This chapter shall be known as the "Licensing of Junk Dealers,
Junkyards and the Regulation of Junkyards Law of the Town of Smithtown."
This chapter may be cited as the "Junkyard and Junk Dealer Local
Law of the Town of Smithtown."
Except where otherwise indicated by the context, the following
definitions shall apply in the interpretation and enforcement of this
chapter:
CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION
Any benevolent, philanthropic, patriotic or eleemosynary
person or organization or one purporting to be such and is registered
with the Secretary of State in Albany as such an organization pursuant
to Article 7-A of the Executive Law.
ITINERANT JUNK DEALER
A person who buys, sells, collects or delivers junk within
the Town as a business or employment within the Town but who is not
an operator of a junkyard within the Town or an employee of such an
operator.
JUNK
Discarded materials including scrap metal, old iron, steel,
brass, copper, tin, lead or other base metals; old cordage, ropes,
rags, fibers or fabrics; wastepaper; salvage materials; old machinery,
equipment and parts, whether dismantled or not; and motor vehicles
no longer used as such, whether for the purpose of resale of used
parts or components therefrom, for the purpose of reclaiming for use
some or all of the materials therein, whether metal, glass, fabric
or otherwise, for the purpose of disposing of the same or for any
other purpose; but "junk" shall not include materials or objects held
and used by a manufacturer as an integral part of his own manufacturing
processes. This term shall not include construction and demolition
debris.
[Amended 11-18-2003]
JUNK DEALER
A person who operates a junkyard, as defined below, or any
person engaged in the business of buying and/or selling junk, as defined
above, within the Town, except that the term "junk dealer" shall not
include bona fide charitable organizations such as that term is defined
herein.
JUNKYARD
Includes a lot, land, or structure used as an automobile
or vehicle salvage yard; an automobile or vehicle reduction yard;
a motor vehicle junkyard; an automobile or vehicle wrecking establishment;
an automobile or vehicle graveyard; a scrap metal processing yard
or facility; or a vehicle dismantling yard or facility. This term
shall not include a "transfer station" as defined herein.
[Amended 11-18-2003]
MOTOR VEHICLE
All vehicles propelled or drawn by power other than muscular
power, originally intended for use on or in public highways, racetracks,
dirt roads, mines, airports, construction sites, sand pits or quarries.
OLD
A term of art used to describe the condition or state of
repair or disrepair of any object or article that is torn, worn, ripped,
damaged, broken, dismantled, crushed, ruined, used, outdated or no
longer used for its original intended use or purpose or no longer
capable of being used for its original intended use or purpose. The
term "old" is not necessarily meant to serve as a reference in time,
reference to time or a reference in time relative to some other reference
or point in time. The term "old" may refer to an object or article
that a person no longer desires to keep, hold or maintain, for whatever
reason, and intends to discard.
PERSON
Any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
SALVAGE
See "junk" as defined above.
SCRAP PROCESSOR
Any person operating, maintaining or conducting a scrap metal
processing facility.
[Amended 11-18-2003]
TRAILER
Consists of a frame and body, if any, of a vehicle or apparatus
which is designed to be drawn on the public highways and roads by
another motor vehicle.
TRANSFER STATION
Includes a lot, land or structure, or any combination thereof,
where solid wastes, including but not limited to uncontaminated waste
resulting from construction, remodeling, repair and demolition of
structures and roads, masonry materials, concrete, drywall and refuse,
are taken from collection vehicles and placed in or exchanged with
other transportation units for movement to another facility or where
solid wastes are temporarily collected and/or processed and subsequently
placed in transportation units for transport to another facility.
This term shall not include any lot, land or structure or any combination
thereof which handles recycled asphalt products exclusively.
[Added 11-18-2003; amended 5-19-2005 by L.L. No. 3-2005]
VEHICLE DISMANTLER
Any person engaged in the business of acquiring motor vehicles
or trailers for the purpose of dismantling the same for parts or components
or reselling such vehicle as scrap or junk.
