CHAPTER 202 – CODIFIED ORDINANCES
202.01 DESIGNATION; CITATION; HEADINGS
(a) This volume consists of all ordinances of a general and permanent nature of the Municipality, as revised, codified, arranged, numbered, and consolidated into component codes, titles, chapters and sections, and as such shall be known and designated as the Codified Ordinances of the Township of Lawrence Park, 1991, for which designation “Codified Ordinances” may be substituted. Code, title, chapter, and section headings do not constitute any part of the law as contained in the Codified Ordinances.
(b) All references to codes, titles, chapters, and sections are to such components of the Codified Ordinances unless otherwise specified. Any component code may be referred to and cited by its name, such as the “Traffic Code.” Sections may be referred to and cited by the designation “section” followed by the number, such as “Section 202.01.”
202.02 AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS; NUMBERING
(a) The Codified Ordinances of the Township of Lawrence Park may be amended or supplemented at any time and, when any amendment or supplement is adopted in such form as to indicate the intention of the Board of Township Commissioners to make the same a part thereof, such amendment or supplement shall be incorporated in, and deemed a part of, the Codified Ordinances, so that a reference to the Codified Ordinances shall be understood and construed as including the Codified Ordinances of the Township of Lawrence Park and any and all such amendments and supplements.
(b) All amendments and supplements enacted as a part of the Codified Ordinances shall be integrated therewith by following the form of arrangement and plan set forth in the original Codified Ordinances as follows: each Code shall be subdivided into titles and/or chapters, and each chapter shall be subdivided into sections, which shall be numbered in accordance with the decimal numbering system. The numbering of all sections, except penalty sections, shall be consecutive within each chapter commencing with the first section of Chapter 202, which shall be numbered 202.01, the first “2” signifying Code 2, and the two figures “02” before the decimal signifying the chapter within the Code, and the two figures “01” after the decimal signifying the first section in Chapter 202 of the Code. Penalty sections shall be designated “99” and shall be the last section of a chapter.
202.03 DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION
In the construction of the Codified Ordinances, the following rules and definitions shall control, excepting those inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Board of Township Commissioners as disclosed in a particular provision, section, or chapter:
(1) Adopting Ordinance. “Adopting Ordinance” means the ordinance of the Municipality adopting the Codified Ordinances of the Township of Lawrence Park in conformity with the First Class Township Code.
(2) Authority. Whenever in the Codified Ordinances authority is given to an officer or an act is required to be performed, such authority may be exercised and such act may be performed, at the instance of such officer, by a deputy or subordinate, unless contrary to law or to the clear intent of any such particular provision.
(3) Board of Township Commissioners. “Board of Township Commissioners” or “Board of Commissioners” means the legislative authority of the Township.
(4) Calendar-Computation of Time. The terms “month” and “year” mean the calendar month or year. The time expressed in days within which an act is to be done or a period is to expire shall be computed by excluding the first and including the last day, unless the last day is a Sunday, in which case it shall be excluded. If time is expressed in hours, the whole of Sunday shall be excluded.
(5) Conjunctions. “And” includes “or” and “or” includes “and,” if the sense so requires.
(6) County. “County” means the County of Erie, Pennsylvania.
(7) First Class Township Code. “First Class Township Code” means the First Class Township Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, being the Act of June 24, 1931 (P.L. 1206, No. 331) re-enacted and amended May 27, 1949 (P.L. 1955, No. 569), as amended.
(8) Gender. Words importing the masculine shall extend and be applied to the feminine and neuter genders.
(9) General Rule. Except as otherwise provided in this section, words and phrases shall be construed according to the common usage of the language, provided, however, that technical words and phrases and such others as may have acquired a special meaning in the law shall be construed according to such technical or special meaning.
(10) Joint Authority. Words giving authority to a board, commission, authority or to three or more officers or employees or other persons shall be construed as giving authority to a majority thereof, unless otherwise specifically provided.
(11) Keeper and Proprietor. “Keeper” and “proprietor” mean persons, firms, associations, corporations, clubs and co-partnerships, whether acting themselves or as a servant, agent, or employee.
(12) Land and Real Estate. “Land” and “real estate” include rights and easements of an incorporeal nature.
(13) Law. “Law” means all applicable laws of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(14) Municipality. “Municipality” means the Township of Lawrence Park, Pennsylvania.
(15) Number. Words in the plural include the singular, and words in the singular include the plural.
(16) Oath. “Oath” includes affirmation. When an oath is required or authorized by law, an affirmation in lieu thereof may be taken by a person having conscientious scruples about taking an oath. An affirmation shall have the same force and effect as an oath.
