[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Mount
Hope 9-12-1966 by Ord. No. 1-1966. Amendments noted where applicable.]
By the adoption of this chapter, the Town Board of the Town
of Mount Hope declares its intent in so doing to be to regulate, control
and license the activities or businesses 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 whatever composition. Said Town Board
hereby declares that such activities or businesses can constitute
a hazard to property and persons and a public nuisance. Such materials
may be highly inflammable and sometimes explosive. Gasoline tanks
on old autos often contain in some quantity combustible gasoline;
the engine and other parts of such autos are frequently covered with
grease and oil which is also inflammable. The tires, plastic seats,
tops and other elements of such autos are also inflammable. Batteries
and other elements of such autos can contain acids and other matter
potentially harmful to humans. These autos frequently contain sharp
metal or glass edges or points upon which a human could receive serious
cuts and abrasions. These autos 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 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.
Two or more motor vehicles stored outside without current
license plates for a period of 60 days; "two or more motor vehicles"
shall also mean parts or waste materials from motor vehicles which,
taken together, equal in bulk two or more such vehicles.
Any area of land, including buildings thereon, which is used
primarily for the collecting, storage and/or sale of wastepaper, rags,
scrap metal or discarded material; for the collecting, dismantling,
storage or salvaging of machinery or autos not in running condition
and/or for the sale of parts thereof.
An individual, an association, a partnership, a corporation.
No person shall engage in or conduct on real property within
the Town of Mount Hope 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 materials 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 therefor
as hereinafter provided.
A.
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
21 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
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.
At the time of making 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 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.
C.
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.
A person presently engaged in or conducting an activity or business
such as described herein, on real property within the Town of Mount
Hope, 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 be granted a temporary license for one year,
during which year 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 year 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.
E.
If the person conducting such activity or business is not the sole
owner thereof, he shall state such fact at the time he applies for
his temporary license, and the Town Clerk at the time of issuing such
temporary license shall send the owners or each of them a notice of
the issuance of such temporary license to such person together with
a copy of this chapter.
A.
The fee for the license is hereby fixed in the sum of $250, 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.[1]
B.
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.
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 license must be made yearly if the licensee
desires to continue such activity or business.
D.
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.
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.
F.
In the event that an applicant for a license as provided herein shall
have previously been duly issued a valid and effective junk dealer's
license by the Supervisor
of this Town, pursuant to the provisions of Article 6 of the New York
State General Business Law, then such applicant shall be entitled
to and allowed a credit against the above-provided license fee in
the amount of $5, such junk dealer's license fee actually paid
by such applicant; otherwise, this chapter shall be fully binding
upon and applicable to the holder of any such junk dealer's license.
A.
The licensee must personally manage or be responsible for the management
of the activity or business for which the license is granted.
B.
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.
The licensee must erect and maintain an eight-foot solid opaque fence,
from ground level, kept in good repair, adequate to prohibit the entrance
of children and others into the area of the activity or business and
to contain within such fence the materials dealt in by the licensee.
All such fences shall be at least 100 feet from all streets, highways,
adjoining boundaries and dwellings. All the materials dealt in by
the licensee shall be kept within such fence at all times. No goods
stored within such fence shall be so located as to be visible above
said fence.
D.
Inside and adjacent to and contiguous with such fence 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
land or line around the whole area where the activity or business
of the licensee is being conducted.
E.
The autos, parts and materials shall be piled or arranged in neat
rows so as to permit easy, clear passage through the area.
F.
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.
G.
When the area is not supervised by the licensee or his employees,
the fence shall be locked at a secure gate in a secure manner.
H.
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.
I.
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.
J.
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.
The owner or licensee of any such place of business who commits or
permits any acts in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter
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.
For every violation of any provision of this chapter, the person
violating the same shall be subject to a fine of not more than $250
or imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.[1]
C.
Conviction for any above-mentioned violation shall constitute and
effect an immediate forfeiture of the license.
D.
Any person violating this chapter shall be subject to a civil penalty
enforceable and collectible by the Town in the amount of $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.
E.
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.