[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Depew 5-11-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Junkyards — See Ch. 132.
Licenses and permits — See Ch. 141.
Abandoned vehicles — See Ch. 236.
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 240.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also repealed former Ch. 231,
Used Car Dealers, which consisted of Art. I, Licensing and Regulations,
adopted 12-27-1971 by L.L. No. 2-1971 as Ch. 16, Arts. III and V,
of the 1971 Code, as amended; and Art. II, Moratorium, adopted 10-14-2008
by L.L. No. 6-2008.
This chapter shall be known as the "2009 Amendments to Local Laws Regulating Used Car Dealers" and shall be incorporated into the Village Code as Chapter 231.
The Village Board finds as follows:
A.
A proliferation of used car dealers can create aesthetic environmental
and safety concerns within the Village.
B.
Local Law No. 6 for the year 2008 imposed a moratorium with respect
to used car dealers.
C.
The Village desires to update its Code concerning used car dealers.
D.
The health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the Village
of Depew are promoted by those Code updates.
The Village of Depew intends by this chapter to:
This chapter shall apply within the confines of the Village
of Depew.
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires,
the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
A passenger automobile, truck, tractor-truck, trailer, bus,
motorcycle or other vehicle, however propelled, as well as tractors,
bulldozers and similar machinery and equipment.
In operating condition and capable, where applicable, of
passing New York State inspection.
Any person who has been duly licensed by the State of New
York as a used car dealer and who is selling, exchanging or otherwise
disposing of used or secondhand motor vehicles in the Village, where
said used or secondhand motor vehicles have not been acquired by said
person in a trade-in transaction arising from and out of the sale
or disposition at retail of new motor vehicles in the Village or acquired
under dealers' franchises with manufacturers, shall be deemed
to be engaged in the business of dealing in secondhand motor vehicles.
No person shall engage in the business of used car dealer in
the Village as defined herein without first obtaining a license as
hereinafter provided, which license shall be known and described as
a "used car dealer's license."
A.
Fee. The annual license fee shall be $250 per year. A separate license
shall be obtained for each separate location in the Village.
B.
Expiration. Any license issued hereunder shall expire on the 31st
day of May each year. Renewals may be obtained during the month of
May at the Village Clerk's office.
C.
Bond. An application for a license under this chapter shall be accompanied
by a bond or by collateral cash in the sum of $5,000, which bond shall
be subject to approval by the Village Attorney as to form and sufficiency.
The bond shall provide that upon termination of the business, the
premises shall be cleaned up, all business signs removed and restored
to its original condition. The Building Inspector, after determining
that this subsection has been complied with, may release the bond.
Any person desiring to engage in the business of dealing in
used cars shall file an application with the Village Clerk, in writing,
for such license.
A.
The application shall include:
(1)
The full name or names and residences of the applicant or applicants,
if an individual, or, if a business entity, the full name of the d/b/a,
partnership, or limited-liability company, and the address of the
business entity and the names of the officers or managers of the business
entity, and the location where they desire to locate, maintain or
operate a used car lot.
(2)
If the premises where the used dealer car lot is to be located are
leased rather than owned, a copy of the lease.
(3)
A to-scale drawing demonstrating the number of parking places at
the used car lot, with each such place measuring at least 10 feet
by 18 feet, and with each car location at least five feet from any
street or sidewalk and with access and egress to each parking space
of at least 20 feet in width for emergency vehicles.
B.
After the filing of the application as aforesaid, the application
shall be referred to the Chief of Police for investigation, and upon
the investigation and report of the Chief of Police, which report
shall be filed by the Village Clerk, the Licensing Officer may offer
a license to the applicant or applicants, provided that the other
requirements of any applicable law are met.
Any person engaged in the business of dealing in used motor
vehicles, or his or her manager for him or her, shall keep a record
of all motor vehicles offered for sale, exchange or disposal to the
public, which record shall show the make of said motor vehicle, the
year of its manufacture, its serial number and the engine number,
which record shall always be kept available for the Chief of Police
or any police officer within the Village and open to his or her inspection
at any time. It shall be the further duty of every such person dealing
in used motor vehicles to immediately report to the Chief of Police
the presence in his or her place of business of any motor vehicle
on which the serial or engine number has been defaced or altered.
It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to make or cause
to be made inspections from time to time for the purpose of seeing
that the records required herein are being kept.
A.
The surface of a used car lot shall be covered with concrete, asphalt,
macadam or similar paving, and such used car lot shall be kept clean
and free from dust and refuse at all times.
B.
The premises shall consist of an enclosed building with inside or
outside parking for at least five vehicles, plus the number of customer
parking spaces required by the Village Code. The building shall be
in conformity with the Village Code and shall be heated and contain
toilet facilities.
C.
No sign or part thereof shall contain or consist of banners, posters,
pennants, ribbons, streamers, spinners or similar moving, fluttering
or revolving devices. Said devices, as well as strings of lights,
shall not be used for the purposes of advertising or attracting attention
when not part of a sign. In no event shall an illuminated sign or
lighting device be so placed or directed so as to permit the beams
and illuminations therefrom to be directed or beamed upon a public
street, highway, sidewalk or adjacent premises so as to cause glare
or reflection that may constitute a traffic hazard or nuisance.
D.
The used car dealer shall have either a garage or other facility,
separate from the display area, that has a repair bay equipped to
perform usual and normal repair of the vehicles it buys, sells or
exchanges or, in the alternative, a written contact or notarized acknowledgment
with a garage licensed to perform state inspections stating that the
garage will provide repairs and service for the used car dealer.
E.
The dealership shall have at least one business line telephone located
within the permanent enclosed building that is used for the dealership.
The telephone number shall be listed under the dealerships licensed
name.
F.
Motor vehicles shall be made roadworthy within 30 days of arrival
at the used car dealer.
G.
The used car dealer shall operate its facility in compliance with
the filed application, any conditions imposed by the Village and in
compliance with this chapter.
[Amended 5-12-2014 by L.L. No. 2-2014]
The moratorium relating to used car dealers, adopted by the
Village Board by Local Law No. 6 for the year 2008, former Chapter
231, adopted by Local Law No. 2 for the year 1971, as well as the
amendment to Local Law No. 2 for the year 1971, adopted by Local Law
No. 4 for the year 1988, are all hereby repealed and replaced in their
entirety by the foregoing.
The provisions of this chapter are hereby declared to be severable.
If any provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this chapter, or
the application thereby to any person, establishment or circumstance,
shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not alter the other provisions
or applications of this chapter.
This chapter is effective on the first day after it is filed
with the Office of the New York Secretary of State in accordance with
§ 27 of the New York Municipal Home Rule Law.