(17) Ordinance. “Ordinance” means and includes any ordinance of the Municipality, including any provision of these Codified Ordinances.
(18) Owner. “Owner,” when applied to property, includes a part owner, joint owner, or tenant in common of the whole or any part of such property.
(19) Person. “Person” means an individual, association, club, corporation, firm, partnership, body politic, or other legal entity.
(20) Premises. “Premises,” when used as applicable to property, extends to and includes land and buildings.
(21) Property. “Property” includes real and personal property and any mixed and lesser estates or interests therein. “Personal property” includes every kind of property except real property; “real property” includes lands, tenements and hereditaments.
(22) Publish. “Publish” means to print in a newspaper of general circulation in the Municipality the entire document or a brief summary thereof with a listing of places where copies have been filed and times when they are available for inspection.
(23) Reasonable Time. In all cases where provision is made for an act to be done or notice to be given within a reasonable time, it shall be deemed to mean such time only as may be necessary for the prompt performance of such act or the giving of such notice.
(24) Residence. “Residence” means an abode in which a person permanently resides.
(25) Shall and May. “Shall” is mandatory; “may” is permissible.
(26) Sidewalk. “Sidewalk” means any portion of a street between the curb line and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians, excluding parkways.
(27) State and Commonwealth. “State” and “Commonwealth” mean the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(28) Street. “Street” means alleys, avenues, boulevards, lanes, roads, streets, State highways, and other public ways in the Municipality.
(29) Tenant and Occupant. “Tenant” and “occupant,” as applied to buildings or land, shall extend and be applied to any person holding a written or oral lease of, or who occupies the whole or any part of, a building or land, alone or with others.
(30) Tenses. The use of any verb in the present tense includes the future.
(31) Time. Whenever any time established in the Codified Ordinances for the taking of any action expires on a Sunday or a legal holiday, such time shall not expire on such day but shall expire on the next week day.
(32) Township. “Township” means the Municipality of Lawrence Park, Pennsylvania.
(33) Unit. “Unit” means any governmental entity of the Municipality.
202.04 SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS
Each section and each part of each section of these Codified Ordinances, including each section and each part of each section of any standard technical code adopted by reference in these Codified Ordinances, is hereby declared to be an independent section or part of a section and, notwithstanding any other evidence of legislative intent, it is hereby declared to be the controlling legislative intent that if any such section or part of a section, or any provision thereof, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining sections or parts of sections and the application of such provision to any other person or circumstance, other than those as to which it is held invalid or unconstitutional, shall not be affected thereby, and it is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that these Codified Ordinances would have been adopted independently of such section or part of a section so held to be invalid or unconstitutional.
202.05 SECTIONS AND ORDINANCES REPEALED
All ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations of the Municipality, and parts of the same, in conflict with any of the provisions of these Codified Ordinances, are hereby repealed.
202.04 EXEMPTIONS FROM REPEAL
The repeal provided for in Section 202.05 shall not affect:
(a) Any offense or act committed or done, or any penalty or forfeiture incurred, or any contract or right established or accruing before the adoption of these Codified Ordinances;
(b) Any ordinance or resolution promising or guaranteeing the payment of money by or to the Municipality, or authorizing the issuance of any bonds of the Municipality, or any evidence of the Municipality’s indebtedness, or any contract or obligation assumed by the Municipality;
(c) The administrative ordinances and resolutions of the Board of Commissioners not in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of these Codified Ordinances;
(d) Any right, license, or franchise conferred by any ordinance or resolution of the Board of Township Commissioners on any person;
(e) Any ordinance or resolution establishing, naming, relocating, or vacating any street or other public way;
(f) Any ordinance or resolution or part thereof providing for the establishment of positions, for salaries or compensation.
(g) Any prosecution, suit or other proceeding pending, or any judgment rendered on or prior to the adoption of these Codified Ordinances;
(h) Any ordinance or resolution levying or imposing taxes or assessments;
(i) Any ordinance or resolution establishing or changing the boundaries of the Municipality; or
(j) Any ordinance or resolution adopted by the Board of Township Commissioners after the adoption of these Codified Ordinances.
