[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Fairfield as Ch. XVIII of the 1980 Code. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
No person shall establish, operate or maintain a motor vehicle
junkyard or business, or any other junkyard or junk business, nor
store, purchase, sell or deal in junk, unless he shall first obtain
a license for such yard, business or storage from the Township Committee
of the Township of Fairfield.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions are
hereby established:
JUNK
Any old, discarded or unused waste iron or other metal or
substance, glass, paper, used lumber, rags, machine parts, accessories,
discarded machinery or discarded machines in whole or in part, unregistered
motor vehicles which are unfit for reconditioning or for sale for
highway transportation, used parts of motor vehicles and any material
commonly known and generally referred to as "junk" in the ordinary
meaning of the word, stored or kept for commercial purposes in the
Township.
JUNKYARD
Any lot of land within the Township of Fairfield on which
junk is placed, collected, stored or kept for commercial purposes
in the Township.
PERSON
Shall include partnerships and corporations. The masculine
gender shall include the feminine and the neuter and the singular
number shall include the plural number.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
Every applicant for a license under the provisions of this chapter
shall file with the Municipal Clerk of the Township of Fairfield a
written application signed by the applicant or applicants, which application
shall state:
A. The name and residence of the applicant and, if a firm, association,
partnership or corporation, the name and address of the officers and
the registered agent or partners.
B. The detailed nature of the business to be conducted and the classes
of material which it is proposed to store therein.
C. The place where the business is to be located and carried on, by
metes and bounds, and also the present zoning class of said property.
D. A plan or survey showing the existing or proposed entrance or entrances
to the premises where said business is, or is to be, conducted and
the names and addresses of all owners of real estate on both sides
of the street or road for a distance of 1,000 feet on each side thereof.
E. If the applicant is not the owner of the site where the business
is to be conducted, the owner's consent to the conduct of the
business shall accompany the application.
F. Type of fence to be constructed around the premises.
Such application shall be accompanied by cash or certified check
payable to the order of the Township of Fairfield in a sum equaling
the whole license fee, which shall be returned in the event that the
license is refused.
A. In its investigation of the application for a license under this
chapter, the Township Committee shall take the following matters into
consideration:
(1) Whether the applicant has ever been convicted or pled guilty to a
crime.
(2) Whether the maintenance and operation of a junkyard at the proposed
location would be materially injurious to the public health, morals,
comfort, prosperity, convenience or otherwise detrimental to the general
welfare of the surrounding properties or to the inhabitants of the
Township of Fairfield at large.
(3) Whether the maintenance and operation of a junkyard at the proposed
location would produce or be likely to produce a condition materially
offensive to the senses of sight, hearing and smell and thus injure
the public welfare.
(4) Whether the maintenance and operation of a junkyard cannot be conducted
at the proposed location in full compliance with the provisions of
this chapter.
B. If any of the aforementioned criteria are answered in the affirmative,
the application shall be denied.
Each application filed with the Municipal Clerk, as herein provided,
shall be presented by said Municipal Clerk to the Township Committee
at its next regular meeting following the filing of such application,
and the Township Committee may act upon any application so presented
at such meeting or at any subsequent meeting to which it shall defer
action thereon, and no license shall be issued by the Municipal Clerk
until the issuance thereof has been duly approved by resolution adopted
by the Township Committee. Any such approval of the Township is contingent
on site plan approval of the Planning and Zoning Board of the Township
and said applicant must make application to the Planning and Zoning
Board separately.
All licenses issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter
shall expire at 12:00 midnight on January 31 next succeeding the date
of the issuance thereof, and all persons, firms, associations, partnerships,
or corporations desiring to continue in such business after the expiration
of any license granted hereunder shall make application before January
5 for a new license for the ensuing year and shall pay the license
fee in a like manner and amount as for the issuance of the original
license. No notice shall be necessary for such renewal.
A separate license shall be obtained for each separate location
at which the business of the licensee or some part thereof is proposed
to be conducted, and the license shall authorize the licensee to conduct
said business only at the place specified in the license.
The annual license fee shall be $200.
No license shall be issued until the applicant shall have established
that the proposed business can be operated in accordance with the
requirements of this chapter.
Junkyards shall be operated as follows:
A. No junk shall be stored or dismantled within 100 feet of the property
lines on all sides of said junkyard, or within 100 feet of any roadway.
