[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Blair 9-13-1983 by Ord. No.
1983-02 (Ch. 13, Part 3, of the 1985 Code of Ordinances).
Amendments noted where applicable.]
Unless otherwise expressly provided, the following words shall
for purposes of this chapter have the following meanings:
Any and all types of motor vehicles, including self-propelled
machinery of all kinds with the exception of usable farm machinery.
The Board of Supervisors of Blair Township, Blair County,
Pennsylvania.
Any and all discarded materials or articles, including, but
not limited to, scrap metal, scrapped, abandoned or junked motor vehicles,
machinery, equipment, papers, glass containers, structures, including
unusable lumber, used plumbing supplies and other used building materials,
household items such as unusable refrigerators, stoves and washing
machines.
Any person who buys, sells, salvages, stores, or in any way
deals in junk or owns, leases, operates or maintains a junkyard within
the Township.
Any place where junk as herein defined is stored or accumulated.
Any natural person, partnership, firm, corporation, or other
legal entity, including singular and plural, male and female.
Any parcel of land situated in Blair Township, Blair County,
Pennsylvania, having a separate Tax Map parcel number for county assessment
purposes.
The Township of Blair, Blair County, Pennsylvania.
[Amended 1-6-1986 by Ord.
No. 1986-02]
A.Â
No person shall be a junk dealer or own, operate or maintain a junkyard
as herein defined within the Township without first obtaining a license
to operate a junkyard as a junk dealer. The amounts of the license
fees shall be those amounts as last adopted by resolution of Blair
Township Board of Supervisors.[1]
B.Â
The license shall be effective for a period of one year only, each
license terminating on June 30th of the year for which it is issued,
subject to renewal upon reapplication. A new application for a license
shall be filed in writing with the Secretary of the Board of Supervisors
and shall contain the applicant's sworn statement setting forth
applicant's name and address, together with the names and addresses
of all other persons interested in the business, an accurate description
of the premises upon which the business is to be conducted and the
junkyard located, and a statement that applicant will comply with
this chapter and any regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter.
Upon receipt of the application and license fee by the Township, if
the application and premises to be licensed complies with the provisions
hereof, the Board shall within 60 days issue its license authorizing
the operation and maintenance of a junkyard upon the premises by the
junk dealer. Such license shall at all times be conspicuously displayed
upon the junkyard premises. The license shall be nontransferable both
as to the junkyard premises and junk dealer.
C.Â
A renewal application for a license, after the original application
has been approved, shall be filed in writing with the Secretary of
the Board of Supervisors and shall contain the applicant's sworn
statement setting forth the applicant's name and address, together
with the names and addresses of all other persons interested in the
business, an accurate description of the premises upon which the business
is to be conducted and the junkyard located, and a statement that
applicant will comply with this chapter and any regulations adopted
pursuant to this chapter. Upon receipt of the renewal application
and license fee by the Township, if the application and premises to
be licensed complies with the provisions hereof, the Board or the
Secretary of the Board shall within 10 days issue the license authorizing
the operation and maintenance of a junkyard upon the premises by the
junk dealer. Such license shall at all times be conspicuously displayed
upon the junkyard premises. The license shall be nontransferable both
as to the junkyard premises and junk dealer.
D.Â
In addition to all requirements, as set forth herein, any person
applying for a new junkyard license shall file a sworn statement by
a registered surveyor, along with his field survey, that the area
to be used as a junkyard has an area of at least five acres and no
more than 50 acres; or in the alternative, shall file a title certificate,
along with a field survey by a licensed lawyer that the area to be
used as a junkyard has an area of at least five acres and no more
than 50 acres.
E.Â
Furthermore, any person applying for a renewal license where requested
by the Supervisors, shall file a sworn statement by a registered surveyor,
along with his field survey, that the area to be used as a junkyard
has an area of at least five acres and no more than 50 acres; or in
the alternative, shall file a title certificate along with a field
survey by a licensed lawyer that the area to be used as a junkyard
has an area of at least five acres and no more than 50 acres.
No person licensed under this chapter shall by virtue of one
license maintain or operate more than one junkyard within the Township
of Blair, nor shall any person engage in business as a junk dealer
or operate or maintain a junkyard in any place other than the place
designated upon his license.
Every junk dealer licensed under this chapter shall maintain
the licensed junkyard and conduct business as hereinafter provided.
A.Â
No new application for a junkyard shall be approved which is for
an area less than five acres nor more than 50 acres. This provision,
however, shall not affect existing junkyards which have heretofore
been approved. However, should at any time any existing junkyard be
required to file a new application, then in that instance this provision
shall be applicable.
B.Â
All junk shall be stored and set back at least 100 feet from any
adjoining premises and at least 100 feet from the nearest edge of
the cartway of any public road or highway.
C.Â
All junk shall be stored and arranged so as to permit access by firefighting
equipment, and to prevent accumulation of stagnant water. Junked automobiles
shall be spaced in rows with at least 15 feet between each double
row to permit movement of fire equipment. Junk shall not be piled
to a height of more than eight feet from the ground.
D.Â
All gasoline shall be drained from any junked automobile into containers
and removed from the junkyard premises within 12 hours from arrival
on the said premises of the junked automobile. Gasoline or oil shall
be stored at only one location on the licenses premises, and no more
than 100 gallons in aggregate of gasoline and oil shall be stored
above ground.
E.Â
No motor vehicles, oil, grease, tires, gasoline or other similar
material that might be dangerous or tend to produce obnoxious smoke
or odors shall be burned within a junkyard at any time.
F.Â
Junkyards shall at all times be maintained in such manner as to cause
no public or private nuisance, nor to cause any menace to health or
safety or any persons off the premises; nor to cause any excessive
or offensive sounds or odors; nor to cause the breeding, harboring
or infesting of rats, rodents or vermin; nor to cause a violation
of any health or sanitation law, ordinance or regulation of any governmental
body; no garbage or organic waste shall be stored or allowed to accumulate
at said junkyard.
Any member of the Board or a duly authorized agent thereof may
at any time enter upon and inspect any premises for which there is
a pending application for a junkyard license or which holds a current
junkyard license.
[Amended 9-18-1996 by Ord. No. 1996-07[1]]
If a person is in violation of this chapter prior to prosecution,
said person shall receive a written notice 10 days in advance of the
filing of any prosecution outlining the violations of which the person
is charged. If said person fails to correct or eliminate all said
violations indicated in said notice within 10 days of receipt of said
notice, then said person may be prosecuted. Notice as prescribed in
this chapter shall mean the sending of certified mail to the address
listed on said application. If any person who maintains a junkyard
in the Township of Blair shall be an absentee owner such that said
person does not receive, accept or acknowledge the certified mail,
notice shall be sufficient if the ten-day notice is posted on said
property in a conspicuous location. Any person who violates or permits
a violation of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor
in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township before
a Magisterial District Judge, pay a fine of not more than $600, plus
all court costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred
by the Township in the enforcement of this chapter. No judgment shall
be imposed until the date of the determination of the violation by
the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor
timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment
pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation
exists shall constitute a separate offense. Further, the appropriate
officers or agents of the Township are hereby authorized to seek equitable
relief, including injunction, to enforce compliance herewith.
