[Adopted 11-5-1956 by Ord. No. 32]
No person or persons, firm, business, activity
or corporation shall construct, repair, maintain, create, enlarge
or permit to exist any cesspool, septic tank, privy vault or other
similar receptacle for human excrement and/or waste, or any well,
cistern, or any similar excavation or hole within the Borough of Chester
Heights, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, nor shall they permit the
construction, repair, maintenance, creation, enlargement or existence
thereof on land or property owned, controlled, supervised or leased
by him, her, them or it, within said Borough unless the cesspool,
septic tank, privy vault, well, cistern, excavation or hole shall
be covered by a suitable covering, hereinafter defined, or surrounded
by a wooden or metal fence in good repair of not less than five feet
in height at all times.
A suitable covering as used herein, shall be
a cement concrete slab, at least six inches in thickness, reinforced
with reinforcing iron rods criss-crossed at least no more than one
foot apart in each direction, or with a metal manhole cover approved
by the Building Inspector of the Borough. Wood shall never be used
as a permanent covering.
Any such opening in the earth described in § 149-1 hereof, while in the process of actual construction or repair, shall be covered during any temporary cessation of work, as overnight, with a temporary covering of wood, not less than two inches in thickness, which covering shall fully cover said opening and which covering must be of a single-unit construction.
[Amended 4-25-2022 by Ord. No. 213]
A.
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle
shall be used or maintained at any time upon any improved property
which has been connected to the sewer system or which is required
to be connected to the sewer system. Every such privy vault, cesspool,
sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle in existence shall be
abandoned and shall be cleansed and filled and every such privy vault,
cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle not so abandoned
and cleansed and filled shall constitute a nuisance, and such nuisance
may be abated by the Borough as provided by law, at the expense of
the owner of such improved property, such expense to include the Borough's
attorney fees.
B.
All such holding vessels or receptacles shall be decommissioned at
the time the connection is made to the sewer system and shall be accomplished
as follows:
(1)
All existing residue shall be pumped out by a licensed septage transporter
and be removed for off-site disposal. Under no circumstances may the
residue be introduced into the new line.
(2)
The vessel or receptacle's bottom shall be broken after all
residue has been removed and its lid collapsed into the vessel or
receptacle. The volume must then be filled with A-1 type stone mix.
(3)
All conduits leading into the vessel or receptacle shall be disconnected
and all openings shall be similarly filled.
(4)
All existing fields shall then be abandoned, but no structures of
any kind, including sheds, garages or other accessory uses, may be
erected over the filled vessels or abandoned fields.
(5)
No privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar receptacle
may at any time be connected with the sewer system.
Any such opening in the earth, described in § 149-1 hereof which shall be constructed, repaired, maintained, created, enlarged or permitted to exist contrary to the provisions of this article, shall immediately be abated, filled and/or covered in accordance with § 149-2 hereof, and any building permit issued therefor shall forthwith be revoked.
Any such opening in the earth described in § 149-1 hereof which shall be constructed, repaired, maintained, created, enlarged or permitted to exist without the coverings hereinbefore provided in §§ 149-1, 149-2 and 149-3 hereof, or without being surrounded by a fence hereinbefore provided in § 149-1, hereof is hereby declared and determined to be a nuisance; and the Building Inspector of the Borough is hereby required to give notice to the builder or other person engaged in the work of constructing, etc., the same, or to the owner or lessee of the property on which the same is being constructed, repaired, maintained, created, enlarged or permitted to exist to abate said nuisance; and in default of such abatement by said party responsible, the Building Inspector is hereby required to remove and abate said nuisance by filling the same and by covering the same as hereinbefore provided.
Any nuisance so abated shall be at the cost
of the builder or owner or lessee of the real estate upon which the
nuisance is located; and such cost shall be paid by said builder,
owner or lessee; and in default of payment of said cost after having
been billed by the Borough, said sum or sums shall be collected either
by suit in assumpsit or under the provisions of the Municipal Claims
and Liens Act.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 7101
et seq.
Any person or persons, firm, business activity
or corporation who shall violate or fail to conform to or comply with
the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be
sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $50 and costs of prosecution
and, in default of such payment of such fine and costs, be imprisoned
in the county jail for not more than one day for each $1 of fine imposed;
and provided, further, that each day's continuance of such violation,
after notice thereof by said Building Inspector, shall constitute
a separate offense.