B. No junk or refuse material shall be burned.
C. Precautions shall be taken by each licensee hereunder to safeguard
all flammable, combustible or explosive materials from fire, and no
licensee shall stack, pile or place junk upon the licensed premises
in such manner so as to create a fire hazard or to create a place
for the harboring or breeding of rats, mice or vermin, flies, mosquitoes,
or other airborne pests.
D. All yards or places where such businesses are or shall be conducted
or where such materials are to be stored or kept shall be kept from
public view by a cyclone-type fence or equal type, not less than six
feet high. In the event that said fence is not made of solid material,
then the licensee shall restrict the view by the installation of solid
material on said fence or, in the alternative, the licensee may plant
suitable plant or tree coverage, which tree planting shall be at not
greater than six-foot intervals. In the event that tree plantings
are installed, said tree plantings shall restrict the junkyard from
view within three years of the date of said planting. All plantings
of trees, shrubs, or other plants and fence installations shall be
approved by the Construction Code Official prior to installation or
planting. No junk shall be placed or stacked to a level higher than
the height of the fence or six feet.
E. Fire lanes shall be maintained on the licensed premises at all times
pursuant to regulations of the Fire Marshal of the Township.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
F. It shall be unlawful to hammer or pound any metals or other materials
on said premises between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., Monday
through Saturday, or at any time on Sundays.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
Any member of the Township Committee, the County Board of Health
or the County Health Department or any authorized agent of the Township
shall have the right at any and all reasonable times to inspect any
or all parts of the licensed premises.
All licenses under this chapter shall at all times be subject
to such reasonable rules as may be made from time to time by the Township
Committee for the proper operation and regulation of the place of
business named in such license.
A. Any license issued hereunder may be revoked or suspended by the Township
Committee of the Township of Fairfield for the violation of any of
the terms of this chapter, but such revocation or suspension shall
not relieve the licensee from the penalties hereinafter provided.
B. Likewise, any violation of any other municipal ordinance, any state
or federal statute or any falsification or misrepresentation in applying
for this license shall be deemed grounds for revocation or suspension.
C. Said license may be revoked or suspended after five days' notice,
in writing, and upon a hearing of the charges presented.
Any person, firm or corporation keeping, maintaining and operating a junkyard in the proper zone class on the effective day of this chapter shall be entitled to a license as provided herein, provided he files his application for said license within 60 days from the effective date of this chapter, pays the required license fee therefor and complies in all respects with the provisions of this chapter. Said person, firm or corporation shall not be required to comply with the requirements of §
290-11D. After the period of 60 days from the effective date of this chapter, no new license shall be issued unless and until the number of such licenses outstanding is fewer than four; provided, however, that this limitation shall not prevent renewals or person-to-person transfers of junkyard owner's licenses issued and outstanding.
A. Any junkyard license for a new license term, which is issued to replace
a license which expired on the last day of the license term which
immediately preceded the commencement of said new license term, shall
be deemed to be a renewal of the expired or expiring license, provided
that said license is for the same owner as the expired or expiring
license, covers the same junkyard and is issued to the holder of the
expired or expiring license and is issued pursuant to an application
therefor which shall have been filed with the Township Clerk prior
to the commencement of said new license term. Excepting person-to-person
transfer of a junkyard license any junkyard licenses issued otherwise
than above herein provided shall be deemed to be new licenses.
B. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the person-to-person transfer
at the location for which it was issued, of licenses granted by the
Municipality under this chapter from person-to-person, corporation-to-corporation,
person-to-corporation or corporation-to-person. Persons or corporations
that are licensees under this chapter shall have a property right
in such licenses and may assign, sell or transfer such licenses, and
the right to such license shall be inheritable and transferable to
the heirs, executors or administrators of such licensees, subject
to the provisions of this chapter.
C. In the event any licensee discontinues operation for one year for
any reason, including death, the license shall lapse and not be transferable.
[Amended 4-20-2016 by Ord. No. 8-2016; at time of adoption of Code (see
Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
Any person, firm or corporation who or which shall violate a provision of this chapter or fail to comply therewith or who shall violate or fail to comply with any order or regulation made thereunder shall severally for each and every such violation and noncompliance be subject to a penalty as provided in §
1-5 of this Code. The imposition of a penalty for a violation of this chapter shall not excuse the violation or permit it to continue. Such violation shall be remedied within 10 days of the imposition of said penalty; thereafter each additional 10 days that such violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. The application of the above penalty shall not be held to prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.
If any section or portion of any section of this chapter is
declared invalid or unconstitutional, it shall not be held to invalidate
or impair the validity, force or effect of any other section or portion
of any section of this chapter.