[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
The purpose of this Part is the establishment of the requirement
of mandatory connection to the Oxford Area Sewer Authority's
sewage collection and processing system for the following areas within
Lower Oxford Township.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
As used in this Part, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The Oxford Area Sewer Authority, a municipality authority
existing and governed pursuant to provisions of the Municipality Authorities
Act (53 Pa.C.S.A., Ch. 56), as amended and supplemented, of the commonwealth.
Any improved property which shall be used in whole or in part for retail or other commercial use as established by the Lower Oxford Township Zoning Ordinance [Chapter 27].
Any property upon which there is erected any structure intended
for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy, or use by human
beings or animals and from which sanitary sewage shall be or may be
discharged.
Any improved property which shall be used, in whole or in
part, for manufacturing, processing, cleaning, laundering or assembling
any product, commodity or article or from which any process waste,
as distinct from sanitary sewage, shall be discharged and also, for
purposes of this Part, that discharge sanitary sewage.
The person appointed or employed by the Authority to inspect
public sewers, on-lot systems, cesspools, holding tanks and all other
connections between occupied structures, buildings and the public
sewer lines and area serviced by the public sanitary sewer.
That part of the sewer system extending from a sewer to the
curbline or, if there shall be no curbline, to the property line;
or, if no such lateral shall be provided, then "lateral" shall mean
that portion of, or place in, a sewer that is provided for connection
of any sewer.
Any building, either industrial, commercial or residential,
which is newly constructed and which is located within the distance
requirements of this Part.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any improved property.
Any individual, corporation, partnership, limited liability
company, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint-stock
company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity,
or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. The masculine
gender shall include the feminine, and the singular shall include
the plural where indicated by the context.
Normal water-carried household and toilet waste from any
improved property; excluding, however, the effluent from septic tanks
or cesspools, rainwater, stormwater and groundwater, as well as roof
or surface water drainage or percolating or seeping waters, or accumulation
thereof, whether underground or in cellars or basements.
The Township of Lower Oxford, Chester County, Pennsylvania,
a political subdivision of the commonwealth, acting by and through
its authorized representatives.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
1.
The owners of all newly constructed or existing commercial establishments
or industrial establishments whose closest property or lot line is
within 150 feet of any Oxford Area Sewer Authority lateral shall connect
such property with the Oxford Area Sewer Authority's sewer collection
system, in such manner as the Authority may require, within one year
after the adoption of this Part or within one year after the sewer
lateral is placed in a location within 150 feet of the property line.
This connection shall be for the purpose of discharging all sanitary
sewage from said property; subject, however, to such limitations and
restrictions as shall be established herein or otherwise by the Authority
from time and time. This requirement shall not apply to any property
owner which has its own sewage treatment system which is approved
and permitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
2.
The owner of all residential establishments which are newly constructed
and which, as of the date of this Part, have not yet completed an
on-lot sewage system and whose closest lot or property line is within
150 feet of any Oxford Area Sewer Authority lateral shall be required
to connect to the Oxford Area Sewer Authority's collection system.
3.
The owners of all residential property on which is located a system
that has been determined by a representative of the Chester County
Department of Health to be a nonfunctioning or failing system and
whose closest lot or property line is within 150 feet of any Oxford
Area Sewer Authority lateral shall be required to connect such property
to the Oxford Area Sewer Authority's sewage collection system
on a time schedule as established by the Chester County Health Department.
In addition to the above, any property with an on-lot system
whose closest property or lot line is 150 feet from an Oxford Area
Sewage Authority lateral and which is unable to be certified by a
certified sewage inspector at the point of transfer to a new owner
shall be required to connect as though the Chester County Health Department
had failed the system.
4.
When a subdivision plan or building permit application has been filed
and the construction of an Oxford Area Sewage Authority lateral is
under construction or bids have been awarded, then in that event the
owner of any property whose closest property or lot line is within
150 feet of the planned location of an Oxford Area Sewage Authority
lateral must construct the sewage system for the property to connect
to the Oxford Area Sewage Authority when construction is completed.
During the interim, said property shall use holding tanks for sewage
usage until the lateral is in operation.
5.
All sanitary sewage from any property as identified in this Part
after connection of said property shall be conducted into such sewer;
subject, however, to such limitations and restrictions as shall be
established herein or otherwise by the Authority or Lower Oxford Township
from time to time.
6.
No person shall place, deposit, or permit to be placed or deposited
upon public or private property within Lower Oxford Township any sanitary
sewage or industrial waste in violation of this Part.
