[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Allegheny 12-8-1986 as §§ 5.31 to 5.34 of the 1986 Code. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
No person, firm or corporation owning or occupying
any property within the Township of Allegheny shall permit any grass
or weeds or any vegetation whatsoever, not edible or planted for some
useful or ornamental purpose, to grow or remain upon such premises
so as to exceed a height of six inches or to throw off any unpleasant
or noxious odor or to conceal any filthy deposit or to create or produce
pollen. Any grass, weeds or other vegetation growing upon any premises
in the Township in violation of any of the provisions of this section
is hereby declared to be a nuisance and detrimental to the health,
safety, cleanliness and comfort of the inhabitants of the Township.
It shall be the duty of all property owners,
tenants or occupiers within the Township of Allegheny to regularly
cut and mow the grass and weeds on their respective lots and in the
space between property line and curbline in front and in the rear
and along side thereof, so that neither grass nor weeds shall rise
above the height of six inches, and every such owner, occupier or
tenant shall remove said cuttings or mowings and all accumulations
of garbage and rubbish and other debris from said premises. The growth
of grass or weeds above the height of six inches or the accumulation
of garbage and rubbish and other debris, or the nonremoval of same,
is hereby declared to be a nuisance.
A.
Should such person fail or neglect to comply with
any of the terms of this chapter, any resident or residents of the
Township who may consider themselves aggrieved or about to be injured
by such neglect or refusal may notify in writing any constable, policeman
or Supervisor of the Township, giving the location of the land and
the name and address of the owner, tenant or occupier so refusing
or neglecting. Upon receipt of such notice, the Supervisors shall
give five days' written notice to such person or persons to cut and
destroy such weeds or grass. Said notice shall be served personally
by a Township official or policeman if the owner or tenant resides
upon the land in question or within the Township. If such owner or
tenant shall not be serveable, as aforesaid, the notice shall be mailed
to the last known address of the owner or his agent and the five-day
period shall run from the date of posting thereof.
B.
Should such person fail or refuse to heed said notice
by the end of said five-day period, the Supervisors, personally or
by employees or agents, shall enter upon said premises and cut down
and destroy such weeds, and the Supervisors, in the name of the Township
of Allegheny, shall be entitled to recover from such person owning
or holding land the cost thereof, together with any additional penalty
authorized by law in the manner provided by law.
Any person, firm or corporation who or which
shall violate or fail, neglect or refuse to comply with any of the
provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding
brought before a District Justice 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. Notice to the offender shall
not be necessary in order to constitute an offense.
