CURWENSVILLE – Some changes to an existing ordinance will help clean up abandoned vehicles in Curwensville Borough.
At Monday’s meeting, the Curwensville Borough Council announced that the changes to the Abandoned Vehicles Ordinance are ready for advertisement.
Once the ordinance has been properly advertised, the council will vote to approve them. The changes are available for public viewing at www.curwensvilleborough.com.
According to the Web site, once the ordinance is approved, it will be illegal for any person to cause a motor vehicle to be abandoned upon any public or private lands in Curwensville.
It will be illegal for a property owner, tenant, lessee or anyone else in charge or control of any property in Curwensville to allow a junked or inoperable motor vehicle to remain on their property for more than 30 days.
Any abandoned, junked or inoperable motor vehicles must be removed by the owner or operator of the vehicle or by the owner or occupant of the property.
If the vehicle is not removed within days of receiving notice from the police department, code enforcement or borough secretary, the borough will remove the vehicle.
If the borough needs to remove a vehicle, the owner of the vehicle or property will be fined $50, towing charges and storage fees to be determined by the storage garage, for each day or until the vehicle is claimed by the owner.
If the vehicle is not claimed within 30 days, the vehicle will be sold for salvage.
If approved, the ordinance will define an abandoned vehicle as “any motor vehicle which is found unattended without the current year’s registration plates or inspection sticker as required by law, has been continuously parked on any public land or private property for a period of 30 days and incapable of being operated under its own power.
A junked or inoperable vehicle will be defined as “any motor vehicle which is no longer in actual use as a motor vehicle or which is wholly unfit to be operated and as to which any of the following conditions exist:
- It has been so damaged by collision, accident or any other means that it is inoperable.
- It does not have all of its material parts, including but not limited to four (4) tires and wheels, required headlamps and tail lamps, windshield, radiator, transmission, engine, rear windows and doors.
- It is for any other reason “inoperable.”