A.
Except where permitted or otherwise authorized by special exception
or conditional use in a district of the Township, after enactment
of this article:
(1)
No person shall store, maintain, accumulate or keep any dismantled
or partially dismantled vehicle, or a vehicle valueless except for
salvage, or parts thereof, except in compliance with this article
or upon open private grounds in the Township.
(2)
No person shall engage in the business of buying and selling
junk or to accumulate, salvage, collect, store or dispose of junk
in the Township without first obtaining a license to do so.
(3)
No person shall operate or maintain a junkyard in the Township
without first obtaining a license to do so.
(4)
No person shall operate upon any of the streets, roads, alleys
and ways of the Township of Shaler, whether from a vehicle or upon
foot, as a scavenger or an itinerant buyer or seller of junk.
(5)
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer in any place
other than the place designated upon his license.
(6)
No person shall have, keep, store or maintain any motor vehicle,
construction equipment, farm machinery or equipment, or motorcycles
on any public land in the Township of Shaler.
(7)
No person shall place, cause to be placed or suffer to remain
on any private or public property within the Township of Shaler any
accumulation of ashes, garbage, rubbish, tires and rims and other
refuse materials, including but not limited to abandoned refrigerators,
hot-water heaters and tanks, furnaces, appliances and other scrap
metal and lumber. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the
filling of land areas with earth, rocks and masonry.
B.
From and after the enactment of this article, in all residential
zoning districts:
(1)
No person shall accumulate or store junk in any residential
area unless stored within a lawful, enclosed building or structure
or screened by a lawful fence or within a trash receptacle in such
a manner as to not be visible from beyond the lot boundaries.
(2)
No person shall park, store or keep, or permit any person to
park, store or keep, any vehicle in which junk is being transported,
conveyed or hauled on any residential lot or on any street adjacent
to said lot in the Township between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00
a.m. unless the vehicle is parked, stored or kept within a lawful,
enclosed building or structure or unless excavation, construction
or demolition operations covered by an active building or demolition
permit are in progress on the lot.
(3)
No person shall accumulate or store any junked, abandoned or
discarded vehicle, trailer, boat, appliance or house furnishings on
private or public property within any residential zoning district
in the Township.
On and after the effective date of this article, no person shall
engage in or continue to engage in business as a junk dealer or operate
a junkyard in the Township except as authorized by this article and
without first having obtained a license therefor from the Township.
A.
Application for a license to engage in business as a junk dealer
or to establish or operate a junkyard in the Township shall be made
in writing by the applicant under oath and in the form prescribed
by the Township and shall contain the name and address of the applicant.
The application shall also contain the address and description of
the premises upon which the junkyard is to be operated, the names
and addresses of any owner or owners of said property if other than
the applicant, any structures erected on the premises and a description
of the operation plan for said junkyard. If the applicant is a partnership
or association, the application shall furnish the names and addresses
of all partners. If the applicant is a corporation, the application
shall furnish the names and addresses of each officer and director
thereof. The application shall be signed by the applicant, if the
applicant is an individual; by all members of the association or partnership,
if the applicant is an association or partnership; or by the president
and attested by the secretary, if the applicant is a corporation.
In addition, any license application for the creation, expansion or
modification of a junkyard shall include a plan detailing the proposed
junkyard and shall include:
(1)
Property setbacks;
(2)
Location of public rights-of-way;
(3)
All structures within 300 feet of the junkyard;
(4)
Driveways;
(5)
Entrances;
(6)
Current and proposed structures;
(7)
Screening;
(8)
Buffers;
(9)
Gross acreage of the site;
(10)
Owner's name and address;
(11)
The applicant's name and address; and
(12)
The preparer of the plan's name and address.
B.
The Township Board of Commissioners may require additional information
regarding the plans, depending on site-specific concerns such as topography
or neighboring properties. All permits and applications shall include
payment of the applicable permit fee.
A bond in the penal sum as set from time to time by resolution
of the Board of Commissioners shall accompany every application for
license. The bond shall be executed by a surety company authorized
by the laws of Pennsylvania to transact business within the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. The Township may, in lieu of such surety bond, accept
a bond executed by the applicant for license if such bond is secured
by the deposit with the Township Secretary of a cashier's check, treasurer's
check or certificate of deposit of a banking institution in the total
sum as set from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners.
