[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Lancaster 3-5-1963 by Ord. No.
10. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "Lancaster Township
Junkyard and Refuse Ordinance."
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases
shall be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings herein
indicated:
The Board of Supervisors of Lancaster Township.
Any discarded material or article and shall include, but
not be limited to, scrap metal, scrapped, abandoned or junked motor
vehicles, machinery, equipment, paper, glass, containers, and structures.
It shall not include, however, refuse or garbage kept in a proper
container for the purpose of prompt disposal.
Any person, as hereinafter defined, who shall engage in the
business of selling, buying, salvaging, and dealing in junk and who
maintains and operates a junkyard within the Township of Lancaster.
Any place where any junk, as hereinbefore defined, is stored,
disposed of, or accumulated.
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or
disposes of junk, as hereinbefore defined.
Includes any partnership, association, firm and corporation.
Lancaster Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania.
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer or maintain
a junkyard without first having obtained a license from the Board,
for which license a fee in accordance with the schedule hereinafter
set forth shall be paid to the Township for the use of the Township.
The license shall be issued for the twelve-month period beginning
January 1 and ending December 31 of the following year, and each license
must be renewed annually on or before the first day of January of
each year.
The license provided for in this chapter shall be issued by
the Board after written 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
on which such business is to be conducted or such junkyard is to be
maintained. Such license shall be posted conspicuously upon the premises
licensed thereunder. The written application for license hereinabove
mentioned shall be accompanied by a form, every question of which
must be answered, which form will be supplied by the Board. The applicant
shall also submit therewith a plot of the premises used or to be used
in connection with such license.
Upon receipt of an application by the Board, the Board shall
issue a license or shall refuse to issue a license to the person applying
therefor after an examination of the application and taking into consideration
the suitability of the property proposed to be used for the purposes
of the license, the character of the properties located nearby, and
the effect of the proposed use upon the Township, both economic and
aesthetic. In the event the Board shall issue a license, it may impose
upon the license and the person applying therefor such terms and conditions
in addition to the regulations herein contained and adopted pursuant
to this chapter as may be deemed necessary to carry out the spirit
and intent of this chapter.
A.
The license fee shall be paid immediately upon the issuance or renewal
of a license. The amount of the license fee shall be calculated in
accordance with the following schedule as determined by the actual
land to be used by the person to whom the license is issued, excluding
all setback areas:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
B.
No license shall be issued for the use of a tract of land in excess
of five acres, excluding setback areas.
No person licensed under this chapter 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.
No license issued by the Board shall be transferable by the licensee to any other person unless such a transfer is authorized by the Board. Any person desiring to transfer his license shall notify the Board, in writing, which notification shall be accompanied by an application for a license, as described in § 161-4 of this chapter, by the transferee.
In the event the Board shall approve the transfer of a license,
the transferee shall immediately pay to the Township a transfer fee
of $10.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall provide and shall
constantly keep a book in which shall be fairly written down in the
English language, at the time of the purchase of any junk, a description
of every article or material purchased or received by him, the date
and hour of such purchase or receipt; and the person from whom such
article or material was purchased, received or handled by such person
shall, at all times, be subject to the inspection of any official
of the Township.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall keep and retain
upon the licensed premises, for a period of 48 hours after the purchase
or receipt thereof, all junk received or purchased by him, and he
shall not disturb or reduce the same or alter the original form, shape
or condition until such period of 48 hours shall have elapsed.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall constantly maintain
the licensed premises in accordance with any special provisions imposed
by the Board and in the manner prescribed by this section and any
subsequent regulations adopted by the Board:
A.
Such premises shall at all times be maintained so as not to constitute
a nuisance or a menace to the health of the community or of residents
nearby or a place for the breeding of rodents and vermin.
B.
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored in such premises.
C.
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be received in such premises as
junk, all gasoline and oil shall be drained and removed therefrom.
Gasoline in an amount not exceeding 10 gallons may be stored above
the ground in said junkyards, provided the same be placed in containers
approved by the Board. All other gasoline which is kept in the premises
shall be stored underground, which underground storage must be approved
by the Board.
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.
All junk kept, stored, or arranged on the licensed premises shall at all times be kept, stored and arranged within the junkyard as described in the application for license hereunder, and as limited under Subsection D above.
F.
A person licensed under this chapter shall not burn more than one
motor vehicle or its equivalent at any one time. No 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. Burning of vehicles must be attended and controlled at
all times.
G.
The premises to be licensed shall be set back a minimum distance
of 35 feet from the right-of-way lines on all streets or roads and
a minimum distance of 35 feet from all other property lines. The area
between the setback line and the right-of-way line and all streets
and roads and all other property lines shall be, at all times, kept
clear and vacant.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
H.
When the Board shall deem it necessary and desirable, the premises
to be licensed shall, at the setback lines, be enclosed by a fence
of type and style to be determined by the Board or by evergreen screen
plantings, or both. The Board may set forth the fence and planting
requirements at the time of the issuance of a license or at the time
of renewal or transfer of a license.
[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 brought before a Magisterial
District Judge 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 costs of prosecution. In default of payment
thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation
continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate
offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also
constitute a separate offense.
In addition to the remedies provided in § 161-13 above, any continued violations of this chapter which shall constitute a nuisance in fact or which shall, in the opinion of the Board, constitute a nuisance may be abated by proceeding against the violator in a court of equity for relief.
If any section of this chapter shall be found to be invalid,
the other sections of this chapter shall not be affected thereby.
