BURNING

 

SECTION 1:            DEFINITIONS

 

            1.            Contained Fire

                        Any fire contained in an incinerator, fireplace or contained enclosure designed for outdoor cooking, or a fireproof container.

            2.            Controlled Burn

                        Any fire not included in the definition of Contained Fire.

            3.            Garbage

                        All putrescible animal and vegetable matter resulting from handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.

            4.            Incinerator / Non Combustible Container

                        Any device specifically designed for the destruction by burning of refuse, sewage sludge, or any combustible material.

            5.            Open Fire

                        A fire in which any material is burned in the open or in a receptacle other than a furnace or incinerator.

            6.            Person

                        Any individual, partnership, association, corporation, department, bureau, agency or legal entity.

            7.            Refuse

                        Garbage, rubbish and trade waste.

            8.            Responsible Adult

                        An individual 18 years or older who is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol or suffering from any other disability which would impair his or her ability to properly supervise a fire.

            9.            Rubbish

                        Solids not considered to be highly flammable or explosives including, but not limited to, rags, old clothes, leather, rubber, carpets, excelsior, ashes, furniture, tin cans, glass, crockery, masonry, plastics, recyclable items, and other similar items.

            10.            Salvage Operations

                        Any business, trade or industry engaged in whole or in part in salvaging or reclaiming any product or material, including, but not limited to, metals, chemicals, shipping containers, or drums.

            11.            Trade Waste

                        All solid or liquid material or rubbish resulting from construction, building operations, or the prosecution of any business, trade, industry, including, but not limited to, plastic products, cartons, paint, grease, oil, and other petroleum products, chemicals, cinders and other forms or liquid waste materials; provided, that trade waste shall not include coal refuse associated with mining or preparation of coal.

 

 

SECTION 2:            REGULATIONS

            1.            Burning is allowed without permit at any time except for Salvage Operations as defined under definitions. Salvage Operations will require a permit.

Every contained fire may not be permitted closer than ten (10) feet from any building.   A controlled burn or open fire may not be permitted closer than twenty-five (25) feet from any building.

            2.            All fires shall be attended to at all times by a responsible adult with readily available means of extinguishing the fire.

            3.            No burning is allowed during a Fire Ban Emergency, as proclaimed by the Warren County Emergency Management or by Borough Council.

 

 

           

SECTION 3:            UNLAWFUL SUBSTANCES

 

1.         Burning of construction debris, aerosol cans, by-products of manufacturing and processing operations and wastes, from commercial operations is prohibited.

            2.            Nothing herein shall be construed to permit or encourage the burning of any substance determined by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be a hazardous substance; nor shall any fire be permitted to burn by any persons if said burning is in violation of the Air Pollution Control Act or other legislation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the United States of America or any of their legislative agencies. 

            3.            Fires shall be used only to burn readily combustible materials.

 

SECTION 4:            FIRE BAN EMERGENCY

            Borough Council may declare a fire ban emergency in the Borough with or without consultation with the fire chiefs of the volunteer fire companies operating within the Borough during period of drought, or other periods of high risk to woodlands or property within the Borough.  Upon Borough Council declaring a fire ban emergency, all outside burning or fires shall be prohibited until the ban is lifted by the Borough Council.  The Borough Council shall publish a notice of the fire ban emergency at least by a local newspaper of general circulation.  In addition, the Borough Council may issue news releases to all communication media, including radio, television and newspapers. 

 

SECTION 5:            ENFORCEMENT

            Any council member shall have the power to enforce the provisions of the Ordinance or any other agent designated by Borough Council.

 

SECTION 6:            ADDITIONAL COSTS

            1.            In the case of a fire requiring fire fighters and/or equipment and upon conviction of any violation of this Ordinance, the violator shall also pay charges in order to cover the fire fighting costs.  Charges shall be assessed upon the use of the following fire fighting equipment:

                        (a)            Pumpers and tankers;

                        (b)            Brush busters.  Brush busters are all-wheel-drive vehicles for road or wooded areas, equipped with a water tank of at least five Hundred (200) gallons capacity and an appropriate size pump.

                        (c)            Chain saws.

            2.            Additional labor charges shall be assessed under this Ordinance based upon an hourly rate for all firemen engaged in the fire fighting activities.

            3.            The Borough Council shall determine by resolution a reasonable schedule of costs based upon mileage, operating costs, costs for fire fighting equipment and man hours.  These charges shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any penalties provided elsewhere in this Ordinance. 

 

SECTION 7:            MUNICIPAL LIABILITY

            Borough Council and its agents, officials, and representatives, shall not under any circumstances be liable or responsible for damages caused by reason of the conduct of any burning activity in compliance with noncompliance with the terms and provisions thereof.  The person, persons, company or companies responsible for any such shall bear sole liability for any damages caused as a result thereof.

 NOISE

 

            1.            It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue, or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary or unusual noise or any noise which either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of others, within the limits of the Borough provided that noises created in the normal and reasonable course of a legitimate business activity shall not be deemed illegal.

