BE IT ENACTED AND ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors, Cooper Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and it is hereby enacted and ordained by authority of the same and pursuant to the authority granted by the Act of the Legislature approved May 1, 1933, P.L. 103, as amended, as follows:
SECTION 1. Short Title. This ordinance shall be known and may be cited as "Cooper Township Junkyard Ordinance".
SECTION 2. Definitions. Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases shall be construed throughout this ordinance to have the meanings herein indicated:
A. Person. Shall include any natural person, partnership, association, firm and corporation or other legal entity.
B. Township. Shall mean Cooper Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.
C. Board. Shall mean the Board of Supervisors of Cooper Township.
D. Junkyard. Shall mean any place where any junk as hereinafter defined, is stored, disposed of, or accumulated. Any premises as herein defined having two or more scrapped, abandoned or junked motor vehicles thereon, shall in any event be deemed a junkyard.
E. Junk. Shall mean 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 industrial waste. It shall not include, however, refuse or garbage kept in proper container for the purpose of prompt disposal.
F. Junk Dealer. Shall mean any person, as hereinafter defined, who shall engage in the business of selling, buying, salvaging, storing and dealing in junk and who maintains and operates a junk yard within the Township of Cooper.
G. License. Shall mean the permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or disposes of junk as hereinafter defined.
SECTION 3. License. No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer, or maintain a junk yard without first having obtained a license from the Board, for which license a fee in the sum of FIFTY ($50.00) DOLLARS as 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 February 15th, and ending January 31 of the following year, and each license must be renewed annually on or before the 31 st day of January of each year.
SECTION 4. Application for License. The license provided for in this ordinance shall be issued by the Board after written application shall have been made therefore 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 there-under. The written application for license herein above mentioned shall be accompanied by a form, every question of which must be answered, which form will be supplied by the Board. Applicant shall also submit therewith a plot of the premises used or to be used in connection with such license.
SECTION 5. Issuance of License. Upon receipt of an application by the Board, the Board shall issue a license to the person applying therefore after an examination of the application and taking into consideration the suitability of the property proposed to be used for the purpose 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 therefore such terms and conditions in addition to the regulations herein contained and adopted pursuant to this ordinance as may be deemed necessary to carry out the spirit and intent of this ordinance.
SECTION 6. License Fee. The license fee shall be paid immediately upon the issuance or renewal of a license.
SECTION 7. License Limitation. No person licensed under this ordinance 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.
SECTION 8. Transfer of 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 Section 4 of this ordinance by the transferee.
SECTION 9. Transfer Fee. In the event the Board shall approve the transfer of a license the transferee shall immediately pay to the Township a transfer fee of TEN ($10.00) DOLLARS.
SECTION 10. Records. Every person, licensed under this ordinance, shall provide and shall constantly keep a record, 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 the hour of such purchase 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 the Board or any authorized agent of the Board. Records kept in accordance with Pennsylvania’s Pawn Brokers Act shall be deemed sufficient under this section.
SECTION 11. Delay in Disposal. Every person, licensed under this ordinance, shall keep and retain upon the licensed premises, for a period of forty-eight (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 forty-eight (48) hours shall have elapsed, unless specifically authorized by the Board.
SECTION 12. Regulations. Every person licensed under this ordinance 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 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 shall be drained and removed there-from. Gasoline in an amount not exceeding One Hundred (100) gallons may be stored above the ground in said junk yards 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 fire-fighting purposes. Junked and scrapped motor vehicles shall be spaced in rows with at least fifteen (15) feet between each double row to permit the movement of fire equipment. Junk shall not be piled to a height of more than eight (8) feet from the ground.
(e) All junk kept, stored or arranged on the licensed premises shall at all times be kept, stored and arranged within the junk yard as described in the application for license hereunder, and as limited under Paragraph (d) above.
(f) A person licensed under this ordinance shall not burn more than one motor vehicle or its equivalent at any one time. No burning shall be permitted until fire company is notified.
(g) The premises to be licensed shall be set back a minimum distance of twenty-five (25) feet from the right-of-way lines on all streets or roads and a minimum distance of fifteen (15) feet from all other property lines. The area between the set back lines 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.
(h) When the Board shall deem it necessary and desirable, the premises to be licensed shall at the set back lines be enclosed by a fence of type and style to be determined by the Board or by evergreen and screen plantings, or both. The Board may set forth the fence and planting requirement at the time of the issuance of a license or at the time of renewal or transfer of a license.
SECTION 13. Violations. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this ordinance shall upon conviction thereof, by a summary proceeding, be sentenced to pay not more than TWO HUNDRED ($200.00) DOLLARS and the costs of persecution, provided that each day's violation of any of the provisions of this ordinance shall constitute shall constitute a separate offense.
SECTION 14. Abatement of Nuisances. In addition to the remedies provided in SECTION 13, above, any continued violations of this ordinance which shall constitute a nuisance in fact or which shall in the opinion of the Board constitute a nuisance and be abated by proceeding against the violator in a court of equity for relief.
SECTION 15. Severability. If any section of this ordinance shall be found to be invalid the other sections of the ordinance shall not be affected thereby.
SECTION 16. Repeal. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith be and the same are hereby repealed.
APPROVED, ADOPTED and ENACTED into an ordinance this to become effective the 15th of February, 1971.
Cooper Township Supervisors
Frank J. Adams
Emil Schwiderske
Michael G. Franek
RoseFenush, Secretary
Copyright © 2002 - 2007 by Michael J. Polachek, Jr.
