The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
Food which:
Bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance in
a quantity which may render it injurious to health;
Bears or contains any added poisonous or deleterious substance
for which no safe tolerance has been established by regulation, or
in excess of such tolerance if one has been established;
Consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid or decomposed
substance, or if it is otherwise unfit for human consumption;
Has been processed, prepared, packed or held under unsanitary
conditions, whereby it may have become contaminated with filth or
rendered injurious to health;
Is in whole or in part the product of a diseased animal, or
an animal which had died otherwise than by slaughter; or
Is in a container composed in whole or in part of any poisonous
or deleterious substance which may render the contents injurious to
health.
Any person to whom food and/or drink is served (whether or
not for payment), sold or offered for sale.
A material which maintains its original surface characteristics
under prolonged influence of the food, cleaning compounds and sanitizing
solutions which may be in contact with it.
The Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
Readily accessible and of such material and finish and so
fabricated that residue may be completely removed by normal cleaning
methods.
Any cook, waiter, kitchen help or other employee of any kind
in a food establishment who, in any manner whatever, handles or comes
in contact with any food or drink served to or provided for the public,
and the proprietor or any member of the proprietor's family who handles
said food or drink.
All stoves, ranges, hoods, meat blocks, tables, counters,
refrigerators, sinks, dish-washing machines, steam tables and similar
items, other than utensils, used in the operation of a food service
establishment.
Any raw, cooked or processed edible substance, beverage or
ingredient intended in whole or in part for human consumption.
Surfaces of equipment and utensils which normally come in
contact with food, directly or indirectly.
A public eating and drinking place, as defined herein, a
retail food establishment, as defined herein, a temporary public eating
and drinking place, as defined herein, and any other place regulated
herein.
All putrescible wastes, except sewage and body waste, including
animal and vegetable offal.
The entity or individual appointed by the Bethel Township
Board of Supervisors to enforce the terms of this chapter.
[Added 2-10-2015 by Ord. No. 214]
Bethel Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, acting through
its Health Officer.
[Amended 2-10-2015 by Ord. No. 214]
Any individual, partnership, association, corporation or
other entity.
Any perishable food which consists in whole or in part of
milk or milk products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish or other
ingredients capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of
infectious or toxigenic microorganisms.
Any person, partnership, association, corporation or other
entity conducting or operating a food establishment within the Township.
Any public establishment within the Township which serves
food or drink to customers or patrons and which is regulated by the
provisions of this chapter.
Any place in which or at which food and/or drink is served
to one or more individual or individuals, other than within a residential
household or family dwelling unit, regardless of whether money is
paid for such food or drink, whether the place or server is a profit
or nonprofit entity, whether food service is the primary function
of the establishment or whether individuals are served only at the
invitation of the establishment or members of the establishment. "Public
establishment" shall include but not be limited to hospitals, medical
and health care facilities, nursing homes, schools and other educational
facilities, employee cafeterias, penal institutions and any other
place where food is served to one or more individual or individuals,
other than within a residential household or family dwelling unit.
All nonputrescible wastes generally regarded and classified
as rubbish, trash, junk and similar designations, which have been
rejected by the owner or possessor thereof as useless or worthless.
Any place, whether temporary or permanent, stationary or
mobile, where food or drink is packaged, stored, served, sold or offered
for sale directly to the consumer.
Applied to potentially hazardous food, an internal temperature
of 45° F. or below and 140° F. or above.
Effective bactericidal treatment of clean surfaces of equipment
and utensils by a process which has been approved by the Department
as being effective in destroying microorganisms, including pathogens.
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.
Any system, whether community or individual, publicly or
privately owned, for the collection and disposal of sewage or industrial
wastes of a liquid nature, or both, including various devices for
the treatment of such sewage or industrial wastes.
Cups, containers, lids or closures, plates, knives, forks,
spoons, stirrers, paddles, straws, placemats, napkins, doilies, wrapping
materials and all similar articles which are constructed wholly or
in part from paper, paperboard, molded pulp, foil, wood, plastic,
synthetic or other readily destructible materials, and which are intended
by the manufacturers and generally recognized by the public for one
use only and then to be discarded.
Any well, spring, cistern, infiltration gallery, stream,
reservoir, pond or lake from which water is taken, by any means, either
intermittently or continuously, for use by the public.
The Bethel Township Board of Supervisors.
Any public eating or drinking place which operates at any
location for a temporary period of time not to exceed more than 14
consecutive calendar days, regardless of whether the establishment
operates continuously during this time, in connection with a fair,
carnival, circus, public exhibition or similar transitory gathering.
Mobile food service establishments shall be considered "temporary
public eating and drinking places" for the purposes of this chapter.
Bethel Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
Any tableware and kitchenware used in the storage, preparation,
conveying or serving of food.
Any and all rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, lakes, dammed
water, ponds, springs and all other bodies of surface and underground
water, or parts thereof, whether natural or artificial, within or
on the boundaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
A source or sources of water, as well as any and all water
treatment, storage, transmission and distribution facilities.
The purpose of the provisions of this chapter shall be to provide
regulations for the sanitary treatment and service of food and drink
in the various food establishments of the Township.
A.
