[Adopted 7-10-1973 by Ord. No. 95]
The intent of this article is to establish procedure
for the use and maintenance of holding tanks designed to receive and
retain sewage from certain nonresidential uses and it is hereby declared
that the enactment of this article is necessary for the protection,
benefit and preservation of the health, safety and welfare of the
inhabitants of this Township pending the removal of restrictions on
sewer connections presently imposed by the Department of Environmental
Protection.
The following words, terms and phrases as used
in this article shall have the meanings given herein. When not inconsistent
with the context, words used in the singular include the plural, words
in the plural include the singular and words used in the present tense
include the future. The word "shall" is always mandatory.
A watertight receptacle which receives and retains sewage
and is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of
the sewage at another site. Holding tanks include but are not limited
to the following:
CHEMICAL TOILETA toilet using chemicals that discharge to a holding tank.
RETENTION TANKA holding tank where sewage is conveyed to it by a water-carrying system.
VAULT PIT PRIVYA holding tank designed to receive sewage where water under pressure is not available.
Any property within the Township upon which there is erected
a nonresidential structure intended for continuous or periodic occupancy
or use by human beings or animals, and from which structure sewage
shall or may be discharged and which would ordinarily be served by
public sanitary sewers but for the sewer ban imposed by the Department
of Environmental Protection.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
Any person or persons, male or female, corporation, partnership,
association, company, individual, owner, occupant, lessee, tenant
or any organization.
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.
Horsham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
The Township Council of Horsham Township, Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania, or its authorized representative.
The Township Council is hereby authorized and
empowered to undertake within the Township the control and methods
of holding tank sewage disposal and the collection and transportation
thereof.
The Township Council is hereby authorized and
empowered to adopt by resolution such rules and regulations concerning
sewage which it may deem necessary from time to time to effect the
purposes herein.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the
Township Council shall be in conformity with the provisions herein,
all other ordinances of the Township, all applicable laws and applicable
rules and regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
All applications for holding tank systems shall
include a contract for maintenance by a disposal agency approved by
the Township Council. Such contract shall include, but not be limited
to, name of contractor, method of maintenance, method of disposal,
frequency of inspection and ultimate place of disposal of all wastes.
Such contract shall be required to remain in force for the entire
period of operation of the system. Failure by the owner to renew such
contract or submit proof of another approved contract shall constitute
a violation of this article. The system must be inspected by the approved
disposal agency a minimum of three times per year.
The Township Council shall, by resolution, have
the power to fix, alter, charge and collect such fees or costs as
may be necessary to properly enforce this article. In addition to
any other required fees or costs a satisfactory escrow agreement shall
be entered into with the Township which will insure compliance by
the owner with this article and be in an amount sufficient to cover
the costs of Township officers or independent contractors to pump
out the Tank should the owner be unable or unwilling to do so. The
amount of this escrow agreement shall be determined at the discretion
of the Township Council based on the size of the holding tank installed.
By obtaining permission to use a holding tank
under this article the owner of the subject property shall agree that
any failure to make timely removal of the contents of the holding
tank, or any other violation of this article or sanitary requirements,
will subject the owner to an automatic revocation of the use and occupancy
permit issued for the subject property.
The collection and transportation of all sewage
from any improved property utilizing a holding tank shall be done
solely under the direction and control of the Township Council and
the disposal thereof shall be made only at such site or sites as may
be approved by the Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes
a holding tank shall:
A.
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this
or any ordinance of this Township, the provisions of any applicable
law, and the rules and regulations of the Township Council and any
administrative agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.
Permit only an approved agency acting in accordance
with the regulations of the Township Council to collect, transport
and dispose of the contents therein.
C.
Connect within 30 days after notice from the Township
to the public sewage system once the sewer ban imposed by the Department
of Environmental Protection is removed.
Any person who violates any provisions of § 176-9 shall, upon conviction before a District Justice, be subject to a penalty of not less than $200 nor more than $500, plus costs of prosecution, and, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment not to exceed 30 days, or both such fine and imprisonment. Each day that a violation continues may be regarded as a separate offense and punishable as such.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this article, any violation of § 176-10 above shall constitute a nuisance and may be abated by the Township Council by either seeking appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
