[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Westville 7-11-1961 (Ch. 91 of the 1974 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
No person or persons, firm or corporation shall engage in the
business of buying and selling used merchandise, equipment, building
materials and other personal property, that is to say, no person or
persons, firm or corporation shall keep and maintain a yard, space
or place in the Borough of Westville for the purpose of buying or
selling used or secondhand merchandise, equipment, furniture, toys,
household appliances, lumber and building materials, including any
article used in the building and construction of a home or other building,
plumbing fixtures, heating plants of any nature and parts thereof,
automotive parts and equipment, pipe, electrical fixtures or any other
used or secondhand material or personal property of every kind and
nature whatsoever, other than in an enclosed building without being
licensed so to do by the Borough Council of the Borough of Westville.
Application for such license shall be made to the Borough Clerk
in writing and shall set forth the name of the person or persons,
firm or corporation and their respective addresses or principal place
of business and shall describe the premises upon which said business
is to be conducted, giving the street frontage and approximate depth
of said premises, and said application shall be accompanied by the
license fee herein provided, and the Borough Clerk shall fix a reasonable
time for the hearing thereon by the Borough Council. The applicant
shall thereupon, at least five days prior to the time appointed for
said hearing, give personal notice thereof to all property owners
within 200 feet of the property lines of said proposed place of business.
Such notice shall be given either by handing a copy thereof to the
said property owners or by leaving a copy thereof at the usual place
of abode of said property owners if said owners are the occupants
of the property affected by such application or are residents of the
Borough of Westville; if nonresidents, by mailing said notice, postage
prepaid, to said property owners.
The annual license fee to be paid for such license shall be
the sum of $300, and such license shall be effective from the date
of issue for a period of 12 months thereafter, and upon the expiration
of any license granted hereunder, all persons, firms or corporations
shall make application to the Borough Clerk for a license to conduct
said business for the ensuing year and shall pay for said license
the same fee as hereinabove set forth; provided, however, that the
notice hereinabove required to be given to property owners shall apply
only to the first application at a designated location.
No license shall be granted unless the governing body shall,
after the hearing, find that no unreasonable depreciation of surrounding
property would ensue from the establishment or maintenance of the
place of business and that the best interest of the community requires
the operation of the yard or business at the location designated.
The proximity of homes, schools, churches or other places of gatherings,
the sufficiency in number of other similar places in the vicinity
and the suitability of the applicant to receive the license shall
be taken into consideration in considering the application.
A.
No license shall be issued until the lot or that part of same upon
which the business is located shall be fenced in with a solid board
fence or other similar material which will prevent the merchandise
from being visible by neighboring residents or by the traveling public
either using vehicles or walking along the usual sidewalk area abutting
the property in question.
B.
The fence required hereinabove shall be approximately six feet high,
and said fence shall not be permitted to be erected nearer than 25
feet to any curbline of any street nor nearer than 10 feet to the
property line of any abutting property.
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, firm or corporation
operating a business hereinabove referred to in the Borough to burn
or set fire to any material in said yard or on said property at any
time or to operate said yard in such a manner as to disturb the peace
and quiet of the neighborhood.
It shall be unlawful for any person, persons, firms or corporations
to display any merchandise on any street or sidewalk in the Borough.
[Amended 9-13-1977[1]]
Any person violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable as set forth in Chapter 1, Article I, § 1-15, General penalty. The continuation of such violation for each successive day shall constitute a separate offense, and the person or persons allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation may be punished as provided above for each separate offense.[2]
