[Adopted 3-6-2019 by Ord.
No. 95-19[1]]
[1]
Editor’s Note: This ordinance also superseded former
Art. V, Temporary Retaining Tanks, adopted 2-5-2014 by Ord. No. 88.
The purpose of this article is to establish procedures for the
use and maintenance of retaining tanks designed to receive and retain
sewage, whether from residential or commercial property uses, when
the property owner adequately demonstrates that no other viable alternative
means of sewage disposal is available to the property. It is specifically
intended that such retaining tanks are temporary in nature and permitted
only in accordance with the criteria in this article.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located within the Township.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
Any property within the Township upon which any use or activity
is carried on and upon which there is a structure intended for habitation,
occupancy or use by human beings and from which sewage shall or may
be discharged.
A watertight receptacle, whether permanent or temporary,
which receives and retains sewage and is designed and constructed
to facilitate the ultimate disposal of the sewage at another site.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals
and any noxious or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical
to the public health, or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of
water for domestic water supply or for recreation or any substance
which constitutes pollution under the Clean Streams Law, as amended.[1]
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Connoquenessing,
Butler County, Pennsylvania.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 691.1 et seq.
The Township is authorized and empowered to undertake within
the Township the regulation and inspection of retaining tank use,
sewage disposal and sewage collection and transportation thereof.
It shall be unlawful for any person to install, construct, use or
maintain a retaining tank in the Township without first obtaining
a permit from the Township, paying a permit fee, posting financial
security, and executing an agreement with the Township as to the operation
and maintenance of the retaining tank.
The Township hereby adopts the rules and regulations concerning
sewage collected or held within retaining tanks as such rules and
regulations have been promulgated by the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection and as may be hereinafter promulgated or
amended by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Said rules and regulations are to be found in Title 25 of the Pennsylvania
Code.
The use of a retaining tank under this article may be permitted
by the Board of Supervisors, provided that the following criteria
are met:
A.
The property owner shall provide evidence to the Township that the
on-lot septic system which serves the property has failed and that
no other viable alternative means of sewage collection and disposal
are available to the property.
B.
The property is otherwise suitable for a retaining tank, and the
use, if approved, will be susceptible to regulation or restriction
by appropriate conditions and safeguards, including but not limited
to audible and visual warning devices (visible from street level)
to indicate when the retaining tank is within 75% of its capacity.
C.
The retaining tank shall be constructed and maintained in conformance
with the provisions of Title 25 of the Pennsylvania Code, as may be
amended and supplemented from time to time.
D.
The use of a retaining tank will serve as a temporary measure only
until a suitable alternative method of sewage disposal is available
to the property.
E.
The use of a retaining tank will serve to abate a nuisance or public
health hazard.
F.
The retaining tank shall be installed below grade.
The owner of a property that utilizes a retaining tank shall:
A.
Maintain the retaining tank in conformance with this article, the
provision of any applicable law, and the rules and regulations established
by the Board by resolution and any administrative agency of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
B.
Submit to the Township, on an annual basis, an executed contract
for the maintenance of the retaining tank with a licensed sewage hauler.
Such contract shall be renewed or replaced and kept in full force
and effect during the entire period in which a retaining tank is utilized.
Failure to maintain such a contract or submit the contract to the
Township shall be a violation of this article.
C.
Submit to the Township for its review and retention all pumping receipts.
D.
Repair and replace as necessary any component parts of the retaining
tank as determined to be necessary for the retaining tank to function
as designed and in accordance with all applicable laws.
E.
Execute a maintenance agreement with the Township which outlines
the property owner's obligations and responsibilities concerning
the installation and maintenance of the retaining tank.
F.
Post financial security with the Township in an amount determined
by the Board in the maintenance agreement to guarantee the property
owner's compliance with the terms of the maintenance agreement.
G.
At the time a permanent sewer system is operational, fill the retaining
tank with an approved material, remove and properly dispose of the
tank or, with the permission of the Township, incorporate the tank
in the permanent system.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this article
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 article that is violated shall also
constitute a separate offense.
In addition to the other remedies provided in this article,
any violation of this article shall constitute a nuisance and shall
be abated by the Township by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance
or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent
jurisdiction and any person who violates this article shall be subject
to all fines, civil penalties, and fees provided in the Pennsylvania
Sewage Facilities Act.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 750.1 et seq.
