[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Clairton 8-22-1995 by Ord. No.
1597. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 303.
The purpose of this chapter is to promote and protect the peace,
safety and welfare of City of Clairton residents by eliminating or
reducing the use of public telephones for drug trafficking and other
criminal purposes.
As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall
have the meanings ascribed to them as follows:
Capable of being viewed by a person or persons standing outside
of a business, commercial, industrial or residential establishment.
Any publicly accessible telephone that is coin- or credit-card
operated.
Any individual, company, organization, corporation or other
entity, public or private, except the City of Clairton.
A dialing feature, other than pulse dialing, which sends
a tone signal enabling the caller to access automated devices such
as beepers, pagers and voice mail systems.
A.
It shall hereafter be unlawful for any person to request, permit,
maintain or cause the placement of any outdoor pay telephone within
the City of Clairton, and all such telephones in existence prior to
the effective date of this chapter shall be immediately removed by
the owner or agent of the owner of the telephone. From and after the
effective date of this chapter, all pay telephones, unless specifically
authorized by the City of Clairton to be placed outdoors on public
property, shall be located completely within the interior of any business,
commercial, industrial or residential establishment, so as to be completely
removed from outside public view.
B.
It shall hereafter be unlawful for any person to request, permit,
maintain or cause the placement of any indoor pay telephone within
the boundaries of the City of Clairton that has tone signal capability
or that has the capability of receiving incoming calls. All such telephones
in existence prior to the effective date of this chapter shall immediately
be modified to disable the tone or incoming call feature by the owner
or agent of the owner of the telephone. In the event that such feature(s)
cannot be disabled, the telephone shall be removed. This provision
shall not apply to indoor pay telephones used exclusively and solely
for personal use within a residence or home, which residence or home
is not generally open to the public.
No later than 30 days after the effective date of this chapter,
every person who owns or maintains an indoor pay telephone in the
City of Clairton shall file with the City a list of the locations
of all pay telephones owned or maintained and whether the telephones
have incoming call capability or tone signal capability. Any indoor
public telephone not appearing on any submitted list shall be subject
to immediate removal at the owner's expense beginning 31 days
after the effective date of this chapter.
From and after the effective date of this chapter, all pay telephones
located on public property within the City of Clairton, outside or
otherwise, shall be restricted and limited to those telephones specifically
authorized by the Council of the City of Clairton.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall,
upon conviction, be subject to a fine not exceeding $600 and costs
of prosecution and, in default of payment thereof, shall be subject
to imprisonment for a period not to exceed 30 days. Each violation
of any provision of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense
and shall be punishable as such. Each day that the violation continues
shall constitute a separate offense. No fines will be imposed with
respect to outdoor pay telephones in existence on the date of enactment
of this chapter until 31 days after its effective date.
A.
In addition to the penalties imposed in § 317-6, any pay telephone installed or maintained in violation of this chapter may be immediately removed by the City, except that no pay telephone in existence prior to the effective date of this chapter may be removed by the City prior to the 31st day after the effective date of this chapter. The City may charge the costs of removal jointly and severally to its owner, operator and the person who owns or controls the real property on which the telephone is located.
B.
Any pay telephone removed by the City pursuant to this chapter may
be reclaimed by the owner within 30 days after its removal. The owner
must reimburse the City for its removal and storage costs before any
such telephone may be reclaimed. Such costs shall also include the
costs of removing any installation ancillary to the pay telephone
and the costs of restoring the property to its original condition.
Any telephone not so reclaimed within 60 days of removal may be disposed
of as unclaimed property by the City.
No provision of this chapter may be applied to any transaction
in interstate commerce to the extent such transaction may not, under
the Constitution and statutes of the United States, be made the subject
of regulation by the City, and no provision of this chapter may be
applied to any transaction or exclusive regulation of the Pennsylvania
Public Utility Commission, to the extent that such transaction may
not, under the Constitution and statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
be made the subject of regulation by the City.
