(A) The Council of the city of Reading finds and declares that the outdoor storage of accumulations of various granular materials, including but not limited to mulch, soil, concrete and concrete washout, are a public nuisance and are ordered abated as described herein. The Council further finds that the abatement procedures described in this section are the minimum requirements necessary to abate the nuisance.
(B) Open outdoor storage of accumulations of granular materials which are located closer than 500 feet to either residential or business zoned properties and as described herein must be stored in a manner not to exceed five feet in height and in piles with a base not exceeding 900 square feet. All such outdoor storage cannot be located any closer than 25 feet from the property line of any adjacent property owners.
(C) Any person or persons maintaining the outdoor storage of granular materials as described herein are required to construct a fence around the accumulation or at their property line no less than five feet in height.
(D) Any person or persons maintaining the outdoor storage of granular materials as described herein shall fully conform to existing building and zoning requirements of the city.
(E) Any existing accumulations of said materials as aforementioned shall be investigated by the Building Department. An appropriate representative of the Building Department shall immediately notify the person or persons not in conformance with this section and order them to take immediate action to appropriately conform to the abatement conditions as outlined in this section. Said person or persons who are not in conformance shall be given a period of time to conform for a period not to exceed 90 days from the date of the order. An additional time period(s) of 90 days may be granted by the Building Department upon proper proof that such person or persons maintaining such outdoor storage of granular materials are making a good faith effort to conform to the conditions contained in this section.
(F) Any resident who is an abutting property owner to a person or persons who have accumulations of materials as aforementioned may also initiate an investigation of the outdoor storage materials by delivering a written complaint to the Building/Zoning Administrator. The Building/Zoning Administrator shall investigate the complaint and initiate any corrective action through order of his or her department as required herein with five business days following receipt of the complaint.
(G) Any person or persons who fail, upon receiving an order from the Building/Zoning Administrator to fully conform to all of the conditions of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree and carry a sentence not to exceed $500 or 90 days in jail, or both. Each day that a violation of the section continues shall be considered a separate offense and may be so charged by additional criminal complaint.
(Ord. 2003-115, passed 11-18-03)