[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
West Hempfield: Art. I, 7-3-1984 as Ch. 6, Part 2, of the 1984 Code; Art.
II, 7-3-1984 as Ch. 2, Part 1, of the 1984 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-3-1984 as Ch.
6, Part 2, of the 1984 Code]
It is hereby declared to be a nuisance and it shall be unlawful for
any person, firm or corporation to make or cause or suffer or permit to be
made or caused, upon any premises owned, occupied or controlled by him or
her or it or upon any public street, alley or thoroughfare in the Township
of West Hempfield, any unnecessary noises or sounds by means of the human
voice or by any other means or methods which are physically annoying to the
comfort of any person or which are so harsh or so prolonged or unnatural or
unusual in their use, time and place as to occasion physical discomfort or
which are injurious to the lives, health, peace and comfort of the inhabitants
of said township or any member thereof.
No person, persons, firm or corporation shall play, use or operate or
knowingly permit to be played, used or operated any radio receiving set, musical
instrument, phonograph, sound amplifier, loudspeaker or other machine or device
for the reproduction of sound upon property (real or personal) or premises
owned, occupied or used by him, them or it which is not measured and regulated
by decibels so that the sound coming from such machine can be audibly heard
at a distance greater than 100 feet from the property or premises wherein
such machine or device is located. Nothing herein contained shall be construed
to prohibit the playing of a band or orchestra in any concert hall, auditorium
or public park or the utilization of such sound-producing devices by charitable
or nonprofit groups for the general purpose of public announcements or public
events.
A.
No person shall operate a sound truck or loudspeaker
on the streets or public places of the Township of West Hempfield without
first obtaining a permit therefor from the Code Enforcement Officer. Such
permit shall not be transferable from person to person or from sound truck
to sound truck and may not be extended as to the date it shall be used nor
shall any permit for the operation of such sound truck be issued for use earlier
than 8:00 a.m. or later than 9:00 p.m. of the prevailing local time. Every
application for a permit shall be accompanied by a permit fee as determined
by the Board of Supervisors of West Hempfield Township pursuant to resolution,
and no such permit shall be issued until the prescribed fee shall have been
paid.
B.
The application for such permit shall be filed in duplicate
with the Code Enforcement Officer, and the permit issued shall be limited
in accordance with the information contained in such application, which shall
set forth the following:
(1)
The name and home address of the applicant.
(2)
The business address of applicant.
(3)
The name and address of the owner of the sound truck.
(4)
The make and license number of the sound truck.
(5)
The name and address of the person operating the sound
truck.
(6)
The name and address of the person operating the sound
equipment.
(7)
The purpose for which the sound truck will be used.
(8)
The proposed hours of operation of the sound truck.
(9)
A certificate from an engineer that such amplifying machine
is so equipped and regulated by decibels that the sound coming from such machine
cannot be audibly heard at a distance greater than 100 feet from the sound
truck or amplifying machine.
C.
After the issuance of said permit, the Code Enforcement
Officer shall return one certified copy of the application to the permittee,
together with the permit, which must be in the possession of the operator
of the sound truck during such time as the sound-amplifying equipment is in
operation. Such certified application and permit shall, upon request, be promptly
exhibited to any police officer of the Township of West Hempfield.
D.
No permit, so issued, may be used which attracts the
attention of motorists or pedestrians, causing the blocking of streets and
thereby creating a traffic congestion and hazard.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to sound any
horn or warning device on any automobile, motorcycle, bus or other vehicle
except when required by law or to give timely warning of impending danger
to persons driving other vehicles or to persons upon the street. No person
shall sound any horn or warning device on any automobile, motorcycle, bus
or other vehicle which shall emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or for
any unnecessary or unreasonable period of time.
[Amended 12-7-1993 by Ord.
No. 9-93; 9-3-1996 by Ord.
No. 3-96; 5-6-1997 by Ord.
No. 6-97]
For each violation of the provisions of this article, any person who
commits, takes part in or assists in any such violation shall be liable, upon
conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, to pay a fine of not less than
$200 nor more than $1,000 for each offense, together with the costs of prosecution.
Each day or portion thereof in which a violation exists shall be considered
a separate violation of this article, and each section of this article which
is violated shall be considered a separate violation. In default of payment
of such fine, such person shall be liable to imprisonment for a period not
exceeding 30 days.
[Adopted 7-3-1984 as Ch.
2, Part 1, of the 1984 Code]
The Board of Supervisors of West Hempfield Township, finding that excessive
levels of sound are detrimental to the physical, mental and social well-being
of the people as well as to their comfort, living conditions, general welfare
and safety and being therefor a public health and welfare hazard, hereby declares
it to be necessary to provide for the greater control and more effective regulation
of excessive sound and the sources of excessive sound within the Township
of West Hempfield.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this Article, shall
have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context
clearly indicates a different meaning:
Any sound which:
Any sound which annoys or disturbs humans or which causes or tends
to cause an adverse psychological or physiological effect on humans.
Any individual, association, partnership or corporation. Whenever
used in any clause prescribing and imposing a penalty, "person" includes the
individual members, partners, officers and managers, or any of them, of partnerships
and associations and as to corporations, the officers and managers thereof,
or any of them.
Vibrations in air or another medium that stimulate the auditory nerves
and produce the sensation of hearing.
It shall be illegal within the Township of West Hempfield for any person
or persons to own, possess, harbor or control any animal or bird which makes
any noise continuously and/or incessantly for a period of 10 minutes or makes
such noise intermittently for one-half (1/2) hour or more to the disturbance
of any person any time of the day or night, regardless of whether the animal
or bird is physically situated in or upon private property, said noise being
a nuisance, provided that at the time the animal or bird is making such noise,
no person is trespassing or threatening to trespass upon private property
in or upon which the animal or bird is situated nor is there any other legitimate
cause which justifiably provoked the animal or bird.
This Article shall not be deemed to prohibit or otherwise declare unlawful
any agricultural operations protected from nuisance suits by Act No. 1982-133. [1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 3 P.S. § 951 et seq.
[Amended 12-7-1993 by Ord.
No. 9-93; 9-3-1996 by Ord.
No. 3-96; 5-6-1997 by Ord.
No. 6-97]
For each violation of the provisions of this article, any person who
commits, takes part in or assists in any such violation shall be liable, upon
conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, to pay a fine of not less than
$200 nor more than $1,000 for each offense, together with the costs of prosecution.
Each day or portion thereof in which a violation exists shall be considered
a separate violation of this article, and each section of this article which
is violated shall be considered a separate violation. In default of payment
of such fine, such person shall be liable to imprisonment for a period not
exceeding 30 days.