The bond shall be renewed and refiled annually, not later than January
1 of each year. The bond shall be executed in favor of the Township
of Shaler and shall be for the use of the Township. The term of the
bond shall be for one year. A condition of the bond shall be that
the applicant shall comply fully with the Comprehensive Emergency
Response Compensation and Liability Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. §§ 9601
to 9675), the Pennsylvania Sites Cleanup Act (35 P.S. §§ 6020.101
to 6020.1305), and all other federal or state brownfields acts so
that the property, the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of which
is not complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous
substances, pollutants or contaminants and to further guarantee that
any obsolete or unused junkyard, junkyard facility and hazardous substance,
pollutant and contaminant shall be removed completely within six months
of cessation of use at the sole cost and expense of the applicant.
It shall be a further condition of the bond that if, upon and after
the issuance of such license, said licensee shall fully and faithfully
observe and comply with all of the provisions of this article, all
state and federal environmental and pollution statutes and any rules
or regulations promulgated by virtue hereof by the Township Board
of Commissioners, then the obligation of said bond shall be void;
otherwise, it shall remain in full force, virtue and effect.
The license provided for in this article shall be issued by
the Township after application shall have been made therefor by the
person desiring to be licensed. Such license shall state the name
of the person to whom such license is issued and the premises from
which such business is to be conducted. Such license shall be posted
conspicuously upon the premises licensed thereunder. The name of the
licensed junk dealer and the number of the license under which he
operates shall be placed conspicuously on the outside of every vehicle
used for business purposes by such dealer.
The Township shall not issue a license to an applicant to operate
or maintain a junkyard in the Township unless the junkyard meets the
following conditions:
A.
Junkyards shall be set back at least 500 feet from any preexisting
single-family residential district, multifamily residential district,
school, church, public building, public recreation facility, hospital,
nursing home or day-care facility. On-site residences of the owner
or operator are exempted from this provision.
B.
Junkyards shall have a minimum setback from the front property line
to the fence of 20 feet. There shall be a minimum setback from the
side and rear property lines to the fence of 15 feet.
C.
The junkyard shall comply with all state and federal statutes and
shall not be visible from a state or federally funded or maintained
thoroughfare at any time of year.
D.
Junkyards shall be surrounded by an opaque wood or masonry fence
at least six feet in height.
E.
In addition to the fence, junkyards shall be completely surrounded
by vegetation that provides a year-round opaque screen that may reasonably
be expected to be at least six feet tall within two years of planting.
Plants shall be placed at regular intervals so as to provide a continuous
hedgerow without gaps or open spaces. The vegetation shall be maintained
as a continuous unbroken hedgerow for the entire period the property
is used as a junkyard and shall be planted not more than four feet
outside of the required fence. Dead or diseased foliage shall be replaced
at the next appropriate planting time. Each owner, operator or person
who maintains a junkyard shall use good husbandry techniques, such
as pruning and fertilizing, to maintain maximum density and foliage.
F.
The required fence shall enclose all operations, equipment, junk
and inoperable motor vehicles at all times unless the junk, equipment
or inoperable motor vehicles are in transport to or from the site.
G.
All junkyards shall be maintained to protect the public from health
and safety nuisances and hazards.
H.
Types of maintenance actions may include upkeep of the vegetative
screen, maintenance of the fence so that there are no holes, keeping
all junk and operations within the confines of the fence and keeping
machinery in good working order.
A.
No license issued under this article shall be transferable or assigned
or used by any person other than the person to whom it was issued,
and no junk dealer's license issued shall be used at any location
other than the location prescribed in the application upon which it
is issued.
B.
When a junkyard is sold, the new owner shall promptly notify the
Township of any change in ownership and shall apply for a transfer
of license prior to operating or maintaining said junkyard.
Every junk dealer or person operating or maintaining or intending
to establish or maintain a junkyard shall pay an annual license fee
as set forth from time to time by resolution of the Board of Commissioners
for every license or renewal thereof issued hereunder. All licenses
shall be issued for a term of one year, beginning January 1 and ending
December 31 of such year, provided that, in any case where a junk
dealer's business shall be established in the Township on or after
the first day of July in any year, the license fee payable by such
junk dealer for the remainder of such year shall be at half the yearly
rate. All licenses must be renewed annually on or before January 1
of each year. Such license shall be issued upon the condition that
the same may be summarily revoked in the event the licensee is found
to have given any false information or in any way misrepresented any
material fact upon which the Township has relied in granting such
license. No refunds will be given in such case.
