[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Mount Joy 11-14-1980 by Ord. No. 80-2. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter shall be known, and may be cited,
as "Mount Joy Township Junk Dealer and Junkyard Ordinance."
Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise,
the following words or phrases shall be construed in this chapter
to have the meanings below indicated:
The Board of Supervisors of Mount Joy Township.
Scrap, copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash,
rubber debris, waste, iron, steel and other old or scrap ferrous or
nonferrous material, including wrecked, scrapped, ruined, dismantled
or junked motor vehicles, or parts thereof, but not including farm
machinery provided said farm machinery is used in connection with
a bona fide farm operation.
Any person, as hereinafter defined, who establishes, maintains,
uses or operates a junkyard, as hereinafter defined, within the Township
of Mount Joy.
Any motor vehicle that does not have affixed to it an official
license plate with a current registration sticker and a current state
inspection sticker or that is demolished beyond repair or involves
a chassis separated from an axle or engine; provided, however, that
failure to affix a registration or inspection sticker to a farm vehicle,
multipurpose agricultural vehicle, or implement of husbandry, as those
terms are defined in Title 75 (the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code), will
not cause the vehicle to be a junked motor vehicle if such a vehicle
is statutorily exempt from the Vehicle Code's registration or inspection
requirements and has a current certificate of exemption issued by
the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
[Added 12-15-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-07]
Any outdoor establishment or place of business or activity
which is maintained, used or operated for storing, keeping, buying
or selling junk; for the maintenance or operation of a garbage dump,
sanitary landfill or scrap metal processor or for the storage of three
or more junked motor vehicles.
[Amended 11-20-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-8; 12-15-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-07]
The permit granted to a junk dealer.
A natural person or an association, partnership, firm, corporation
or other business entity.
The use of any natural objects, plantings, embankments, fencing,
walls or structures, or a combination of any of these, which will
effectively hide any deposit of junk so as not to be visible from
the road, street or highway at all times of the year by an occupant
of a motor vehicle viewing from a height of 4 1/2 feet above
the pavement.
Mount Joy Township, Adams County.
[Amended 5-16-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-1]
No person shall engage or continue to engage
in business as a junk dealer or establish or operate a junkyard in
the township except as authorized by this chapter and without first
having obtained a license therefor from the Board. The license shall
be issued for a term of one year beginning July 1, and ending June
30 of the next year, and shall be renewed annually on or before the
first day of July of each year. Such license shall state the name
of the person to whom the license is issued and the location of the
junkyard premises used or intended to be used and shall be posted
conspicuously upon such premises.
A.
Application for a license or any renewal thereof shall
be made and filed in writing by the proposed licensee with the Secretary
of the Board, or his duly authorized agent on a form supplied by the
Board. The application shall include the following information:
[Amended 11-20-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-8]
(1)
Name, address and length of residence at such address
of the applicant.
(2)
Address of the premises upon which such business is
to be conducted or upon which such junkyard is to be established or
operated.
(3)
Name of the owner or owners of said premises if other
than the applicant.
(4)
Whether the applicant has been convicted within a
period of three years prior to the filing of such application of any
crime involving the unlawful taking, receipt, use or other disposition
of a motor vehicle or a part or parts thereof.
(5)
Statement that the applicant will comply with the
provisions of this chapter and any regulations adopted pursuant to
this chapter.
(6)
For renewal applications, statement that the applicant,
during the proceeding term of his license, complied with and maintained
his premises in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.
B.
If the applicant is a partnership or association the
applicant shall furnish the above information for every member thereof.
If the applicant is a business corporation, the applicant shall furnish
the above information for each officer and director thereof. The application
shall be signed by the applicant, if the applicant is an individual;
by all members, if the applicant is a partnership or association;
and by the President and Secretary if the applicant is a business
corporation.
The Board, upon receipt of an application for license under this chapter, shall determine whether or not a license shall be issued or a renewal thereof shall be granted after an examination of the application and upon the fullest consideration of the suitability of the premises proposed to be used for the purposes of the license, the character of the property adjacent thereto and the effect of the proposed use, taking into consideration the health, welfare and safety of the residents of the Township and any potential hazard which may result to adjacent properties and structures thereon or to the citizens of the Township. No license shall be issued until the requisite license fee has been paid, as established in § 58-6 of this chapter. Such license shall be issued upon the condition that the same may be summarily revoked in the event that the licensee is found to have given any false information or in any way misrepresented any material fact upon which the Board or its duly authorized agent has relied in granting such license.
[Amended 11-20-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-8]
Every junk dealer shall pay an annual license
fee for every license or renewal thereof issued hereunder. No abatement
of the annual license fee shall be made for any cause whatsoever.
No refund will be given in the event of the revocation of a license
fee by the Board. The amount of the license fee shall be calculated
by a determination of the amount of land to be used by the junk dealer
for a junkyard, excluding all setback areas and set by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The current fee schedule is
on file in the Township offices.