An applicant for license under this chapter shall file with
the Town Clerk a written application signed by himself, if an individual,
by all partners, if a partnership, and by the president or chief officer
of a corporation or other organization, upon forms provided by the
Town Clerk, together with 11 conforming copies of such application
and all required fees hereinafter prescribed. The application shall
be sworn to by each of its signers before a notary public or other
officer authorized by law to administer oaths and shall include the
following information or material:
A. The name, residence address and telephone number of each individual
owner, partner or, if a corporation or other organization, each officer
and director.
B. The trade names used during the previous five years by the applicant
and each person signing the application, along with the locations
of prior establishments.
C. The names and addresses of employers of each person signing the application
during the previous five years.
D. The trade name and address of the business on behalf of which application
is made and its telephone number.
E. The name, residence address and telephone number of each person employed
or intended to be employed in the business as of the time the application
is filed.
F. The exact address and location of the place where the business is
or is proposed to be carried on, plus a survey and a proposed site
plan of the actual premises to be used in connection with the business,
giving distances in feet and showing adjoining roads, property lines,
buildings and uses.
G. The location of all premises where said applicant stores junk permanently
or temporarily in the Town of Smithtown, including all premises where
it is contemplated that junk may be stored in the subsequent 12 months.
In the event that additional premises are used for junk storage and
if such premises were not included in the previous application, the
applicant is required to file a supplementary application including
all of the information and in the same form and subject to the same
conditions as the original application. If such supplementary application
is duly approved, a supplementary license will be issued.
H. The zoning classification in which each of the premises described in Subsections
F and
G hereof is situated.
I. A statement as to whether each of said premises as described in Subsections
F and
G hereof complies in all respects with the Zoning, Building and Environmental Chapters of the Code of the Town of Smithtown.
J. A statement that the applicant will not employ any child under 16
years of age in connection with said junk business.
K. A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted
of any crime, misdemeanor or violation of any municipal ordinance
or any violation of Article 6 of the General Business Law since January
1, 1903; the nature of the offense; the date of its commission; and
the punishment or penalty assessed therefor.
L. Two color photographs of the applicant, taken within 60 days immediately
prior to the date of the filing of the application, which shall be
two inches by two inches, showing the head and shoulders of the applicant
in a clear and distinguishing manner.
M. Two complete sets of fingerprints of the applicant, taken within
60 days immediately prior to the date of the filing of the application,
which shall give clear and distinct impressions of each and every
finger separately and together. Such prints may only be taken by persons
authorized in the State of New York to take fingerprints and must
certify that said person is duly qualified and authorized to take
fingerprints. Fingerprints must also be certified by the person who
took the fingerprints.
N. A statement listing all federal, state, county and local licenses
and permits the applicant has applied for, plus a certified copy of
each license or permit said applicant possesses. The applicant shall
cause to be delivered to the Town Clerk a certified copy of any license
or permit the applicant has obtained subsequent to the date of the
application, within five days of receipt of said license or permit.
O. Such other information as the Town Board, Town Clerk, Supervisor
of the Department of Environment and Waterways, Director of Planning,
Town Engineer or Building Director may from time to time reasonably
require to effectuate the purposes of this chapter and to arrive at
a fair determination of whether the terms of this chapter have been
complied with.
[Amended 5-8-2007 by L.L. No. 5-2007]
The fee to be paid for any initial license issued hereunder
shall be $1,000, except that no fee shall be required of a bona fide
nonprofit, charitable organization. An annual license renewal fee
shall be $500, except that no renewal fee shall be required for any
bona fide nonprofit, charitable organization.
No license issued under this chapter shall be transferred or
assigned or used by any person other than the one to whom it was issued,
and no junk dealer's license shall be used at any location other
than the one described in the application upon which it was issued.
Any person acting as a junk dealer or itinerant junk dealer
within the Town on the effective date of this chapter shall have a
period of three months to obtain a special permit and license and
one year to construct the necessary site and building improvements,
but any person acting as a junk dealer or itinerant junk dealer within
the Town on the effective date of this chapter shall have a period
of 90 days after such effective date to comply with all operating
provisions of this chapter.
In addition to all other requirements imposed by state or local
law, rule or regulation, no person may engage in the business of a
junk dealer unless the following items have been complied with:
A. A site plan has been approved by the Board of Site Plan Review of the Town of Smithtown when such site plan is required by Chapter
322 of the Town Code.
