[Ord. 1986-2, 10/22/1986, § 1; amended by Ord.
2012-04, 11/12/2012, § 1; and by Ord. No. 2015-01, 2/9/2015]
No person, firm, or corporation shall maintain or cause or permit
to be maintained, on any property owned or occupied by such person,
firm, or corporation within the Township of Douglass, any dangerous
structure and/or certain conditions constituting or productive of
a nuisance, which shall include conduct or uses detrimental to the
public health, safety or welfare of other persons, such as, but not
limited to, the planting, maintenance and/or growth of bamboo except
as permitted pursuant to the regulations below, and conduct or uses
that engender to create loud noises or offensive odors, result in
the leaching of dangerous chemicals into the ground or atmosphere,
attract pests or vermin, and/or are injurious to the public.
[Added by Ord. No. 2015-01, 2/9/2015]
1.
BAMBOO
BAMBOO OWNER
A.
B.
C.
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
Any monopodial (running) tropical or semitropical grasses
from the genera Bambusa, including, but not limited to, Bambusa, Phyllostachys,
and Pseudosasa, as well as common bamboo, golden bamboo and arrow
bamboo.
Any property owner or resident, including the heirs, successors
and assigns of such property owner or resident, who has planted and/or
grows bamboo, or who maintains bamboo on the property, or who permits
bamboo to grow or remain on the property even if the bamboo has spread
from an adjoining property. Any property owner or resident at which
bamboo is found on the property will be considered a bamboo owner,
except any property owner or resident who:
Did not plant or grow or cause bamboo to be planted or grown
on his property; and
Has provided satisfactory proof to the Township that, within
a reasonable period of time after discovering the encroachment of
bamboo onto the property from an adjoining or neighboring property,
he advised the owner of such property of his objection to the encroachment
of the bamboo; and
Has initiated steps for the removal of the bamboo from his property,
which may include, but are not limited to, remedies at law.
2.
Applicability. For purposes of this section, bamboo found growing upon a property shall constitute presumptive evidence that the bamboo was planted and/or grown by and/or with the consent of the bamboo owner, unless the property owner or resident demonstrates the criteria set forth in Subsections A through C of the definition of "bamboo owner" in § 10-101.1.
3.
Prohibition. Upon the effective date of this provision, the planting
or growing of bamboo shall be prohibited within the Township. Any
person who thereafter plants or grows, or causes to be planted or
grown, bamboo within the Township shall be deemed to be in violation
of this section and shall be subject to such penalties as are set
forth hereunder.
4.
Regulation. Any bamboo that has been planted or otherwise permitted
to grow on any property within the Township prior to the effective
date of this section may remain on such property subject to compliance
with this section.
A.
Bamboo shall not be planted, maintained or otherwise be permitted
to exist within 40 feet of the edge of the pavement or traveled portion
of any public roadway in the Township; and
B.
Any bamboo owner whose property contains bamboo shall remove and
abate the growth of the bamboo within 40 feet of the edge of the pavement
or traveled portion of a public road in the Township; and
C.
Each bamboo owner shall be responsible to ensure that the bamboo
planted or growing on the property prior to the effective date of
this section does not encroach or grow upon any adjoining or neighboring
property or properties, including all public property and Township
rights-of-way; and
D.
Each bamboo owner shall be required to take such measures as are
reasonably expected to prevent such bamboo from invading or growing
onto adjoining or neighboring properties. Such measures shall include,
but not be limited to, installation of sheathing comprised of metal
or other material impenetrable by bamboo at a sufficient depth within
the property line or lines where the running bamboo is planted or
is growing to prevent the growth or encroachment upon adjoining or
neighboring property by the bamboo.
5.
Replanting Prohibited. Any bamboo either planted or caused to be
planted or existing on a property prior to the effective date of this
section may not be replanted or replaced in kind once such running
bamboo is or has become, for any reason, dead, destroyed, uprooted
or otherwise removed.
6.
This section shall not be deemed to alter any rights at common law
or otherwise that any property owner may have to recover the cost
of removal of bamboo on their own property from another property owner
from whose property the bamboo has spread.
[Ord. 1986-2, 10/22/1986, § 3; amended by Ord.
2012-04, 11/12/2012, § 1; and by Ord. No. 2015-01, 2/9/2015]
Upon failure of the owner or occupier of any property, upon which any of the conditions referred to in § 10-101 or § 10-101.1 of this Part are maintained, to remove or correct such conditions within 30 days after notice from the Township Secretary, the Board of Township Supervisors may proceed to remove or correct such conditions or arrange for the removal or correction of such conditions and collect the cost thereof, together with a penalty of 20% of such cost, in the manner provided by law for the collection of municipal claims. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as prohibiting the Board of Township Supervisors from pursuing any other available legal or equitable remedy.
