[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Brownville 11-9-1978 as Ch. 15 of the 1978 Code (originally adopted 8-9-1978). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building permits — See Ch. 67.
Solid waste — See Ch. 134.
Zoning — See Ch. 165.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DUMP OR DUMPING GROUND
Any place for the collection, accumulation, storage, deposit, burial or disposal, in any manner thereon, of rubbish or garbage as defined in this section.
GARBAGE
Waste food, papers, dead animals or parts thereof and all waste or discarded wood, lumber or vegetable matter of any kind or any other matter which shall be inflammable or combustible or capable of fermentation or decay.
JUNKYARD
Any place of storage or deposit, whether in connection with another business or not, where two (2) or more unregistered, old or secondhand motor vehicles, no longer intended or in condition for legal use on the public highways, are held, whether for the purpose of resale of used parts 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. Such term shall include any place of storage or deposit for any such purposes of used parts or waste materials from motor vehicles, which, taken together, equal in bulk two (2) or more such vehicles.
MOTOR VEHICLE
All vehicles propelled or drawn by power, other than muscular power, originally intended for use on public highways.
PERSON
An individual, society, club, firm, partnership, corporation or association of persons, and the singular number shall include the plural number.
RUBBISH
Waste metal, tin cans, ashes, cinders, glass, pottery, dismantled, abandoned or worn-out motor vehicles or farm machines or other machines of any kind, or parts thereof, and all discarded substances of a solid and incombustible nature.
No person shall operate, establish or maintain a dump, dumping ground or junkyard, as above defined, unless and until he has obtained a license to operate the same.
Application for such a license shall be made, in writing, to the Town Board and shall contain the following information:
A. 
The place within the town where such dump, dumping ground or junkyard is to be located.
B. 
A plot plan of said place showing the exact location on the land where said dump, dumping ground or junkyard is to be maintained, and showing the dimensions and area thereof and its relation to adjoining properties.
C. 
Such application shall also be accompanied by evidence and proof that the applicant is:
(1) 
A citizen of the United States.
(2) 
Either the owner of the premises on which the dump, dumping ground or junkyard is or is proposed to be located or the lessee of said premises, under a lease wherein he has assumed the responsibility for the condition of said premises.
A public hearing on the application shall be held within said town not less than two (2) nor more than four (4) weeks from the date of the receipt of the application by the Town Board. Notice of such public hearing shall be given to the applicant by mail, postage prepaid, to the address given in the application and shall be published once in a newspaper having a general circulation within the town, which publication shall not be less than seven (7) days before the date of the hearing.
At the time and place set for the public hearing, the Town Board shall hear the applicant and all other persons wishing to be heard on the application for a license to operate, establish or maintain such dump, dumping ground or junkyard. In considering such application, the Town Board shall take into account the suitability of the applicant with reference to his ability to comply with the fencing requirements or other reasonable regulations concerning the proposed dump, dumping ground or junkyard, to any record of convictions for any type of larceny or receiving of stolen goods and to any other matter within the purposes of this chapter. In passing upon such application, the Town Board shall take into account, after proof of legal ownership or right to such use of the property for the license period by the applicant, the nature and development of surrounding property, such as the proximity to churches, schools, hospitals, public buildings and other places of public gathering, and whether or not the proposed location can be reasonably protected from affecting the public health and safety by reason of offensive or unhealthy odor or smoke or of other causes. The Town Board may also take into account a clean, wholesome and attractive environment and consider whether or not the proposed location can be reasonably protected from having an unfavorable effect thereon, and the Town Board may consider collectively the type of road servicing the dump, dumping ground or junkyard or from which the same may be seen, the natural or artificial barriers protecting the same from view, the proximity thereof to established residential and recreational areas or main access routes thereto, as well as reasonable availability of other suitable sites for the dump, dumping ground or junkyard.
After such public hearing, the Town Board shall within two (2) weeks make a finding as to whether or not the application shall be granted, giving notice of its finding to the applicant by mail, postage prepaid, to the address given on the application. If approved, the license shall be forthwith issued to remain in effect until the following April 1. Approval shall be personal to the applicant and not assignable. Licenses shall be renewed thereafter upon payment of the annual fee without hearing, provided that all provisions of this chapter are complied with during the license period, that the dump, dumping ground or junkyard does not become a public nuisance under the common law and that the applicant is not convicted of any type of larceny or the receiving of stolen goods. The determination of the Town Board may be reviewed under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
[Amended 9-14-1988]
A. 
The application for a license shall be accompanied by an application fee of five hundred dollars ($500.).
B. 
The annual license fee shall be such amount as the Town Board may, from time to time, establish by resolution and shall be paid at the time application is made and annually thereafter in the event of renewal.
C. 
In the event that the application is not granted, the application fee and the annual license fee shall be returned to the applicant. In addition to the license fee, the Town Board may assess the applicant with the costs of advertising such public hearing and application and such other reasonable costs incidental to the hearing as are clearly attributable thereto and may make the license conditional upon payment of the same.
A. 
Before use, a new dump, dumping ground or junkyard shall be completely surrounded with a fence at least eight (8) feet in height which substantially screens and with a suitable gate which shall be closed and locked, except during the working hours of such dump, dumping ground or junkyard or when the applicant or his agent shall be within. Such fence shall be erected not nearer than fifty (50) feet from a public highway. All rubbish, garbage and motor vehicles and parts thereof stored or deposited by the applicant shall be kept within the enclosure of the dump, dumping ground or junkyard, except as removal shall be necessary for the transportation of same in the reasonable course of business.
B. 
Where the topography, natural growth of timber or other considerations accomplish the purposes of this chapter in all or in part, the fencing requirements hereunder may be reduced by the Town Board upon granting the license; provided, however, that such natural barrier conforms with the purposes of this chapter.
For the purposes of this chapter, the location of dumps, dumping grounds or junkyards established prior to the effective date of the General Municipal Law § 136, September 1, 1965, shall be considered approved by the Town Board and the owner thereof deemed suitable for the issuance of a license. Within sixty (60) days from the adoption of this chapter, however, the owner shall furnish the Town Board the information as to location which is required in an application, together with the license fee, and the Town Board shall issue him a valid license until the next April 1, at which time the operator of such dump, dumping ground or junkyard may apply for renewal, as herein provided. Such applicant shall comply with all other provisions of this chapter, including the fencing requirements set forth above.
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing provisions of this chapter, no dump, dumping ground or junkyard hereafter established shall be issued a license for the operation thereof or any part thereof within one thousand two hundred (1,200) feet of a church, school, hospital, public building or place of public assembly or any building or structure used as a residence or place of human habitation.
The person operating such dump, dumping ground or junkyard shall use the maximum practicable rodent, insect and nuisance control and shall maintain the site in a safe and sanitary condition at all times, and there shall be no fire or burning of any material on such site at any time.
The holder of such a license shall be personally responsible at all times for the condition of such dump, dumping ground or junkyard or any condition created elsewhere as a result of the condition of said dump, dumping ground or junkyard.
Any violation of any portion of this chapter shall be an offense punishable by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.), and each week that such violation is carried on or continues shall constitute a separate violation. In addition, 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 any of the provisions of this chapter pursuant to Town Law § 135, and the Town Board may also maintain an action to recover a civil penalty of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.) for each such violation.
The violation of any of the terms of this chapter by the holder of any license to maintain a dump, dumping ground or junkyard shall be grounds for revocation of such license by the Town Board, after a public hearing concerning the same.
This chapter shall be effective and operative only in that portion of the town outside of any incorporated village in the town.