CHAPTER 668 – SAFETY, SANITATION AND HEALTH

668.01   ACCUMULATION OF LEAVES, TRASH, ETC. ON STREETS AND IN GUTTERS

(a)        Accumulations Prohibited.  The intentional accumulation by the owner or occupant of property of leaves, trash, papers, bushes, branches, grass and all types of similar cuttings and debris (hereinafter referred to as “accumulations”) in the paved and travelled portions of the streets and in the gutters, culverts, sewers and drains thereof is hereby prohibited.

(b)       Exceptions.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) hereof, accumulations of the types of materials specified may, from time to time as need arises generally within the Township, be authorized by the Board of Commissioners, but such accumulations shall be confined to the areas between the paved streets and the sidewalks (or property line where no sidewalks exist) in such manner as to accommodate the easy removal thereof, and no such accumulations shall be allowed or permitted in the areas specified in subsection (a) hereof.

668.02   SMOKING ON SCHOOL PROPERTY OR SCHOOL BUSES

(a)        School Property

(1)        Smoking Prohibited in Designated Areas.  No person shall smoke any cigarette, cigar, tobacco, drug or any similar item on any public school property in Lawrence Park Township, except in approved smoking areas as designated by the Iroquois School District.

(2)        “No Smoking” Signs to be Posted.  The Iroquois School District shall keep posted in prominent and conspicuous places on each public school property a sufficient number of conspicuously lettered “No Smoking” signs warning against violations of this subsection and calling attention to the penalty for such violation.  A “sufficient number” shall mean a sign at the entrance or entry of each public school building or property.

(b)       School Buses

(1)        Smoking Prohibited.  No person shall smoke any cigarette, cigar, tobacco, drug or any similar item on any school bus in Lawrence Park Township.

(2)        “No Smoking” Signs to be Posted.  Every person, firm, entity, company, corporation, partnership, association or business of any nature owning or having management or control of any conveyance or vehicle mentioned or contemplated by paragraph (b)(1) hereof shall keep posted in prominent and conspicuous places in each of said buses, conveyances, or vehicles a sufficient number of conspicuously lettered “No Smoking” signs warning against violations of this subsection and calling attention to the penalty for such violation.  A “sufficient number” shall mean that any one of the signs shall be readable from any place large enough for a person to occupy in the bus, conveyance, or vehicle.

668.03   OPEN FIRES

(a)        Definitions.  The following words, terms and phrases are hereby defined for purposes of this section and shall have the meanings ascribed to them, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1)        “Person” means any individual, partnership, association, syndicate, company, firm, trust, corporation, department, bureau, agency, or other entity recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.

(2)        “Board” means the Township Board of Commissioners.

(3)        “Garbage” means all putrescible animal and vegetable matter resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.

(4)        “Rubbish” means solids not considered to be highly flammable or explosive, including, but not limited to, rags, old clothes, leather, rubber, carpets, wood, excelsior, paper, ashes, tree branches, tree leaves, yard trimmings, furniture, tin cans, glass, crockery, masonry, and other similar materials.

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

(6)        “Refuse” means garbage, rubbish, and trade waste.

(7)        “Salvage operation” means 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.

(8)        “Open fire” means a fire in which any material is burned in the open or in a receptacle other than a furnace or incinerator.

(9)        “Furnace” means any enclosed device specifically designed for the burning of any material for the production of heat.

(10)      “Incinerator” means any device specifically designed for the destruction by burning of refuse, sewage sludge, or any other combustible material.

(b)       Prohibition of Open Fires.  Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall, after the effective date of this section, cause, suffer, allow, or permit the ignition, feeding, or maintenance of any open fire tor the destruction of refuse or in the conduct of a salvage operation on any property under his or her control outside of any building.  However, the burning of paper products or dry vegetable matter, such as wood or leaves, by open fire, when such fire is in conjunction with the occupancy of a parcel of land for single-family or two-family use, shall be lawful, provided that:

(1)        Such burning shall be enclosed in a container no larger than a standard 55-gallon drum and shall have a cover to contain ashes and other materials therein, if the same should be necessary.  Under no circumstances shall ashes, burning materials, or other wastes be permitted to escape the burning container.

(2)        Such burning shall be permitted on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, between the hours of 7:00 AM and 12:00 noon.  All fires shall be completely extinguished prior to the end of the permitted burning period.  In the event of a drought or other conditions, the Board of Commissioners may, upon motion, temporarily suspend all open fires until such time as said threat due to drought or other condition has ended.

(3)        Such burning shall be constantly attended by a competent person 16 years of age or order, until such burning is completely extinguished.

(4)        A supply of water through a hose or other such extinguisher shall be readily available for the purpose of extinguishing the fire in the event of danger or excessive smoke.

(5)        Such burning shall take place within the confines of the property owned, leased, or rented by the person or persons doing the burning and no closer to any adjoining property line than six feet.

(c)        Exceptions

(1)        Open fires may be set in the performance of an official duty of any public officer if the fire is necessary for:

(A)       The prevention of a fire hazard which cannot be abated by other means;

(B)       The protection of the public health; or

(C)       Training of Fire Department personnel.

(2)        Open fires may be set and maintained after application to and approval thereof by the Board of Commissioners, which may impose conditions on any such approval.

(d)    Recreational Fires

(1)        Recreational fires must be contained (i.e., must be in either an approved fire pit or chiminea).  An approved fire pit can be one of the following:

(A)       A portable, above-ground commercially manufactured wood-burning or propane fire pit lined with a non-combustible material;

(B)       A wood-burning chiminea made of clay or ceramic;

(C)       A permanently constructed fireplace or fire pit line with a non-combustible material such as brick, rock, concrete or heavy gauge metal.

(2)        Only clean dry firewood or liquid propane (in a propane pit) is allowed for a recreational fire.  Burning of garbage, trash, plastic, rubber, grass, or tree trimmings, brush, painted or treated wood or lumber or any kind of construction or demolition debris is prohibited.

(3)        Bonfires (burning directly on the ground) are not permitted except for Fire Department-approved activities such as Homecoming or training.

(e)        Enforcement.  Enforcement of this section shall be within the jurisdiction of both the Lawrence Park Police Department and the duly appointed Code Enforcement Officer.

668.99   PENALTY

(a)        Any person violating the provisions of Section 668.01 shall, upon conviction thereof before a Justice of the Peace, pay to the Township a fine or penalty of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for the first offense, fifty dollars ($50.00) for the second offense, and not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than three hundred dollars ($300.00) for a third or subsequent offense.

(b)       Any person or persons violating any provision or provisions of Section 668.02(a) shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding before a District Magistrate or other proper authority, be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300.00) or an alternate public work experience, and, in default of said payment or work experience, to be confined to the Erie County Jail or other proper institution for a period of not less than one nor more than five days.

(c)        Any person or persons violating any provision or provisions of Section 668.02(b) shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding before a District Magistrate or other proper authority, be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300.00) or an alternative public work experience, and, in default of said payment or work experience, to be confined to the Erie County Jail or other proper institution for a period of not less than one nor more than five days.

(d)       Any person who shall violate any provision of Section 668.03 shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) for the first violation, and not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than three hundred dollars ($300.00) for the second and subsequent violations, and costs of prosecution for each offense, or, in default of payment of such fines and costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more than 30 days.