[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Boston 8-4-65.
Section 67-6C amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions,
Art I. Other amendments noted where applicable.]
By adoption of this chapter the Town of Boston declares its intent in
so doing to regulate, control and license the activities, whether operated
for profit or otherwise, of business known as "auto graveyards." "junkyards,"
"secondhand parts collection areas." the processing of used metals for resale
and the dumping, storage and disposal of waste, secondhand or used materials
of whatsoever composition. Said Town Board hereby declares that such activities
and/or businesses with regard to the use of land can constitute a hazard to
property and persons and a public nuisance. Such materials may be highly flammable
and sometimes explosive. Automobiles of this type and state of condition can
constitute attractive nuisances to children and certain adults. The presence
of such junkyards even in areas zoned for business or industry is unsightly
and tends to detract from the value of surrounding land and property unless
such areas are properly maintained and operated.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Passenger auto, truck, tractor-truck, trailer, bus, motorcycle or
other vehicle, however propelled, as well as tractors, bulldozers, machinery
and equipment.
An individual, an association, a partnership, a corporation.
A.Â
No person shall engage in or conduct, whether for profit
or otherwise, on real property within the Town of Boston, either for himself
or for and on behalf of any other person directly or indirectly as agent,
employee or otherwise, any activity or business, either for profit or otherwise,
at wholesale or retail, which involves the collection, storage, burning, dumping,
disassembling, dismantling, salvaging, sorting or otherwise handling or arranging
for sale, resale, storage or disposal or otherwise of bodies, engines or parts
of autos or of any other secondhand or used property of whatever material
it is composed, or any waste material, whether composed of wood, paper, cloth,
cardboard, plastics, metals, stone, cement or otherwise, without first obtaining
a license there for as hereinafter provided.
B.Â
Any person who shall permit the collection or storage
outside of a building of two or more unlicensed or inoperative autos or the
shell or body thereof for a period of more than 30 days shall be considered
as engaged in the operation of an auto graveyard and shall be required to
obtain a license pursuant to the terms of this chapter. An auto shall be considered
as inoperative if, after five days' written notice from the Town Clerk,
the owner of the auto or the owner of the land upon which said auto rests
does not secure a New York State motor vehicle inspection certificate or,
in the alternative, meet the necessary inspection requirements to obtain a
New York State motor vehicle inspection certificate.
A.Â
Each applicant for a license hereunder shall execute
under oath an application therefor, to be supplied to him by the Town Clerk,
which shall contain the following information: that the applicant is over
18 years of age; that he is a citizen of the United States; whether he has
ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor and such other facts or evidence
as is deemed necessary to establish that he is a person fit and capable of
properly conducting the activity or business for which the license is sought;
a description of the exact type of activity or business he intends to conduct;
the nature of the materials he intends to handle; the number of employees
he intends to engage; and the name and address of the owner or owners of the
land and the nature of the right of occupancy of the applicant to the use
of such land.
B.Â
At the time of making the application, the applicant
shall submit to and file with the Town Clerk a map or plan of the real property
upon which he intends to conduct the activity or business for which he is
making application for a license hereunder, with the area of such real property
which it is proposed to use for such purpose, the location of the fence or
enclosure required hereunder indicated thereon as well as the location of
any buildings on such land and the location of any streets or highways abutting
or passing through such land and the location of any water, sewer or gas mains
or laterals available thereto, as well as the general drainage pattern of
such land and such other general information as the Town Board may from time
to time require.
C.Â
In the application, the applicant shall agree that if
granted the license applied for, he will conduct the activity or business
pursuant to the regulations hereinafter set forth and, that upon his failure
to do so, such license may be revoked forthwith.
D.Â
The Town Clerk shall immediately submit said application,
together with all other descriptive plans as required by this chapter, to
the Town Board, who shall examine same and either approve or disapprove the
application; provided, however, that no application shall be approved except
in an area zoned M-2 according to the Zoning Ordinance and Zoning Map of the
Town of Boston[1] or where the applicant shall submit satisfactory proof to the
Town Board that said applicant possesses a vested and continuing right of
nonconforming use of said land as allowed in Article XXVII of the Zoning Ordinance
of the Town of Boston.
[Amended 12-31-1990]
E.Â
A person presently engaged in or conducting any activity
or a business such as described herein on real property within the Town of
Boston must apply for a license therefor within 30 days of the adoption of
this chapter. If the place where he conducts such activity or business presently
complies with the requirements a person must meet to secure a license in the
first instance, he shall be issued a license therefor if he meets the other
requirements contained herein. If the place where he conducts such activity
or business does not presently comply with the requirements a person must
meet to secure a license in the first instance, he may, at the discretion
of the Town Board, be granted a temporary license for a period not to exceed
one year, during which period he must arrange the place where he conducts
such activity or business so that it does then comply with the requirements
a person must meet to secure a license in the first instance, If at the end
of such period such person has not so arranged his place of such activity
or business, he shall forthwith cease and desist engaging in or conducting
the same and shall remove from such place any autos, parts or other materials
of the nature described herein.
