[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Whitpain 5-13-1974 by Ord. No. 96. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
A.
Title. This chapter shall be known as the "Whitpain Township
Ordinance Regulating Changes in Drains and Watercourses."
B.
Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum
standards to safeguard the general welfare by regulating the stopping, filling
up, confining, paving or other interference with or changing the course of
drains, ditches, streams and watercourses in the Township of Whitpain.
It shall be unlawful for the owner of any land to stop, fill up, confine,
pave or otherwise interfere with or change the course of any drain, ditch,
stream or watercourse in the Township of Whitpain without first obtaining
from the Township Engineer a permit authorizing such work to be performed;
and no drain, ditch, stream or watercourse shall be stopped, filled up, confined,
paved or otherwise interfered with or the course thereof changed except in
strict accordance with the terms and conditions of such permit and the plans
and specifications submitted therewith.
The application for a permit shall be in form prescribed by the township,
verified by affidavit made by the owners and accompanied by plans and specifications
prepared by a registered engineer. The plans and specifications shall show
the exact nature of the work to be performed, the course, structure and capacity
of all drains, ditches, streams and watercourses, the method of drainage of
the adjacent or contiguous territory and any other necessary information and
explanatory details required by the township.
The application and plans and specifications shall be filed in triplicate
with the Township Engineer. Plans shall include erosion and sedimentation
control methods acceptable to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection. The Departmental Committee of the township may require alterations,
changes or modifications in the plans and specifications which it deems necessary
and may refuse a permit until such alterations, changes and modifications
have been made. The Departmental Committee shall be composed of the Township
Engineer as Chairman, the Building and Zoning Officer of the township and
such other township employees as the Chairman may appoint. If the Departmental
Committee shall disapprove the plans and specifications submitted and refuse
a permit, the reasons therefor will be set forth in writing and given to the
applicant, who may within 30 days thereafter appeal to the Board of Supervisors.
Before acting upon such appeal the Board of Supervisors may in its discretion
arrange for a public hearing, after giving such notice as it deems desirable.
The appeal will be considered at the next regular meeting of the Board and
its decision will be final. The Township Engineer will issue a permit to the
applicant upon favorable action by the Departmental Committee or the Board
of Supervisors.
The Township Engineer shall be notified at least 24 hours in advance
of the commencement of the work in order that provision may be made for the
proper inspection thereof. Samples of material and every reasonable facility
for ascertaining whether the work is in conformity with the provisions of
this chapter shall be furnished to the employees of the township in the same
manner as is required of contractors under the terms of the Land Development
and Subdivision Regulations for Whitpain Township.[1]
[Amended 5-19-1986 by Ord. No. 165]
A fee as included in a schedule of fees revised from time to time by
resolution of the Board of Supervisors and on file in the office of the Township
Manager shall be paid to the township when the application is filed, and the
owner shall also pay the actual cost of any material tests and reimburse the
township for necessary inspection at the current rate for each hour or portion
thereof a township inspector is engaged on the work.
[Amended 5-19-1986 by Ord. No. 165; 1-2-1989
by Ord. No. 184]
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be
liable, on conviction thereof, to a penalty not exceeding $600 and costs of
prosecution for each and every offense or, upon default in payment of the
fine and costs, to imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days,
and when any person shall have been notified by the Township Engineer or by
service of summons in a prosecution or any other way that he is committing
a violation of this chapter, each day in which the violation is continued
after such notification shall constitute a separate offense, punishable by
like penalty.
