[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:
BOARD
The Board of Supervisors of Lancaster Township.
JUNK
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.
JUNK DEALER
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.
JUNKYARD
Any place where any junk, as hereinbefore defined, is stored, disposed of, or accumulated.
LICENSE
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or disposes of junk, as hereinbefore defined.
PERSON
Includes any partnership, association, firm and corporation.
TOWNSHIP
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)]
(1) 
Less than 15,000 square feet: $100.
(2) 
More than 15,000 square feet but less than 40,000 square feet: $200.
(3) 
More than 40,000 square feet: $400.
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.