A.Â
The initial fee for the license is hereby fixed in such
sum as shall be set forth in the Schedule of Fees, as adopted by the Town
Board of the Town of Boston, which sum covers not only the cost of issuing
the license itself but also the cost of making the necessary inspections of
the premises to ascertain compliance with the regulations hereinafter prescribed.
[Amended 1-4-1989; 10-4-2000
by L.L. No. 2-2000]
B.Â
Such license shall be placed and at all times displayed
in a conspicuous place at the licensee's place of activity or business
for which it is issued.
C.Â
Such license shall be effective from the date of its
issuance until the 31st day of December of the year of such issuance, after
which a new application for a license must be made yearly if the licensee
desires to continue such activity or business. The fee for such annual renewal
application shall be as set forth in the Schedule of Fees, as adopted by the
Town Board of the Town of Boston, payment for which shall accompany the application.
[Amended 1-4-1989; 10-4-2000
by L.L. No. 2-2000]
D.Â
Such license is personal with the licensee. It does not
go with the title of the land nor may it be sold, assigned, transferred or
disposed of.
E.Â
Such license may be revoked by the Town Board after a
public hearing thereon at which the licensee shall have an opportunity to
be heard. Upon revocation of a license, the Town Board may require the removal
of autos, parts and materials left as above provided in the case of an applicant
for a temporary license who fails to qualify for a license.
A.Â
The licensee must personally manage or be responsible
for the management of the activity or business for which the license is granted.
B.Â
The licensee must maintain an office and a sufficient
number of employees on the premises to assure the proper and safe conduct
of such activity or business, to minimize the fire hazard therefrom and to
prevent improper trespass thereon by children and others.
C.Â
The licensee shall maintain on the premises at all times
permanent books and records which shall set forth, from and after the effective
date of this chapter, the make, model and type of every automobile vehicle
purchased, the appropriate serial number or motor registration number of the
engine or body parts thereof, the date and the person or persons from whom
said vehicle has been purchased or received, the address of the seller or
transferrer of said vehicle or part of said vehicle and, when sold, the date
of said sale and the person, firm or corporation to whom sold, together with
the address of said purchaser, and the licensee shall observe such other proper
rules, regulations and requirements as from time to time may be required by
the Town Board of the Town of Boston.
[Amended 10-5-1988 by L.L. No. 3-1988]
D.Â
Fencing.
(1)Â
The licensee must erect and maintain a six-foot wire
fence of close mesh or one made of wood or of other material, such as a living
hedge, as approved by the Town Board, adequate to prevent the entrance of
children and others into the area of the activity or business and to contain
within such fence or enclosure the materials dealt in by the licensee.
(2)Â
Such fence or enclosure must be located at least 50 feet
from the right-of-way of any highway and along any side line boundary lines
as may be determined by the Town Board after due consideration of adjoining
property locations.
E.Â
Inside and adjacent to and contiguous with such fence
or enclosure, a strip of land at least 10 feet in width shall be kept free
of all dry grass or other growth or other combustible material so as to provide
a fire lane or line around the whole area where the activity or business of
the licensee is being conducted.
F.Â
The autos, parts and materials dealt in by the licensee
shall be disassembled or dismantled by means other than by burning. They shall
be piled or arranged in neat rows so as to permit easy, clear passage through
the area.
G.Â
There shall be maintained at each such place of activity
or business for which a license is issued at least one fire extinguisher of
approved design and capacity for each 40,000 square feet of area. Each such
fire extinguisher shall be hung or mounted in a conspicuous place, clearly
marked and available.
H.Â
When the area is not supervised by the licensee or his
employees, the fence or enclosure shall be locked at a secure gate in a secure
manner.
I.Â
Suitable sanitary facilities shall be available, connected
to approved public sewers or septic tanks, for the use and convenience of
the employees of the licensee as well as the general public visiting the area.
J.Â
The area of the licensee's activity or business
shall not be used as a dump area nor as a place for the burning and disposal
of junk or trash.
K.Â
The Town Police, the Town Clerk or the Town Board or
any of its representatives shall be granted access to the area of the activity
or business of the licensee at all reasonable hours to inspect the same for
compliance herewith.
A.Â
The owner or licensee of any such place of business or
any person, as defined in § 67-2, who commits or permits any acts
in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or fails to comply with
the provisions thereof, shall be deemed to have committed an offense against
such chapter and also shall be liable for any such violation or the penalty
therefor. Each day such violation shall continue or be permitted to exist
shall constitute a separate violation.
B.Â
For every violation of any provision of this chapter,
the person violating the same shall be subject to a fine of not more than
$100 for each such offense. Such penalty shall be collectible by and in the
name of the Town for each day that such violation shall continue.
C.Â
In addition to the above-provided penalties and punishment,
the Town Board may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the
Town in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to
restrain by injunction the violation of such chapter.
