit shall be denied under Subsection A(2) where the judgment, order or decree is subject to a stay or supersedeas by an order of court or automatically allowed by statute or rule of court. Where a stay or supersedeas is in effect, it is the obligation of the property owner to so inform the Township.
D.
No permit shall be denied under this section if the permit is necessary
to correct a violation of state law or a code.
E.
The Township permit denial shall not apply to an applicant's delinquency
on taxes, water, sewer or refuse collection charges that are under
appeal or otherwise contested through a court or administrative process.
F.
Each denial issued under this section shall comply in all respects
with 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 6131, as it may be amended from time
to time, and all other applicable laws and regulations.
The Board authorizes the institution of an action under § 6111
of the Blight Act against any owner of any real property that is in
serious violation of a code or for failure to correct a condition
which causes the property to be regarded as a public nuisance, and
the placement of a lien against the assets of the owner after a judgment,
decree or order is entered by a court of competent jurisdiction against
the owner for an adjudication under § 6111, subject to the
requirements and procedures of the Blight Act.
This article is intended to implement the Blight Act on a municipal
level. This article shall be construed consistent with the Blight
Act. Nothing in this article shall be construed to abridge or alter
the remedies now existing at common law or by statute or ordinance.
The provisions of this article are in addition to such remedies.
A devisee or heir of an inherited property shall be entitled
to relief from this article, but only to the extent required by § 6144
of the Blight Act.
