ADOPTING ORDINANCE
ORDINANCE NO. 257
BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, PA
AN ORDINANCE OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CODIFYING THE ORDINANCES OF BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF CERTAIN LEGISLATION NOT INCLUDED THEREIN; AND TO SAVE FROM REPEAL CERTAIN OTHER LEGISLATION NOT INCLUDED THEREIN
Preamble
WHEREAS, the Bedminster Township Board of Supervisors has contracted with American Legal Publications to codify the existing Bedminster Township ordinances into an comprehensive document; and
WHEREAS, the Bedminster Township Board of Supervisors finds the implementation of an organized code of ordinances will serve to facilitate compliance and review of Bedminster Township ordinances.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Bedminster Township Board of Supervisors, hereby enacts and ordains the following:
ARTICLE I: ADOPTION OF CODE OF ORDINANCES
§AO-1. Adoption.
In accordance with Pursuant to Section 1601(d) of the Second Class Township Code [53 P.S. § 66601(d)], the “Code of Ordinances of Bedminster Township,” as prepared and published for Bedminster Township is hereby adopted as a consolidation, codification, and revision of the ordinances of the Township. The chapters thereof contain the text of the body of all general administrative and regulatory ordinances of the Township organized as follows:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE I - GENERAL REGULATIONS
Chapter 10 - General Provisions
Chapter 11 - Fees and Reimbursements
Chapter 12 - Parkland Rules and Regulations
TITLE III - ADMINISTRATION
Chapter 30 - Township Manager
Chapter 31 - Township Organizations
Chapter 32 - Police
Chapter 33 - Township Employees
Chapter 34 - Taxation and Finances
TITLE V - PUBLIC WORKS
Chapter 50 - Municipal Solid Waste
Chapter 51 - Public Sewers
Chapter 52 - Public Water
Chapter 53 - Streets and Rights-of-Way
Chapter 54 - Rights-of-Way Maintenance
TITLE VII - TRAFFIC CODE
Chapter 70 - General Provisions
Chapter 71 - Traffic Schedules
Chapter 72 - Parking Schedules
Chapter 73 - Storm Emergencies
TITLE IX - PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
Chapter 90 - Public Playground Safety
Chapter 91 - Sewage Management
Chapter 92 - Alarm Systems
Chapter 93 - Fire Prevention
Chapter 94 - Wells
Chapter 95 - Building Regulations
Chapter 96 - Property Maintenance Code
Chapter 97 - Property Occupancy
Chapter 98 - Property Numbering and Addresses
TITLE XI - BUSINESS REGULATIONS
Chapter 110 - Peddlers and Solicitors
Chapter 111 - Junkyards
Chapter 112 - Towing Regulations
TITLE XIII - GENERAL OFFENSES
Chapter 130 - Offenses Against Public Morals, Peace, and Safety
Chapter 131 - Warrantless Arrests
Chapter 132 - Rental Housing
TITLE XV - LAND USAGE
Chapter 150 - Official Map
Chapter 151 - Stormwater Management
Chapter 152 - Subdivision and Land Development
Chapter 153 - Zoning
TABLES OF SPECIAL ORDINANCES
Table I - Franchises
Table II - Agreements
Table III - Streets
Table IV - Zoning Map
§AO-2. Citation.
The codification referred to in §AO-1 of this Ordinance shall be known and cited officially as the “Bedminster Township Code or Ordinances,” and all future ordinances shall make reference thereto.
§AO-3. Savings Clause.
The provisions of the Bedminster Township Code of Ordinances, so far as they are the same as those ordinances and regulations in force immediately prior to the adoption of said Code, are intended as a continuation of such ordinances and regulations and not as a new enactment. The provisions of the Bedminster Township Code of Ordinances shall not affect any suit, land use appeal, or prosecution pending or to be instituted to enforce any of the prior ordinances or regulations.
§AO-4. Changes in Previously Adopted Legislation; New Provisions.
A. In compiling this Code of Ordinances, no substantive changes in the meaning or intent of such ordinances have been made, except certain grammatical changes and other minor non-substantive changes were made in one or more of said pieces of legislation. It is the intention of the Board of Supervisors that all such changes be adopted as part of the Code as if the ordinances had been previously formally amended to read as such.
B. Nomenclature. Throughout the Code, references to the following agencies or officials are updated as indicated:
(1) “Department of Environmental Resources” or “DER” to “Department of Environmental Protection” or “DEP.”
(2) “Department of Community Affairs” or “DCA” to “Department of Community and Economic Development” or “DCED.”
(3) “Justice of the Peace,” “District Magistrate”, “Magisterial District Justice”, and “District Justice” to “Magisterial District Judge.”
(4) “Soil Conservation Service” or “SCS” to “Natural Resources Conservation Service” or “NRCS.”
(5) “Dog Warden” to “Animal Control Officer.”
(6) “Zoning Board of Adjustment” to “Zoning Hearing Board.”
C. Nomenclature. Throughout the Code, wherever state or federal statutes arc referenced, the references shall read as follows:
(1) Pennsylvania Clean Streams Act, 35 P.S. § 691.1 et seq.
