[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Columbia as Ch. 5.16 of the 1997 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
JUNK
Includes scrap and old iron, steel, chain, brass, copper, magnesium, aluminum, tin, lead or other base metals, scrap lumber, old rope, old bags, rags, wastepaper, paper clippings, scraps of woolens, clips, bagging, rubber and glass, and empty bottles of different kinds or sizes when the number of each kind or size is less than one gross, any wrecked or dilapidated motor vehicle, engine, or machinery received, stored or held for more than 90 days, and all articles and things discarded or no longer used as a manufactured article composed of or consisting of any one or more of the materials or articles herein mentioned.
JUNK DEALER
Includes every person, firm, partnership or corporation that shall engage in the business of buying, selling, bartering or exchanging, or shall collect, receive, store or hold in possession for sale, barter or exchange, any of the things in and by this section defined as "junk."
JUNKYARD
Includes the premises on which a junk dealer is engaged in the business of buying, selling, bartering, exchanging, or collecting, receiving, storing or holding in possession for sale, barter or exchange, any of the things in and by this section defined as "junk."
The minimum physical requirements at all times for each junkyard shall be as follows:
A. 
The premises where the junkyard is located shall not have more than two entrances thereto and two exits therefrom, each of which shall not exceed 15 feet in width at the perimeter of the premises.
B. 
The premises where the junkyard is located shall be enclosed on its perimeter with a solid, nontransparent, vertical wall or fence of a minimum height of seven feet measured from ground level, except for the entrances and exits permitted by Subsection A of this section.
C. 
The aforesaid solid, nontransparent wall or fence, and the gates or doors, if any, at the aforesaid entrances and exits, shall not contain any sign, poster or advertising matter of any kind whatsoever, except one sign of the licensee thereon not exceeding 100 square feet in size.
D. 
The public streets and alleys adjacent to the junkyard shall not have junk thereon.
It is unlawful for any person, firm, partnership or corporation to keep, maintain, conduct or operate a junkyard within the corporate limits of the City without first obtaining a license to do so as herein provided. A separate license shall be secured for each junkyard located on noncontiguous lots, blocks, tracts or parcels of land.
Before any license under the provisions of this chapter is issued, any person, firm, partnership or corporation desiring to operate a junkyard in this City shall first make a verified application in writing to the City Clerk, stating thereon the full name of the applicant, his residence address, the trade name of the applicant, the legal description of the premises where the junkyard is to be located, the size and approximate location of each entrance thereto and exit therefrom, whether or not the premises where the junkyard is to be located is enclosed on its perimeter with a solid, nontransparent wall or fence of a minimum height of seven feet measured from ground level, except the entrances and exits, and whether or not the public streets and alleys adjacent to the premises where the junkyard is to be located have junk thereon. If the applicant is a firm or partnership, the names and residence addresses of all the partners, and in the case of a corporation, the names and residence addresses of the president and secretary, shall be stated in the application.
Any applicant for a license to keep, maintain, conduct or operate a junkyard shall be disqualified for any of the following reasons:
A. 
Not a person of good character.
B. 
Falsification of an application for a license hereunder.
C. 
License for a junkyard theretofore issued to the applicant has been revoked during the preceding 24 months.
D. 
Failure to meet any one of the minimum physical requirements for a junkyard as specified in § 209-2.
A. 
Any and all licenses issued hereunder shall state that such license is issued in the name of the junk dealer solely for the purpose of keeping, maintaining, conducting and operating a junkyard, the expiration date thereof, the legal description of the premises where the junkyard is to be located, that the license shall be used and the privileges thereof exercised only at the described premises, and that such license is nonassignable and nontransferable.
B. 
Such license shall further provide that it is issued subject to all provisions of this chapter; that upon the first conviction for a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, in addition to the fine, such junkyard shall remain closed for a period of 30 days; that upon the second conviction for a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, such license shall become null and void, and the licensee shall forfeit all sums paid for such license, and that the licensee, by the acceptance of such license, expressly agrees to all the terms and conditions thereof, and to the terms and provisions of this chapter, and all amendments thereto.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The annual license fee for each junkyard shall be set from time to time by ordinance, payable in advance with the filing of the application for a license, and shall not be subject to pro-rata reduction for a portion of the year, either because of application for or because of revocation of a license; provided, however, that only one annual license fee shall be payable for licenses, which may be issued whenever the applicant desires to keep, maintain, conduct or operate junkyards on lots, blocks, tracts or parcels of land, which are situated on directly opposite sides of and abut upon each side of a public street or alley.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
No licensee hereunder shall purchase or receive any article whatsoever from any minors under the age of 18 without the written consent of their parents or guardians.