[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Downingtown 1-11-1954.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
No garbage, offal, pomace, dead animals, decaying matter or organic
waste substance of any kind shall be thrown or deposited in any ravine, ditch
or gutter, on any street or highway, into any waters of the Borough or be
permitted to remain exposed upon the surface of the ground. The transportation
of garbage and offal shall be effected in watertight vehicles or containers,
properly covered to avoid spillage and shall be cleansed at sufficient intervals
to prevent obnoxious odors.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former §§ 79-1 through 79-8, which immediately
preceded this section and dealt with privies and cesspools, disposal of human
excrement, toilet accommodations and discharge of kitchen or laundry water,
were deleted 10-10-1990 by Ord. No. 90-16.
Manure shall not be allowed to accumulate in any place where it can
prejudicially affect any source of drinking water or where, as a source of
fly breeding, it may become a menace to public health.
The carcass of any dead animal not killed for food shall be removed
and disposed of by burial or incineration or other sanitary method within
24 hours after death. If the carcass is buried it shall be placed so that
every part shall be covered by at least two feet of earth and at a location
not less than 100 feet from any waters of the Borough and not subject to overflow
by said waters. In all cases of death from communicable disease the carcass
shall be thoroughly enveloped in unslacked lime.
No person shall maintain or permit to be maintained any pond, privy
vault, cesspool, well, cistern, rain barrel or other receptacle containing
water in such a condition that mosquitoes breeding therein may become a menace
to public health.
No person, partnership, firm or corporation shall maintain a slaughterhouse,
rendering works, depository of dead animals, piggery or pigsty in the Borough.
No person, partnership, firm or corporation owning or operating an industrial
plant or establishment shall allow any noxious or offensive gases, smoke or
exhalations that are deleterious or detrimental to public health to escape
into the air or any substance that is deleterious or detrimental to public
health to accumulate upon the premises or be thrown or allowed to discharge
into any street, roadway or public place or be thrown or allowed to discharge
into any stream or other waters of the Borough.
No owner or occupant of any premises shall maintain any well, spring,
cistern or other source of water supply used for drinking or household purposes
to which the public has or may have access and which is polluted or which
is so situated or constructed that it may become polluted in any manner that
may render such water supply injurious to health.
[Amended 7-10-1991 by Ord. No. 91-18]
All properties shall be maintained free from weeds or plant growth in
excess of eight inches. All noxious weeds shall be prohibited. "Weeds" shall
be defined as all grasses, annual plants and vegetation other than trees or
shrubs; provided, however, that this term shall not include cultivated flowers
and gardens. The owner, lessee or occupant of any property who fails to comply
with this regulation shall be notified of such noncompliance by the Code Enforcement
Officer. Said owner, lessee or occupant shall have 14 days from the date of
such notification to comply with this regulation. If, after the fourteen-day
period, the required trimming has not been done, the Code Enforcement Officer
or his designee shall cause said work to be done, and the costs therefor shall
be borne by the owner, lessee or occupant of said property. In the case of
a dispute, the responsibility for such trimming shall be determined by the
Borough Council.
[Amended 12-11-1991 by Ord. No. 91-29]
Any and every person who creates, continues or maintains any nuisance,
so adjudged by the Code Enforcement Officer within the Borough of Downingtown,
shall be liable for the expense of the abatement and remedy thereof.
[Amended 10-10-1990 by Ord. No. 90-16; 12-11-1991
by Ord. No. 91-29]
Any person or persons, partnership, firm or corporation who or which
shall violate any section or part thereof of the regulations of the Code Enforcement
Officer shall, upon conviction thereof before any District Justice, be sentenced
to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and costs of prosecution and, in default
of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment in the county jail for
not more than 30 days, provided that if any such violation is a violation
for which a different penalty and/or a different method of prosecution is
specified by any law or regulation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or
of the United States of America, such state or federal law or regulation shall
govern such penalty or method of prosecution, as the case may be.