            2.            The following acts, among others, are declared to be loud, disturbing, and unnecessary noises in violation of this Ordinance, but said enumeration shall not be deemed to be exclusive, namely:

                        A.            Horns, signaling devices, etc.:  Sounding any horn or signaling devices on any automobile, motorcycle, street car or other vehicle on any street or place of the Borough except as a danger warning; creating, by means of such signaling device, any unreasonably loud or harsh sound; or the sound of any such device for any unnecessary or unreasonable period of time.

                        B.            Radios, phonographs, television sets, etc.:  Using, operating or permitting the playing, use or operation of any radio receiving set, television set, instrument, phonograph, tape player or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound in such manner as to disturb the peaceful quiet and comfort of the neighboring inhabitants or at any time with louder volume than is necessary for convenient hearing for the person or persons who are in the room or vehicle in which such machine or device is being operated.  The operation of any such set, instrument, phonograph, machine or device between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in such a manner as to be plainly audible at a distance of 50 feet from the building, structure or vehicle which it is located shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section.

                        C.            Loud speakers, amplifiers for advertising:  Using, operating or permitting the playing, use or operation of any radio receiving set, musical instrument, phonograph, loudspeaker, sound amplifier or other machine or device for the producing or reproducing of sound which is cast upon the public streets for the purpose of commercial advertising or attracting the attention of the public to any building or structure except in the course of legitimate business activity or auction sales.

                        D.            Yelling shouting, etc.:  Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling, or singing  on public streets, particularly between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. or at any time or place so as to annoy or disturb the comfort or repose of persons in any dwelling, hotel or other type of residence or of any persons in the vicinity.

 

BARKING DOGS

            It shall be unlawful to own, harbor or keep in custody any dog which disturbs the peace by barking between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. for more than one (1) hour or for a period of less than one (1) hour but more than one-half (1/2) hour when said period occurs for two (2) consecutive days.  Between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., barking for more than one-half (1/2) hour or for a period of less than one-half (1/2) hour but more than one-quarter (1/4) hour when said period occurs on two (2) consecutive days is unlawful.  Such behavior shall be deemed to disturb the peace and cause the annoyance and discomfort of persons within the Borough.

 

PUBLIC PROPERTY

 

            No person shall place, deposit, leave or allow or permit to be placed, deposited, or left, any sticks, stones, rocks, leaves, grass clippings, papers, waste, litter, trash, rubbish, refuse, animal excrement, or any material of any kind and in whatever amounts as may be placed on any public or private property other than property owned by the person placing, depositing or leaving said items or permitting the same to occur.

            This shall not apply to persons, who are either employed by or volunteers, of the Borough who are involved with law or grounds maintenance, grass cutting, shrub and hedge trimming, flower planting, and the like. 

 

 

SIDEWALKS

 

            Except as set forth below, it shall be considered a nuisance if any one or more of the following conditions occurs on a sidewalk or sidewalks located within the Borough:

            1.            A vehicle is parked so that its fender extents beyond the curb and over onto the sidewalk; or any one or more of s vehicles wheels are located on a sidewalk; or

            2.            Snow, ice, leaves, grass or other debris is placed, piled, or plowed so that it is located on any portion of a sidewalk; or

            3.            Any other impediment which prevents, causes difficulty with, or otherwise infringes upon any sidewalk with the Borough.

 

            Vehicles may be parked on sidewalks for a minimum of one-half (1/2) hour for the sole purpose of permitting the vehicle to be unloaded in a more expeditious manner. 

            For the purpose of this section of this Ordinance, “vehicle” shall be defined as any device, or combination of devices, used for or capable of being used for transporting persons or property.  Vehicles include, but are not limited to, automobiles, trucks, buses, motorcycles, motorized bicycles, snowmobiles, scooters, all-terrain vehicles, go-carts, racers, farm machinery, industrial machinery, highway graders, trailers, graders, semi-trailers and any other motorized vehicle. 

 

           


 

TREE REMOVAL

 

            1.            The creation of hazardous conditions or the obstruction of the public rights-of-way of the Borough or of the Stillwater Creek, as the same is located within the Borough, by trees falling into said rights-of-way or Creek or by any other tree which is declared by the Borough to be hazardous, poses a substantial and imminent threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the Borough, its inhabitants, and persons traveling along said rights-of-way or the Creek.

            2.            Any owner of property on which a tree has fallen into a right-of-way or the Creek, or which has been declared to be hazardous, shall be responsible for removing said tree, once said owner has been notified of the obligation to do so, in accordance with the procedures set forth below.

            3.            The Borough shall notify, by certified mail, return receipt requested, any and all property owners of the responsibility to remove such trees as are described above.  Upon receipt of said Notice, the property owner shall clear and remove any such tree within five (5) days of the property owner’s receipt of said notice.

            4.            Should it occur that a property owner fails to clean and remove any such tree within the said five (5) days or if the Borough were to declare a tree to be an emergency condition which had to be removed immediately, the five (5) day waiting period would be waived and the Borough would be authorized to immediately remove the tree, assessing any and all costs associated therewith against the property or property owner including, but not limited to, the filing of a municipal lien.