[Ord. 1986-2, 10/22/1986, § 4; as amended by Ord.
2009-3, 8/31/2009; and by Ord. 2012-04, 11/12/2012, § 1]
1.
Any person, firm, or corporation who or which shall violate any of
the provisions of this Part, upon conviction thereof in an action
brought before a magisterial district judge in the manner provided
for the enforcement of summary offenses under the Pennsylvania Rules
of Criminal Procedure, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more
than $1,000 plus costs and, in default of payment of said fine and
costs, to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 90 days. Each day that
a violation of this Part continues or each section of this Part which
shall be found to have been violated shall constitute a separate offense.
The penalty provided for herein is in addition to and not in lieu
of any other remedy provided for in this Part or otherwise available
to the Township.
2.
No penalty under this section shall be imposed upon any person for
a violation of this Part unless a written warning of such action has
first been served upon such person or mailed to him by certified mail,
return receipt requested, not less than 30 days prior to instituting
proceedings for the collection of such penalty.
[Ord. 1986-2, 10/22/1986, § 5; amended by Ord.
2012-04, 11/12/2012, § 1]
Each day during which a violation of this Part continues to
exist shall constitute a separate offense and be punishable as such.
Notice to the offender shall not be necessary in order to constitute
an offense.
[Ord. No. 2017-02, 8/14/2017]
The following terms shall have the meanings set forth herein:
Emergency services rendered to any person, including, but
not limited to, motor vehicle accident response, safety rescue, hazardous
material cleanup and mitigation, emergency medical response and transport,
and firefighting.
Any company or organization that provides emergency services
to any person.
Every insurance company, association, or exchange, incorporated
by or under the laws of this commonwealth, the United States, territories,
dependencies, other states, or foreign governments, and engaged in
transacting insurance business of any kind or classification, except
title insurance.
An individual, organization, corporation, partnership, government
or government agency, department or political subdivision, business,
trust, estate, association, and any other legal or commercial entity.
[Ord. No. 2017-02, 8/14/2017]
The Township hereby authorizes any emergency services provider
to recover from insurance companies that provide coverage to persons
for automobiles or any other property for damage from fire, accident,
and other covered loss, all fees, costs, and expenses of the following
materials and services, including, but not limited to, firefighting
materials used and expended, the use of fire trucks, fire engines,
rescue equipment and tankers, emergency medical supplies, ambulances,
and hazardous situation abatement materials used and expended in connection
with any fire, safety rescue incident or operation, medical emergency,
or hazardous situation abatement, including vehicular accidents, fires
and/or medical emergencies, occurring within the Township (collectively,
"expenses").
[Ord. No. 2017-02, 8/14/2017]
Any insurance company that insures a person who receives emergency
services within the Township shall be liable for all expenses incurred
by the emergency services provider in providing said emergency services
to that person.
[Ord. No. 2017-02, 8/14/2017]
All expenses shall be recovered directly by the emergency services
providers by direct billing or by an attorney, collection service,
or other agency contracted with and by the emergency services providers
for the collection of such expenses. In addition to the expenses,
the emergency services provider shall also be authorized to collect
reasonable interest and administration expenses involved in collecting
said expenses.
[Ord. No. 2017-02, 8/14/2017]
At the request of the Board, the emergency services providers
shall provide the Board an accounting of the expenses, including,
but not limited to, the expenses charged and collected and the costs
of collection of the expenses billed. The Board shall have the right
to audit the accounting provided by the emergency services providers
or require the emergency services providers to obtain an audit of
the expenses and fund and provide the Board with a copy of the audit.
[Ord. No. 2017-02, 8/14/2017]
The Township shall not be responsible for any aspect of the
recovery of expenses imposed upon any person or insurance company
under this Part. The Township shall not take any steps to assist any
emergency services provider or any third-party billing service in
the recovery of costs under this Part.
[Ord. No. 2017-02, 8/14/2017]
The provisions of this Part are severable; and if any provision,
section, sentence, clause, or part of this Part shall be held to be
invalid, illegal, or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction,
such decision of the court shall not affect or impair the remaining
provisions, sections, sentences, clauses, or parts of this Part. It
is hereby declared to be the intent of the Board that the remainder
of this Part shall be and shall remain in full force and effect.
[Ord. No. 2017-02, 8/14/2017]
The Board does hereby reserve the right, from time to time,
to adopt modifications of, supplements to, or amendments of this Part,
including this provision.
[Ord. No. 2017-02, 8/14/2017]
The failure of the Township to enforce any provision of this
Part shall not constitute a waiver by the Township of its rights of
future enforcement hereunder.