License requirement. Proprietors shall not operate or conduct a food
establishment within the Township except in compliance with the appropriate
provisions of this chapter. Before granting any initial license pursuant
to the provisions of this chapter, the licensor shall visit and inspect
the food establishment for which a license has been requested. The
licensor may refuse to issue a license or license renewal if the food
establishment or the facilities and/or equipment therein do not meet
the requirements of the Act of May 23, 1945, P.L. 926, as amended,
35 P.S. § 655.1 et seq.,[1] the applicable rules and regulations of the Department
and/or the provisions of this chapter. No initial license shall be
issued until inspection of the premises, facilities and equipment
has been made by the licensor, and they are found to be adequate to
protect the public health and comfort of patrons. The licensor shall
provide the applicant with written notice of the reason for any refusal
to issue a license or license renewal.
[1]
Editor's Note: 35 P.S. § 655.1 was repealed 11-23-2010
by P.L. 1039, No. 106, effective 1-24-2011. For current provisions,
see 3 Pa.C.S.A. § 5701 et seq., 3 Pa.C.S.A. § 5721
et seq., and 3 Pa.C.S.A § 6501 et seq.
B.
Revocation and suspension of license. Any proprietor in possession
of a valid license from either the Department or the licensor to operate
a food establishment who fails to comply with the appropriate provisions
of this chapter may have such license either revoked, after a reasonable
time to cure, or suspended by the licensor at any time during the
license period.
C.
Time of licensing. After the effective date of the ordinance enacting
this chapter, it shall be unlawful to operate or conduct a food establishment
in Bethel Township without first obtaining a license from the licensor;
provided, however, that any person operating or conducting a food
establishment in Bethel Township as of the date of the ordinance enacting
this chapter shall not be in violation of this chapter for failure
to obtain a license as of the effective date should such person obtain
a license on or before June 30, 2015.
[Amended 2-10-2015 by Ord. No. 214]
D.
Licensing fee. The fee for any such license shall be calculated in
accordance with the fee schedule for such licenses adopted by the
Supervisors. The Supervisors are hereby authorized to establish a
fee schedule for the licensing of food establishments in the Township
and to revise such fee schedule from time to time in their sole discretion.
E.
Licensing period. Licenses hereunder shall be issued quarterly and shall be valid for one year from their date of issuance; subject, however, to the right of the licensor to revoke or suspend any such license pursuant to Subsection B hereof. Application for renewal of a license shall be made one month before the expiration of the existing license. Anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, the license period for any license issued to a temporary public eating and drinking place shall be only for the duration of the event for which the temporary public eating and drinking place is licensed, except that the license period for any license issued to a mobile food service establishment shall be for a period of one year. Anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, any temporary public eating and drinking place, except mobile food service establishments, must obtain a license for each event and for each location at which it operates. The Health Officer may issue an interim license for any period from the date that a proprietor completes an application for licensure and pays the corresponding fee through the beginning of the quarter after which the Health Officer intends to conduct an inspection of that food establishment.
[Amended 2-10-2015 by Ord. No. 214; 3-9-2021 by Ord. No. 235]
F.
Contents, display and transfer of licenses. Each license issued hereunder
shall specify the name of the licensee, the place licensed, the date
of issuance of the license and the period of coverage. The license
shall be conspicuously displayed in the licensed food establishment
at all times. Licenses shall not be transferable.
G.
Inspections. The licensor or its designee shall have the authority
to visit and inspect any food establishment at any time during the
normal business hours of the food establishment without the prior
knowledge or consent of the food establishment or any proprietor,
owner, operator or employee thereof in order to determine whether
the food establishment is in compliance with the provisions of this
chapter. The licensor shall also have the authority to visit and inspect
any food establishment at other times if necessary in the opinion
of the licensor to abate or avoid an emergency situation or if consented
to by the proprietor of the food establishment.
All provisions and requirements herein shall be in addition
to any and all other provisions and requirements set forth in any
and all other applicable federal, state or local laws, ordinances
or regulations. Nothing herein shall be construed to limit, replace
or obviate the need to comply with any other such applicable law,
ordinance or regulation. To the extent that any provision herein is
inconsistent with any other applicable Township ordinance or regulation,
the provision herein shall control unless the other applicable Township
ordinance or regulation is stricter than the provision herein, in
which case the other ordinance or regulation shall control.
A.
Violations. The failure to secure a license when required, the operation
of a food establishment after suspension or revocation of a license
by the licensor, or the failure to comply with any provision of this
chapter or any other law or regulation applicable to such food establishment
shall constitute a violation of this chapter. When written notice
of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter has been served
upon any person in violation, such violation shall be discontinued
immediately.
B.
Penalties. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter
shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, be sentenced
to pay a fine not exceeding $300 for each offense, plus the costs
of prosecution. In default of payment of such fine and costs, the
violator shall be confined in the Delaware County Jail for a period
of not more than 30 days. Each day that a violation continues shall
be deemed a separate offense.
C.
Appeals. Any person aggrieved by the actions or determinations of
the licensor shall have the right to a hearing before the Supervisors.
The aggrieved party and/or his duly authorized attorney or agent may,
within 10 days after such action or determination, take an appeal
therefrom to the Supervisors. Any such appeal shall be in writing,
shall state the action or determination of the licensor being appealed
from and the reasons for the exception taken thereto, shall be verified
by affidavit and shall be filed with the Township Secretary. The person
appealing shall have the right to appear and be heard if such a desire
is stated in the written appeal. A prompt decision of such appeal
shall be made by the Supervisors and shall be duly recorded with the
minutes of the Township.
