[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Mount Joy 11-11-1967 as Ord. No. X. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Mount Joy Township
Junkyard and Refuse Ordinance."
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following words and phrases shall
be construed throughout this chapter to have the meanings herein 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 materials,
including wrecked, scrapped, ruined, dismantled or junked motor vehicles or
parts thereof.
Any person, as hereinafter defined, who shall engage in the business
of selling, buying, salvaging and dealing in junk and who maintains and operates
a junkyard within the Township of Mount Joy.
Any outdoor establishment or place of business which is maintained,
used or operated for storing, keeping, buying or selling junk.[1]
The permit granted to a person who accumulates, stores or disposes
of junk as hereinbefore defined.
Includes any partnership, association, firm and corporation.
Mount Joy Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
No person shall engage in business as a junk dealer or maintain a junkyard
without first having obtained a license from the Board, for which license
a fee in accordance with the resolution adopted by the Board of Supervisors
from time to time shall be paid to the township for the use of the township.
The license shall be issued for the twelve-month period beginning July l and
ending June 30 of the following year, and each license must be renewed annually
on or before the first day of July of each year.
The license provided for in this chapter shall be issued by the Board
after written application shall have been made therefor by the person desiring
to be licensed. Such license shall state the name of the person to whom such
license is issued and the premises on which such business is to be conducted
or such junkyard is to be maintained. Such license shall be posted conspicuously
upon the premises licensed thereunder. The written application for license
hereinbefore mentioned shall be accompanied by a form, every question of which
must be answered, which form will be supplied by the Board. The applicant
shall also submit therewith a plot of the premises used or to be used in connection
with such license.
Upon receipt of an application by the Board, the Board shall issue a
license or shall refuse to issue a license to the person applying therefor
after an examination of the application and taking into consideration the
suitability of the property proposed to be used for the purposes of the license,
the character of the properties located nearby, the proximity to any public
road and the danger to children or other residents of the township and the
effect of the proposed use upon the township, both economic and aesthetic.
In the event that the Board shall issue a license, it may impose upon the
license and the person applying there for such terms and conditions in addition
to the regulations herein contained and adopted pursuant to this chapter as
may be deemed necessary to carry out the spirit and intent of this chapter.
The license fee shall be paid immediately upon the issuance or renewal
of a license. The amount of the license fee shall be as set by resolution
of the Board of Supervisors from time to time. No license shall be issued
for the use of a tract of land in excess of ten (10) acres, excluding setback
areas.
No person licensed under this chapter shall, by virtue of one (1) license,
keep more than one (1) place of business within the township or maintain more
than one (1) junkyard, for the purpose of buying, selling and dealing in junk.
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 by the licensor to any other person unless such a transfer is authorized by the Board. Any person desiring to transfer his license shall notify the Board in writing, which notification shall be accompanied by an application for a license, as described in § 80-4 of this chapter, by the transferee.
In the event that the Board shall approve the transfer of a license,
the transferee shall immediately pay to the township a transfer fee as set
by resolution of the Board of Supervisors from time to time.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall provide and shall constantly
keep a book of all serial numbers or manufacturer's numbers of any motor
vehicle or any other article or material received by him which contains a
serial number, provided that the same can be easily ascertained and such records
shall at all times be open to inspection by any police official or official
of the township.
Every person licensed under this chapter, shall keep and retain upon
the licensed premises, for a period of forty-eight (48) hours after the purchase
or receipt thereof, all junk received or purchased by him, and he shall not
disturb or reduce the same or alter the original form, shape or condition
until such period of forty-eight (48) hours shall have elapsed.
Every person licensed under this chapter shall constantly maintain the
licensed premises in accordance with any special provisions imposed by the
Board and in the manner prescribed by this section and 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
residents nearby or a place for the breeding of rodents and vermin.
B.
Whenever any motor vehicle shall be received in such
premises as junk, the licensee shall take reasonable precautions to prevent
hazards as a result of gasoline and oil in said motor vehicle.
C.
No garbage or other organic waste shall be stored in
such premises.
D.
The manner of storage and arrangement of junk 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
purposes.
E.
All junk kept, stored or arranged on the licensed premises shall at all times be kept, stored and arranged within the junkyard as described in the application for license hereunder and as limited under Subsection D above.
F.
A person licensed under this chapter shall take precautions
to prevent an excess of obnoxious smoke or odor as a result of burning motor
vehicles on the premises.
G.
The premises to be licensed shall be set back a minimum
distance of fifty (50) feet from the right-of-way lines on all streets or
roads and a minimum distance of twenty-five (25) feet from all other property
lines. The area between the setback line and the right-of-way line and all
streets and roads and all other property lines shall be at all times kept
clear and vacant.
H.
When the Board shall deem it necessary and desirable,
the premises to be licensed shall at the setback lines be enclosed by a fence
of type and style to be determined by the Board or by evergreen screen plantings,
or both. The Board may set forth the fence and planting requirement at the
time of the issuance of a license or at the time of renewal or transfer of
a license.
The Board shall have the right to revoke the license of the junk dealer
in the event that he fails to comply with the terms of this chapter, and said
junk dealer shall forfeit any license fee paid for the balance of the license
year.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof before any District Justice in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
by a summary proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than six hundred
dollars ($600.) and the costs of prosecution, and, in default of payment of
such fine and costs, imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding
thirty (30) days, provided that each day's violation of any of the provisions
of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense. The Township police or
constables or the Supervisors may bring prosecution to enforce this chapter.
In addition to the remedies provided in § 80-l4 above, any
continued violations of this chapter which shall constitute a nuisance in
fact or which shall in the opinion of the Board constitute a nuisance may
be abated by proceeding against the violator in a court of equity for relief.