No person licensed under this chapter as a junk
dealer shall, by virtue of one license, establish, maintain, use or
operate more than one junkyard within the Township. No person shall
engage in business as a junk dealer in any place other than the place
designated upon his license or maintain a junkyard in any place other
than the place designated upon his license.
No license issued by the Board shall be transferable
or assignable by agreement, will, interstate or otherwise.
Every junk dealer licensed under this chapter
shall constantly maintain the licensed junkyard premises in the manner
prescribed by this section and by any subsequent regulations adopted
by the Board.
A.
Such premises shall at all times be maintained so
as not to constitute a nuisance or a menace to the health of the community
or to residents nearby or a place for the breeding of rodents and
vermin.
C.
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be received as junk
in the licensed junkyard premises, all gasoline shall be drained and
removed therefrom.
D.
Junk shall be stored and arranged in a neat and orderly
fashion and the drainage facilities of the premises shall be such
as to prevent the accumulation of stagnant water upon the premises,
and to facilitate access for fire-fighting and inspection purposes.
There shall be at least 16 feet open space between each row of junk.
Junked motor vehicles may be stored end-to-end (a double row) for
purposes of application of this spacing requirement.
E.
A junk dealer licensed under this chapter shall not
burn more than one motor vehicle or its equivalent at one time. No
oil, grease, tires, gasoline or other similar material that might
be dangerous or tend to produce noxious smoke or odors shall be burned
within a junkyard at any time. Burning of vehicles must be attended
and controlled at all times.
F.
The junkyard premises to be licensed shall be set
back a minimum distance of 25 feet from the right-of-way lines of
all abutting streets, roads or highways, a minimum distance of 100
feet from any existing dwelling house erected upon premises adjacent
to the licensed premises but in any event not less than a minimum
distance of 25 feet from property lines of all adjacent properties,
and a minimum distance of 30 feet from any river, stream, run, creek,
floodplain or other natural watercourse in the Township. The area
between the setback line and such right-of-way lines, other property
lines and natural watercourses shall be at all times kept clear and
vacant, free of weeds, debris and junk, including any motor vehicle
incapable of meeting state inspection requirements.
G.
No gasoline, oil or any other hazardous liquid or
substance shall be stored less than a minimum distance of 100 feet
from any river, stream, run, creek or other natural watercourse in
the Township.
H.
In no event shall any junk be kept, stored or accumulated
on a junkyard premises, nor any structure be erected to be used in
connection with a junkyard, within 500 feet of any existing church,
cemetery, school, playground, restaurant, motel or other place of
public use or accommodation. Provided that nothing contained in this
subsection shall apply to existing structures used in connection with
junkyards presently established and operating which are otherwise
in compliance with the provisions of this chapter or to any junk presently
kept, stored or accumulated thereon.
I.
Screening shall be provided for any junkyard which is within 500 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of an abutting public road, street or highway. Such screening shall be constructed, erected and/or maintained at a height of not less than six feet; shall be controlled by the setback provisions of Subsection F hereof; and shall be completed within 12 months after the effective date of this chapter. Provided that, if in the sole and exclusive opinion of a majority of the Board it should appear that the owner and/or operator of a junkyard situated within the Township has clearly demonstrated that he is making a continuing bona fide effort to comply with the screening provisions of this subsection, then and in such event the Board may, in its sole discretion, grant an extension of time to such owner or operator for the completion of such screening, upon receipt of a written letter from said owner or operator requesting such an extension of time.
J.
No two or more vehicles or major parts thereof may
be stacked on top of one another.
K.
A person licensed under this chapter shall provide
designated off-street parking and loading facilities from a single
entrance off any adjacent street, road or highway, which facilities
shall have, at a minimum, a stone and gravel base, and which shall
be of a size sufficient to accommodate one parking space for the junk
dealer operating the junkyard and an additional space for each employee
of such junk dealer plus a sufficient number of additional spaces
based upon the estimated number of patrons or customers to be served,
but in any event not less than:
Every junkyard premises maintained or proposed
to be maintained within the Township shall be subject to inspection
during reasonable hours of the day by any member of the Board or a
duly authorized agent thereof, who shall be and hereby is authorized
to make regular inspections of the junkyard premises of every licensee
or proposed licensee hereunder for the purpose of determining whether
said licensee has maintained and operated or will maintain and operate
his premises in full compliance with the provisions of this chapter
and such further regulations as may hereafter be adopted by the Township
regulating and licensing junk dealers and the establishment and maintenance
of junkyards. The Board or its duly authorized agent shall forthwith
prosecute any discovered violation of this chapter.
[Amended 11-20-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-8]
Any person who violates any of the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof by a summary proceeding,
be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000
and the costs of prosecution; and in default thereof, shall be committed
to the Adams County prison for a period of not more than 30 days for
each separate offense. Each day's violation of any of the provisions
of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense.
In addition to the remedies provided in § 58-11 above, any continued violation of this chapter constituting a nuisance in fact or which shall, in the opinion of the Board, constitute a nuisance, may be abated as such by proceedings against the violator by action in equity or law.
