[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.