[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Tamaqua as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-7-2003 by Ord. No. 572]
This article shall be known as the "Tamaqua Borough Engine Brake Ordinance."
The Tamaqua Borough Council finds as fact that the operation of engine brakes on a gasoline-powered or diesel-powered motor not equipped with exhaust mufflers, or equipped with defective or modified exhaust mufflers, so as to create excessive noise through the use of said engine brakes, adversely affects the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Borough of Tamaqua and is therefore a nuisance in fact.
No gasoline-powered or diesel-powered motor vehicle shall be operated on State Route 209 between the Jamesway Plaza Driveway and the western Borough line or on State Route 309 between the intersection of Schuylkill Avenue and State Route 309 and the southern Borough line in the Borough of Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, utilizing an engine brake without exhaust mufflers, or with defective or modified exhaust mufflers permitting excessive noise to be created by said motor vehicle.
This article shall not apply to emergency driving situations which require utilizing in said operation of a motor vehicle an engine brake without exhaust mufflers or equipped with inoperable exhaust mufflers or equipped with exhaust mufflers which have been modified or which are defective to protect the safety and property of the residents of the Borough of Tamaqua, other motor vehicle operators, pedestrians, and the operator and passengers of the motor vehicle or vehicles involved in said emergency situations.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. Upon judgment against any person by summary conviction, or by proceedings by summons on default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed and the costs, the defendant may be sentenced and committed to the Schuylkill County correctional facility for a period not exceeding 30 days. Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense.