And Repealing All Inconsistent Ordinances

ORDINANCE NO. 2-2011

AN ORDINANCE OF THE TOWNSHIP OF COLEBROOKDALE, COUNTY OF BERKS, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, FIXING RESPONSIBILITY FOR SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL FROM SIDEWALKS AND ROOFS, REGULATING THE DEPOSIT THEREOF, AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION AND REPEALING ALL INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES

The BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF COLEBROOKDALE hereby ordains:

Section 1. Definitions. As used in this ordinance, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:

CARTWAY – the portion of a street or highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, exclusive of the berm or shoulder.

SIDEWALK – the area outside of the actual cartway of a street or highway which is intended for use by pedestrians, whether or not the same is paved with an impervious surface or is merely a dirt or gravel area

SNOW SEASON – the period of time beginning with the first measurable snowfall during any fall or winter season and continuing through the last measurable snowfall during the same or immediately following winter or spring season.

STREET or HIGHWAY – the entire width of a way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.

TOWNSHIP – the Township of Colebrookdale, Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Section 2. Responsibility for Removal of Snow and Ice from Sidewalks. Every person in charge or control of any building or lot of land fronting or abutting on a paved sidewalk, whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee, or otherwise, shall remove and clear away or cause to be removed or cleared away from the sidewalk, snow and/or ice from a path of at least thirty inches (30") in width.

1. Except as provided in subsection 2 below, snow and ice shall be removed from sidewalks within twenty-four (24) hours after the cessation of any fall of snow, sleet or freezing rain. 2. In the event snow and/or ice on a sidewalk has become so hard that it cannot be removed without likelihood of damage to the sidewalk, the person charged with its removal shall, within the time mentioned in subsection 1 hereof, cause enough sand or other abrasive to be put on the sidewalk to make travel reasonably safe; and shall, as soon thereafter as weather permits, cause to be cleared a path in said sidewalk of at least thirty inches (30") in width.

Section 3. Responsibility for Removal from Roofs. Every person in charge or control of any building or other structure, whether as owner, tenant, occupant, lessee, or otherwise, shall remove and clear away, or cause to be removed and cleared away, any accumulation of snow and ice on said building or other structure which is liable to fall on any sidewalk, roadway, or other public way. Such work shall be completed within a reasonable time, but not later than twenty- four (24) hours after the cessation of any fall of snow, sleet, or freezing rain.

Section 4. Depositing of Snow and Ice Restricted. No person shall deposit or cause to be deposited any snow or ice on or immediately next to a fire hydrant or on any sidewalk, street, or highway, except that snow and ice may be mounded by the Township of Colebrookdale on public cartways incident to the cleaning thereof or mounded on curbs incident to the clearing of sidewalks in business districts.

Section 5. Penalties.

1. The Code Enforcement Officer (or the Assistant Code Enforcement Officer) shall have the authority to notify by first class mail or by hand delivery of a written notice, any owner, occupant, tenant, lessee, or other person responsible to clear accumulated snow and ice from sidewalks within the Township that he/she is in violation of the provisions of this Ordinance and that if he/she shall pay a penalty in the amount of Thirty-Five Dollars ($35.00) at the Administrative Office of the Township, 765 West Philadelphia Avenue, Boyertown, Pennsylvania 19512, within TEN (10) BUSINESS DAYS of the date of issuance of the notice of violation, such penalty shall be deemed as and shall constitute the full penalty for that violation. Notification by hand delivery shall include, among other things, affixing a written notice of violation to the front door (or main entry door) of the residence or office of any owner, occupant, tenant, lessee, or other responsible person charged with violating the provisions of this Ordinance.

2. Any person charged with a violation of the provisions of this Ordinance for a second time during a single snow season shall pay a penalty of FIFTY DOLLARS ($50.00) for a second violation. Any person charged with a third or subsequent violation of this Ordinance during a single snow season shall pay a penalty of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100.00) per violation for the third or each subsequent violation. 3. Any person notified of a violation of this Ordinance as provided in subsections 1 or 2, above, who fails to make payment in full for the violation within TEN (10) BUSINESS DAYS of the date of issuance of the notice of violation, upon citation duly issued to any owner, occupant, tenant, lessee, or other person responsible to clear accumulated snow and ice from sidewalks within the Township shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than six hundred dollars ($600.00), and in default of payment, to imprisonment for a term not to exceed thirty (30) days.

4. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.

Section 6. Repealer. Ordinance Number 5-99 is specifically repealed. All ordinances or parts of ordinances which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

Section 7. Severability. If any sentence, clause, section, or part of this ordinance is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections or parts of this ordinance. It is hereby declared as the intent of the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Colebrookdale that this ordinance would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause, section or part thereof not been included herein.

Section 8. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective five days after its enactment.

APPROVED by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Colebrookdale and ENACTED into an Ordinance of the Township this 4th day of April, 2011.

ATTEST: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF COLEBROOKDALE

______Township Manager ______President

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