202.99 GENERAL CODE PENALTY; COMPLICITY
(a) Whoever violates or fails to comply with any of the provisions of these Codified Ordinances relating to building, housing, property maintenance, health, fire or public safety, or relating to water, air or noise pollution, including any provision of any standard, technical or other code adopted by reference in these Codified Ordinances, and including any rule or regulation promulgated under authority of any such standard, technical, or other code adopted by reference in these Codified Ordinances, or under authority of any other provision of these Codified Ordinances, or under authority of State law, for which no penalty is otherwise provided, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) plus the costs and expenses of prosecution, including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees. For a violation of or noncompliance with any other provision of these Codified Ordinances, for which no penalty is otherwise provided, the offender shall be fined not more than six hundred dollars ($600.00) plus the costs and expenses of prosecution, including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees. In default of the payment of any such fine and costs, the offender may be imprisoned for not more than thirty days in the County Jail or Workhouse, for each offense. Unless otherwise provided, a separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation or noncompliance occurs or continues. The penalty provided for herein shall be in addition to any fee, deposit, charge, surcharge, interest, insurance or bond requirement or equitable remedy provided in these Codified Ordinances, or in any standard, technical, or other code adopted by reference in these Codified Ordinances, or in any rule or regulation promulgated under authority of any such standard, technical or other code adopted by reference in these Codified Ordinances, or under authority of any other provision of these Codified Ordinances, or under authority of State law.
(b) Every person who commits or aids or abets in the commission of any act declared in these Codified Ordinances or in any other ordinance of the Borough to be an offense, whether individually or in connection with another person, or as principal, agent, or accessory, shall be guilty of such offense. Every person who falsely, fraudulently, forcibly or willfully induces, causes, coerces, requires, permits, or directs another to violate any provision of these Codified Ordinances or any other ordinance of the Borough shall likewise be guilty of such offense.
CHAPTER 204 – OFFICIAL STANDARDS
There are no sections in Chapter 204. This chapter has been established to provide a place for cross references and any future legislation.
CHAPTER 206 – WARDS AND BOUNDARIES
There are no sections in Chapter 206. This chapter has been established to provide a place for cross references and any future legislation.
CHAPTER 208 – INVESTMENTS
208.01 PARTICIPATION IN PENNSYLVANIA MUNICIPAL INVESTMENT PROGRAM
(a) The Declaration of Trust presented to the Board of Commissioners (a copy of which, together with the accompanying information statement, shall be filed with the records of the Township, hereinafter the “Participant”) is hereby adopted, and the Participant is hereby authorized and directed to become a participant in the Pennsylvania Municipal Investment Program and, from time to time, to invest and withdraw its funds, all in accordance with the provisions of the Declaration of Trust.
(b) For purposes of the investment of monies pursuant to said Program, the President of the Board of Commissioners, the Secretary, and the Treasurer (and their respective successors) are hereby designated as authorized officers of the Participant and are authorized, directed and empowered to effectuate, from time to time, the investment and withdrawal of funds of the Participant and to otherwise give effect to the Participant’s rights as a participant of the Trust described herein, including the right to vote, from time to time, in accordance with the Declaration of Trust. Such authorized officers are hereby further authorized, directed, and empowered to take such actions and to execute and deliver counterparts of the Declaration of Trust and any other documents, as they may deem necessary and appropriate, to evidence the Participant’s approval of the Declaration of Trust and participation in the Program and otherwise to carry out the purpose of this section. The execution of such documents shall conclusively evidence the approval of such authorized officers.
(c) The Participant hereby acknowledges and approves the Trustees of the Trust as having official custody of the Participant’s funds, as such funds are invested in accordance with the Declaration of Trust.
208.02 PARTICIPATION IN STATE TREASURER’S INVEST PROGRAM
(a) The Township shall join with other local governments in accordance with the Intergovernmental Cooperation Law by becoming a member of INVEST and by entering into any Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement with Treasury (the “Agreement”), upon such terms and conditions as are more fully set forth in the Agreement that is attached to original Resolution 1997-43, passed November 25, 1997, a signed copy of which shall be filed with the minutes of the meeting at which this Resolution is adopted.
(b) The duration of the Agreement shall be for a period of three years, with automatic renewal for one-year periods.
(c) The purpose of the Agreement is to permit the State Treasurer to invest the funds of the Township, with the objectives of safety of principal, liquidity, and high yield, consistent with sound investment strategy.
(d) The State Treasurer shall serve as the Investment Manager under the terms of the Agreement.
(e) The Township is permitted to purchase and redeem shares that in turn are pooled with other local government shares to acquire and sell certain investment securities, at a rate of one dollar ($1.00) per share.
(f) Any one of the following individuals shall be authorized to make deposits and withdrawals, establish accounts and perform such other duties as are necessary or appropriate for participation as an INVEST member:
- The Township Secretary
- The Township Treasurer