[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Schwenksville 1-9-1992
by Ord. No. 251. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Trees — See Ch. 155.
It shall constitute a public nuisance for any person, firm or corporation,
being the owner or occupant of premises situate in the Borough, to permit
the growth or accumulation of Canada thistles or weeds commonly know as chicory
or succory or blue daisy or other weeds, tall grasses, ragweed, poison ivy
or obnoxious or objectionable vegetation on those premises.
It shall be the duty of every owner or occupant of premises as mentioned in § 173-1 on which any Canada thistles or cichorium intybus, the weed commonly known as chicory or succory or blue daisy may be growing, to cut all such weeds so as to prevent them from going to seed and the seed from ripening, and every owner or occupant of premises who fails, neglects or refuses to comply with the provisions of this chapter shall be punishable for each offense by a maximum fine of $1,000, plus costs of prosecution, and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, by imprisonment for not more than 30 days. That fine and costs to be collected by a summary proceeding before a District Justice having jurisdiction, or recovered in the same manner as debts of like jurisdiction, or recovered in the same manner as debts of like amount are by law recoverable.
Whenever Council shall, in its discretion, consider the growth or accumulation
of weeds, tall grasses or other obnoxious or objectionable vegetation on any
premises to be prejudicial to the public health or to create a fire hazard,
the same may be declared as a public nuisance.
Whenever Council declares the growth or accumulation of Canada thistle,
blue daisies or other weeds, tall grasses, ragweed, poison ivy, obnoxious
or objectionable vegetation to constitute a public nuisance, it shall notify
the owner or occupant of the premises on which the public nuisance is present
to abate that nuisance within five days from the service of the notice. The
service of the notice shall be upon the owner or the occupant of the premises
either by depositing the notice with the United States Postal authorities,
delivering the notice to and leaving it with any adult person in charge of
the premises, or, in case no such person is found upon the premises, by affixing
the notice in a conspicuous position upon the premises.
Every owner or occupant of any premises who fails, neglects or refuses to abate a public nuisance as provided in § 173-4 shall forfeit and pay a fine of not less than $10 and not more than $1,000 to the Borough, that fine and costs to be collected by a summary proceeding before a District Justice having jurisdiction, or recovered in the same manner as debts of like amount are by law recoverable, and, in default of payment of that fine and costs, that owner or occupant shall be sentenced to imprisonment in Montgomery County Prison for not less than five days and not more than 30 days.
If any owner or occupant of premises on which a public nuisance referred
to in this chapter exists fails, neglects or refuses to comply with an order
of Council for the abatement or removal
of that public nuisance, Council or its agents or employees may enter upon
the premises to which that order relates and abate or remove the nuisance.
The expense of that abatement or removal shall be paid by the owner or occupant
of the premises, and that expense shall be a lien upon the lands upon which
the nuisance was maintained; for which a lien may be filed by Council in the
name of the Borough, in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,
within six months from the date of the completion of the work of abatement
or removal, subject to the same proceedings for entry and revival of judgment
and execution as are provided by law for other municipal liens. Council may
also maintain an action against the owner or occupant in the name of the Borough
to recover the amount of such expense, in the same way as debts of like amount
are by law recoverable; and the same, when recovered either by enforcement
of the lien or by personal action, shall be paid to the Treasurer, to be held
and used for Borough purposes, but a final recovery of the amount in one proceeding
shall be a bar to the further continuance of the other.