B. A certificate of occupancy, certificate of existing use or certificate
of zoning compliance exists for the site and all improvements contained
thereon.
C. A six-foot-high, solid, nontransparent fence according to §
322-96B(5)(b) surrounds all sides of the premises if the Town Board waives the building requirements of §
322-96B(5).
D. The licensee and/or the owner shall provide and covenant for the
protection of the groundwater.
E. Vehicle dismantling.
(1) In the event that vehicle dismantling is to take place, a vehicle
dismantling pad must be installed, used and maintained in conformance
with the reasonable requirements of the Supervisor of the Department
of Environment and Waterways and the Town Engineer. In no event shall
compacting or shredding take place.
(2) The Supervisor of Environment and Waterways and the Town Engineer
shall, within 90 days of the effective date of this chapter, make
recommended minimum standards for vehicle dismantling pads to the
Town Board. The Town Board may, in its sound discretion, adopt the
recommendation of the Supervisor of Environment and Waterways and
the Town Engineer or, in the alternative, confer with any department,
including the Departments of Environment and Waterways and Engineering,
in order to adopt reasonable minimum standards.
F. No license shall be issued unless the owner of the land and the tenant
of the premises submits an acknowledged consent authorizing the Town
Board or its duly authorized representative to enter and inspect the
premises.
G. A statement from the Town Engineer and the Supervisor of the Department
of Environment and Waterways exists, certifying that a minimum of
four permanent test wells, if built according to the required specifications
and requirements, will conform to all applicable laws, rules and regulations.
(1) The owner and/or operator of the junkyard shall cause to be performed,
by a person whose qualifications are acceptable to the Supervisor
of Environment and Waterways for performing such tests, a testing
and evaluating of groundwater conditions for materials, elements,
compounds and other related substances as indicated by the Supervisor
of Environment and Waterways within seven days of the first of each
of the following months:
(2) Said owner and/or operator of the junkyard shall cause to be served upon the Town Clerk a certified copy of the groundwater test results within seven days of the completion of said testing. No certified copy of the groundwater test shall be acceptable to the Supervisor of Environment and Waterways to indicate satisfactory compliance with the testing requirements of this Subsection
G if the qualifications of the tester have not been accepted by the Supervisor of Environment and Waterways prior to each test.
(3) A conforming copy of the certified groundwater test shall be kept
by the owner and/or operator of the junkyard and by the tester for
a period of not less than seven years from the date of its certification.
It shall be unlawful for the owner and/or operator of the junkyard
and for the tester to fail to keep a copy of the certified test results
for the required seven-year period.
(4) The certified copy of the groundwater test results shall contain
a legally authorized form notice to the effect that false statements
made knowingly or negligently are punishable pursuant to § 210.45
of the Penal Law.
(5) A certified copy of the groundwater test results not properly completed
and/or not subscribed by the tester shall not be acceptable to the
Town.
H. All storage facilities, tanks, barrels or other similar vessels or
parts thereof must be provided with a means of monitoring frequently
and accurately for any leakage and spillage that might occur. All
leak detection systems and tanks shall be monitored by the junkyard
operator at least on a weekly basis, and the results shall be recorded
and kept with the operator's records for a period of not less
than seven years.
Any applicant for a license, as hereinabove described, who knowingly
makes a false statement in such application shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and shall be liable to a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment
for not more than 30 days, or both. In addition, any license issued
by the Town of Smithtown in reliance on any false statement material
to the application shall be immediately suspended until such time
as the applicant submits a new application, together with supporting
documentation and all appropriate fees. Upon approval of the application,
the Town Clerk shall remove the suspension from the license and the
same shall continue to be in effect until the expiration date stamped
on the license.
Any person who shall violate or neglect or refuse to comply
with any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and shall be liable to a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment
for not more than 30 days, or both. Each week shall constitute a separate
violation and subject any person who shall violate or neglect or refuse
to comply with any provisions of the chapter to liability to the same
extent as a first-time violator.
Any requirement, mandate, prohibition or time limitation imposed
by this chapter or any regulation, standard or order generated hereunder
may be waived or modified, in the discretion of the Town Board, by
order of the Town Board.