For the purpose of this article, the following definitions shall apply, unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning:
Junk.
Old iron, steel, brass, copper, tin, lead, or other base metals; old cordage, ropes, rags, fibers, or fabrics; old rubber; old bottles or other glass; bones; wastepaper and other waste or discarded material which might be prepared to be used again in some form; appliances, air conditioners, stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, driers, and televisions, any and all of the foregoing, inter alia; and motor vehicles, no longer used as such, to be used for scrap metal or stripping of parts.
Junkyard.
A yard, lot, or place, covered or uncovered, outdoors or in an enclosed building, containing junk as defined in this section, upon which occurs one or more acts of buying, dismantling, processing, selling, or offering for sale any such junk, in whole units or by parts, whether or not the proceeds from such act or acts are to be used for charity.
Junkyard dealer.
A person who operates a junkyard, as defined in this section, within the city, including any person, as defined in this section, buying, selling, collecting, or delivering junk within the city, but who is not an operator of a junkyard within the city or an employee of such an operator.
Person.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, or organization of any kind.
Premises.
The area of a junkyard as described in a junkyard dealer’s permit or application for permit, as provided for in this article.
(Ordinance 399 adopted 1/22/80; 1994 Code, sec. 116.01)
(a) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a junkyard dealer in the city, whether personally, by agents or employees, singly, or along with some other business enterprise, without first having obtained a permit therefor in accordance with the provisions of this article. A junkyard dealer who operates more than one junkyard within the city shall be required to have in effect a separate permit for each yard.
(b) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a junkyard dealer in the city, whether personally, by agents or employees, singly, or with some other business or enterprise, in violation of the operating requirements set forth in section 5.06.004.
(Ordinance 399 adopted 1/22/80; 1994 Code, sec. 116.02)
(a) 
An applicant for a permit under this article shall file with the city council a written application signed by himself or herself, if an individual; by all partners, if a partnership; and by the president or chief officer of a corporation or other organization, together with three copies of the application and a fee as hereinafter prescribed. The application shall be sworn to by each of its signers before a notary public or other officer authorized by law to administer oaths and shall include the following information and material:
(1) 
Name, residence address, and telephone number of each individual owner, partner, or, if a corporation or other organization, each officer and director;
(2) 
Trade names used during the previous five years by the applicant and each person signing the application, along with the locations of prior establishments;
(3) 
Names and addresses of employers of each person signing the application during the previous five years;
(4) 
The trade name and address of the business on behalf of which application is made and its telephone number, if assigned;
(5) 
The name, residence address, and telephone number of each person employed or intended to be employed in the business as of the time the application is filed;
(6) 
Exact address or location of the place where the business is or is proposed to be carried on, plus a sketch of the actual premises to be used in connection with the business, giving distances in feet and showing adjoining roads, property lines, buildings, and uses;
(7) 
A description of the materials with which any buildings to be used in connection with the licensed business are, or are to be, made; a sketch giving distances, showing the location of such buildings on the business premises; and a diagram or plan giving distances and heights, showing floors, exits, entrances, windows, ventilators, and walls;
(8) 
Such other information as the chief of police, fire marshal, and city sanitarian shall find reasonably necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article and to arrive at a fair determination of whether the terms of this article have been complied with;
(9) 
A statement as to whether or not the applicant has been convicted of any crime, misdemeanor, or violation of any provision of this code or any other ordinance of the city; the nature of the offense; the date of its commission; and the punishment or penalty assessed therefor;
(10) 
Written evidence of a liability insurance policy covering liability for damages and injury resulting from the operation of the junk dealer’s business in the amount of $100,000.00 per individual claim and $300,000.00 for total liability on any one incident or occurrence; and
(11) 
Evidence of ownership of the premises upon which the permitted business is to be conducted and/or evidence of the rights of occupancy of such premises.
(b) 
There shall be a fee as set forth in the fee schedule in appendix A of this code charged for the issuance of a permit. Permits shall expire on December 31 and shall be renewable on or before January 1 of the ensuing year.
(Ordinance 399 adopted 1/22/80; 1994 Code, sec. 116.03; Ordinance adopting 2021 Code)
(a) 
Operating requirements.
The following general operating requirements shall apply to all junkyard dealers licensed in accordance with the provisions of this article:
(1) 
The permit issued pursuant to this article shall be plainly displayed on the business premises.
(2) 
The junkyard, together with things kept therein, shall at all times be maintained in a sanitary condition.
(3) 
No space not covered by the permit shall be used in the permitted business.
(4) 
No water shall be allowed to stand in any place on the premises in such manner as to afford a breeding place for mosquitoes.
(5) 
Weeds and vegetation on the premises, other than trees, shall be kept at a height of not more than four inches.
(6) 
No garbage or other waste liable to give off a foul odor or attract vermin shall be kept on the premises; nor shall any refuse of any kind be kept on the premises, unless the refuse is junk as defined herein and is in use in the permitted business.
(7) 
No junk shall be allowed to rest upon or protrude over any public street, walkway, or curb or become scattered or blown off the business premises.
(8) 
Junk shall be stored in piles not exceeding ten feet in height and shall be arranged so as to permit easy access to all such junk for firefighting purposes.
(9) 
No combustible material of any kind not necessary or beneficial to the permitted business shall be kept on the premises; nor shall the premises be allowed to become a fire hazard.
(10) 
Gasoline shall be removed from any scrapped engines or vehicles on the premises.
(11) 
No junk or other material shall be burned on the premises in any incinerator not meeting the requirements of the building code in article 4.02, and no junk or other material shall be burned on the premises with the exception of that burned in an authorized incinerator.
(12) 
The junkyard dealer shall at all times while permitted to operate as a junkyard dealer furnish the city with written evidence of liability insurance covering liability for damages and injury resulting from the operation of the junk dealer business in the amount of $100,000.00 per individual claim and $300,000.00 for total liability resulting from any one incident or occurrence.
(13) 
The area on the premises where junk is kept (other than indoors) shall be enclosed, except for entrances and exits, with a solid vertical wall or fence of a minimum height of six feet measured from ground level. Entrances and exits shall not be wider or more numerous than reasonably necessary for the conduct of the permitted business; except that the city council may make exceptions and permit chain-link fences in nonresidential areas in the discretion of the city council.
(14) 
The lessee shall permit inspection of the business premises by any member of the city police department, the city sanitarian, or the city fire marshal, at any reasonable time.
(b) 
Compliance.
All persons and/or legal entities acting or attempting to act as a junkyard dealer in the city, whether personally, by agents or employees, singly, or along with some other business or enterprise, shall comply with the terms hereof within six months from the date of the passage hereof.
(Ordinance 399 adopted 1/22/80; 1994 Code, sec. 116.04; Ordinance adopting 2021 Code)
The permit required by section 5.06.004 [5.06.002] may be temporarily suspended by the city council upon violation by the holder thereof of any of the terms of this article, or revoked after an opportunity for a hearing by the city council upon serious or repeated violation.
(Ordinance 399 adopted 1/22/80; 1994 Code, sec. 116.05)