(2) Pennsylvania Dam Safety and Encroachments Act, 32 P.S. § 693.1 et seq.
(3) Pennsylvania Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act (Clean and Green - Act 319), 72 P.S. § 5490.1 et seq.
(4) Pennsylvania Fiscal Code, P.S. Title 72.
(5) Pennsylvania Floodplain Management Act, 32 P.S. § 679.101 et seq.
(6) Pennsylvania Hazardous Material and Emergency Planning and Response Act, 35 P.S. § 6022.101 et seq.
(7) Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 2301 et seq.
(8) Pennsylvania Local Tax Collection Law, 72 P.S. § 5511.1 et seq.
(9) Pennsylvania Local Tax Enabling Act, 53 P.S. § 6924.101 et seq.
(10) Pennsylvania Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Law, 53 P.S. § 7101 et seq.
(11) Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Law, 53 P.S. § 888.101 et seq.
(12) Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.
(13) Pennsylvania Occupational Disease Act, 77 P.S. § 1201 et seq.
(14) Pennsylvania Open Space Lands Act (Act 442), 32 P.S. § 5001 et seq.
(15) Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act, 35 P.S. § 721.1 et seq.
(16) Pennsylvania Second Class Township Code, 53 P.S. § 65101 et seq.
(17) Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act (Act 537), 35 P.S. § 750.1 et seq.
(18) Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act, 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq.
(19) Pennsylvania State Human Relations Act, 43 P.S. § 951 et. seq.
(20) Pennsylvania Stormwater Management Act, 32 P.S. § 680.1 et seq.
(21) Pennsylvania Uniform Condominium Act, 68 Pa.C.S.A. § 3101 et. seq.
(22) Pennsylvania Uniform Planned Community Act, 68 Pa.C.S.A. § 5101 et seq.
(23) Pennsylvania Workers Compensation Act, P.S. Title 77.
(24) U.S. Clean Water Act, 33 USC § 1251 et seq.
(25) U.S. Fair Housing Act, 42 USC § 3601 et seq.
(26) U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 USC § 6901 et seq.
§AO-6. Procedural Changes.
A. Grammatical and spelling errors have been corrected where necessary.
B. Minor changes have been made to correct obsolete terms and usages.
C. The penalty provisions have been revised where necessary to comply with the Pennsylvania Second Class Township Code, Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Pennsylvania Crimes Code, and Pennsylvania Local Tax Enabling Act.
§AO-7. Amending the Code of Ordinances.
Amendments to the Code of Ordinances should include the citation of the chapter, section, and subsection to be amended, revised, repealed, or added in a fashion similar to the following:
A. Amendment or revision. “Chapter , Section , Subsection is hereby amended to read as follows...”
B. Additions. “Chapter , Section , Subsection is hereby amended by the addition of the following...”
C. Repeal. “Chapter , Section , Subsection is hereby repealed in its entirety.”
§AO-8. Responsibility for Code of Ordinances.
It shall be the responsibility of the Township Secretary to maintain an up-to-date certified copy of the Code of Ordinances. This copy shall be the official copy of Bedminster Township and shall be available for public inspection.
§AO-9. Penalties.
It shall be unlawful for anyone to change, alter, or tamper with the Code of Ordinances in any manner which will intentionally misrepresent the laws of the Township. Anyone violates this Section, upon conviction before the Magisterial District Judge or other court of competent jurisdiction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 per day during which such violation shall continue, plus all court costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Township in enforcing the violation. Each day a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense, and each provision violated shall constitute a separate offense.
§AO-10. Severability of the Code of Ordinances.
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the Board of Supervisors that the chapters, sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and phrases of the Code of Ordinances are severable. If any chapter, section, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Code is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality, illegality, or invalidity shall not affect nor impair any of the remaining chapters, sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases of this Code. It is hereby declared as the intent of the Board of Supervisors of Bedminster Township that this Code would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid chapter, section, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase not been included herein.
§AO-11. Sale of Code Book; Supplementation.
Copies of the Code of Ordinances, or any chapter or portion of it, may be purchased from the Township Secretary, or an authorized agent or the Secretary, upon the payment of a fee to be set by resolution of the Board of Supervisors. The Secretary may also arrange for procedures for the periodic supplementation or the Code.
§AO-12. Repealer.
All ordinances, parts of ordinances, and amendments thereof are repealed insofar as they are inconsistent with this Codification Ordinance.
§AO-13. Severability.
If any sentence, clause, section, or part of this Codification Ordinance is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not affect nor 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 Supervisors of Bedminster Township that this Ordinance would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause, section, or part thereof not been included herein.
§AO-14. Effective Date.
This Ordinance shall become effective five (5) days after final enactment.
ENACTED AND ORDAINED by the Board of Supervisors of Bedminster Township this 14th day of June, 2023.
Attest BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP
/s/ BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Richard Schilling, Township Manager
/s/
Morgan Cowperthwaite Jr., Chairman
/s/
Mark W. Schmidt, Vice Chairman
/s/
Glenn A. Wismer, Member