ORDINANCE NO.
117
(Replaces Ordinance
No. 63)
PURPOSE: This
ordinance is intended to encourage the control of grasses, weeds and noxious
vegetation in
TITLE: This
ordinance shall be known as the Kennett Township Noxious Weed Control Ordinance.
DEFINITIONS:
NOXIOUS WEEDS –
A plant that is determined to be injurious to public health, crops, livestock,
agricultural land or other property. Such weeds may be included on
NOXIOUS WEED CONTROL LIST:
The Noxious Weed Control List shall include but not be limited to the
following weeds:
Proper Name
Common Name
1.
Cannabis sativa
-
marijuana
2.
Carduus nutans
-
musk or nodding thistle.
3.
Cirsium arvense
-
Canada thistle
4.
Cirsium vulgare
-
bull or spear thistle
5.
Pueraria lobata
-
Kudzu-vine
6.
7.
Sorghum bicolor
-
shattercane
8.
Sorghum halepense
-
johnson grass
APPLICABILITY: During any calendar year, growth of any noxious weed in excess of eighteen (18) inches on any land not actively used for agricultural purposes is hereby declared to be a nuisance and a danger to public health and shall be prohibited. Exceptions may be made for controlled fences/boundaries of properties or active natural areas for wildlife.
WEED CONTROL AREA:
A municipality, geographic area, or tract of land where a noxious weed
must be treated as prescribed under this ordinance.
PUBLIC NOTICE: Once each year during the period of May – June, the Board of Supervisors or their designee shall authorize to be printed in a newspaper of general circulation within the Township a notice directed to the residents advising them of the general requirements of this Ordinance, and specifically the prohibitions as to the Noxious Weeds and the penalties for violations.
NOTICE TO VIOLATORS: Upon receipt of a formal, written complaint by a bonafide resident or landowner in Kennett Township, or by direct observation of a Township Official, the Board of Supervisors or their designee shall authorize a certified written notice be given to the owner of the land whereon the offending growth is found to exist. The notice shall specify the location and the type of noxious weed and require its’ removal within ten (10) days of the date of the notice unless the owner of the land in question can demonstrate to the Board of Supervisors or their designate just cause as to why the offending growth cannot be removed. Failure of the landowner to comply with the requirements of such notice within ten (10) days after receipt shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this Ordinance.
TOWNSHIP ACTION:
In the event that the offending growth has not been removed or destroyed within
the ten (10) day period after the certified notice was received, the Township or
a party contracted by the Township may mow, destroy, or dispose of the offending
growth in such a fashion as deemed appropriate.
The owner of the property whereon the work was undertaken shall bear the
cost of the work and shall be required to reimburse the Township in full upon
receipt of an itemized bill.
VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES:
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this Ordinance
shall, upon conviction thereof, in an action brought before the District Justice
in the manner provided for the enforcement of summary offenses under the
Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedures be sentenced to pay a fine of not less
than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00)
and the costs of prosecution.
REFERENCE:
NOXIOUS WEED CONTROL LAW, ACT OF APRIL 7, 1982, P. L. 228, No. 74, AS AMENDED
July 7, 1994.
ENACTED AND ORDAINED
this 16th day of
March, 1998
ATTEST:
KENNETT TOWNSHIP
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Secretary-Treasurer
Michael E. Elling
Charles G. Shoemaker
James C. Henderson