7.
Every such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank or similar
receptacle in existence shall be abandoned and, at the discretion
of the Authority, shall be cleaned and shall be filled, at the expense
of the owner of such property, unless otherwise provided for by the
Authority, under the direction and supervision of the Authority; and
any such privy vault, cesspool, sinkhole, septic tank, or other similar
receptacle not so abandoned and, if required by the Authority, not
cleansed and filled shall constitute a nuisance, and such nuisance
may be abated, as provided by law, at the expense of the owner of
such improved property. Lower Oxford Township shall have the right
to pursue nuisance action against the property owner.
8.
The notice by Lower Oxford Township, or by the Authority on this
Township's behalf, to make a connection to a sewer may be given
at any time after a sewer is in place that can receive and can convey
sanitary sewage and for treatment and disposal from the particular
property and when capacity within that sewer system is available.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
No basement seepage, groundwater drainage, building drain, storm
drain, footer drain, roof drain, water drain of any type or any other
nonsewage source of water shall be discharged into the Oxford Area
Sewer Authority public sanitary sewage collection system, and all
owners connecting to the system shall certify that no groundwater,
seepage drains, building drains, footer drains, roof drains, storm
drains or water drains are connected to the sewage collection system.
After connection to the sewer is made, all owners shall maintain their
property in such a manner that no such seepage, groundwater drainage,
building drains, footer drains, roof drains or storm drains shall
enter the sewage collection system. No downspouts, roof drainage,
surface water or area drainage shall be connected to the sewage collection
system. The owner shall remove any connections and plug any drainage
before connecting to the sanitary sewage collection system. The inspector
shall inspect, confirm and approve the adequacy of each system before
final connection is approved or made.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
In case any owner of property required to connect to such sewer
shall neglect or refuse to connect with and use said sewers for such
period of one year after adoption of this Part or when said sewer
connection is located within 150 feet of the property or lot line,
Lower Oxford Township and the Oxford Area Sewer Authority or their
agents may enter upon such property and construct such connection.
In such case, the Authority or Lower Oxford Township shall, forthwith
upon completion of the work, send an itemized bill of the costs of
construction of such connection to the owner of the property to which
connection has been made, which bill shall be payable forthwith. In
case of neglect or refusal by the owner of such property to pay said
bill, a municipal lien for said construction shall be filed within
six months of the date of completion of the construction of said connection,
the same to be subject in all respects to the general law providing
for the filing and recovery of municipal liens.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
Any person or entity required to connect a property with the
sewer system of the Authority shall make application for a connection
permit therefor to the Oxford Area Sewer Authority on forms furnished
by the Authority and shall set forth, in said application, the character
of structure and use, the legal owner, the correct mailing address
for the owner, the lot number and location, and the name of the person
who is to make the connection.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
No privy vault, cesspool, septic tank or similar receptacle
for human excrement shall at any time, now or hereafter, be connected
with the sanitary sewers of the Authority.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
The construction of all private sewers or laterals and their
connections with any lines of the sewer system shall be done in accordance
with rules and regulations established by the Oxford Area Sewer Authority
and shall be inspected by a representative of the Oxford Area Sewer
Authority or designee before being covered.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
The Board of Supervisors of Lower Oxford Township hereby delegates
to the Oxford Area Sewer Authority the sole and exclusive authority
for the administration of the monthly sewer fees and billings for
said sewer connections.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to
tap or connect into the Oxford Area Sewer Authority system before
making payment of the charges and the inspections herein established.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
Any person(s), partnership or any agents or executive officers
of any corporation violating any provisions of this Part shall, upon
conviction, be subject to a fine of not less than $200 and not more
than $1,000 for each offense, and an equal fine amount for each thirty-day
period or fraction thereof wherein the violation is not corrected
to the satisfaction of the Authority or Lower Oxford Township. Additionally,
if this matter is turned over to an attorney, costs for litigation
shall be added to the fine amount. Each day or portion thereof in
which a violation exists shall be considered a separate violation,
and each section of this Part which is violated shall be considered
a separate violation.
[Ord. 1-2011, 4/13/2011]
The provisions of this Part shall be severable; and if any of
the provisions shall be held to be unconstitutional or invalid for
any reason, such decision shall not affect the validity of any of
the remaining provisions of this Part. It is hereby declared as the
legislative intent that this Part would have been adopted had such
unconstitutional or invalid provision not been included therein.