No person licensed under this shall, by virtue of one license,
keep more than one place of business within the Township or maintain
more than one junkyard for the purpose of buying, selling and dealing
in junk. No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer in any
place other than the place designated upon his license or maintain
a junkyard in any place other than the place designated upon his license.
Every junk dealer shall provide and shall at all times keep
and maintain a book, in which shall be recorded, in the English language,
at the time of purchase or receipt of any junk, a description of every
article or material purchased, acquired or received by him, the date
and hour of such purchase, acquisition or receipt, and the name and
address of the person from whom such article or material was purchased
or received and a full and complete description, including trade names,
serial or manufacturer's numbers, if any, of every article or item
of junk purchased, acquired or received by him. Such book and all
junk purchased, received or handled by any junk dealer shall at all
times be subject to inspection by the Chief of Police or any other
official of the Township. Such records shall be retained for a period
of five years.
Every licensee hereunder shall keep and retain upon the licensed
premises, for a period of 24 hours after the purchase, acquisition
or receipt thereof, every item or article of junk so purchased, acquired
or received by him and placed, kept or stored on the licensed premises.
The licensee shall not disturb or reduce or alter the original form,
shape or condition of the same until such period of 24 hours has elapsed,
except as otherwise provided.
Every license hereunder shall constantly maintain the licensed
premises in the manner hereinafter prescribed.
A.
Such premises shall at all times be maintained so as not to constitute
a nuisance or a menace to the health and welfare of the community
or to residents nearby or a place for the breeding of rodents and
vermin.
B.
Such premises shall at all times be maintained in strict conformity
with all applicable provisions of the Property Maintenance Code of
the Township.
C.
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored in such premises,
and the area used by the junkyard shall not be used as a dump area
for trash or garbage.
D.
The manner of storage and arrangement of junk and the drainage facilities
of the premises shall be such as to prevent the accumulation of stagnant
water upon the premises and to facilitate access for firefighting
purposes.
E.
Fire lanes with a minimum of 20 feet shall be maintained so that
no area of junk shall span a distance of more than 50 feet.
F.
All batteries, coolants, gasoline, diesel fuel, engine oil, any other
petroleum product and any other noxious or potentially contaminating
materials shall be removed from all junk within 24 hours of arrival
to the premises and shall be disposed of in a manner strictly complying
with all local, state and federal requirements.
G.
Any activity or operation within the junkyard generating or likely
to generate significant noise or vibration, including but not limited
to the crushing of vehicles or other material, shall be limited to
the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
A.
Every junkyard in the Township shall at all times be subject to inspection
during reasonable hours of the day by the Code Enforcement Officer,
who is hereby empowered to inspect private property on which motor
vehicles and/or junk are stored and who shall from time to time regularly
inspect the premises of every licensee hereunder for the purpose of
determining whether said licensee has established and maintained his
premises in full compliance with the provisions of this article and
such rules and regulations which may hereafter be adopted by the Township
of Shaler regulating and licensing junk dealers and the establishment
and maintenance of junkyards.
B.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall not less than twice yearly furnish
to the Township Board of Commissioners a report of such inspections,
in writing, and in the form prescribed by the Board of Commissioners.
All burning of junk, rubbish or other material in any junkyard is prohibited except in full compliance with Chapter 95 of the Township Code (relating to outdoor burning).
No junk, scrap or automobile bodies, motors or any other item
of junk as defined in this article shall be stored, maintained, situated,
placed or otherwise located within 200 feet of any river, stream,
run, creek, irrigation ditch or any other natural watercourse within
the boundary lines of Shaler Township.
Nothing herein shall authorize or permit the conduct of any business anywhere in the Township where the same shall not be a permitted use under the terms of this chapter or where the same shall be a prohibited use under this Chapter 225, Zoning, and under no conditions may a person operate or maintain a junkyard in any Residential, Cemetery, Neighborhood Shopping or General Commercial District in the Township.
