[Adopted 9-23-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-4]
The purpose of this article is to establish
procedures for the use and maintenance of holding tanks designed to
receive and retain sewage whether from residential, commercial, or
industrial uses and it is hereby declared that the enactment of this
article is necessary for the protection, benefit and preservation
of the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of this Township.
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall
be as follows:
The Board of Supervisors of Lancaster Township.
A watertight receptacle which receives and retains sewage
and is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of
the sewage at another site. Holding tanks include but are not limited
to the following:
CHEMICAL TOILETA toilet using chemicals that discharge to a holding tank.
RETENTION TANKA holding tank where sewage is conveyed to it by a water-carrying system.
VAULT PIT PRIVYA holding tank designed to receive sewage where water under pressure is not available.
Any property within the Township upon which there is erected
a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy
or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sewage
shall or may be discharged.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals
and any noxious or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical
to the public health, or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of
water for domestic water supply or for recreation.
Lancaster Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The Board is hereby authorized and empowered
to undertake within the Township the control and methods of holding
tank sewage disposal and the collection and transportation thereof.
The Township is hereby authorized and empowered
to adopt such rules and regulations concerning sewage which it may
deem necessary from time to time to effect the purposes herein. In
absence of adoption of rules and regulations by the Board relative
to the administration of this article, the rules and regulations of
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or any
successor department or administrative agency of the state pertaining
to the conditions justifying use of holding tanks, the method of construction
and installation of said tanks, the method of maintenance of holding
tanks and all other matters relative to the use of holding tanks within
municipalities shall be considered and deemed rules and regulations
of the Township and shall be applied by the Township in the administration
of this article.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the
Township shall be in conformity with the provisions of this article,
all other ordinances of the Township, and all applicable laws, rules
and regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
The Township shall have the right and power
to fix, alter, charge and collect rates, assessments, and other charges
in the area served by its facilities at reasonable and uniform rates
as authorized by applicable law.
The collection and transportation of all sewage
from any improved property utilizing a holding tank shall be done
solely by or under the direction and control of the Township, and
the disposal thereof shall be made only at such site or sites as may
be approved by the Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. The owner shall be required to furnish to the Township
a written contract entered into between the owner and the hauler,
noncancelable in form, whereby the hauler agrees to receive and dispose
of the sewage at site or sites acceptable to the Township and not
to cancel or terminate the contract except upon at least 90 days'
written notice to the Township of intention to terminate.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes
a holding tank shall:
A.Â
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this
or any ordinance of this Township, the provisions of any applicable
law, and the rules and regulations of the Township and any administrative
agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.Â
Permit only the Township or, if the Township so directs,
a person under contract with the property owner to collect, transport,
and dispose of the contents therein.
Any person who violates any provisions of § 209-27 shall, upon conviction thereof by summary proceedings, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $300 and costs and, in default of said fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment in the Lancaster County Prison for a period not to exceed five days.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of § 209-27 above shall constitute a nuisance and may be abated by the Township by either seeking appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
