(a) 
No motor vehicle junk-yard or business shall be established, operated or maintained in the City of Atlanta, unless a written request for a special use permit and/or license has been reviewed by the planning and zoning commission and approved by the city council.
(b) 
A “motor vehicle junk-yard or business” is hereby defined as any business and any place of storage or deposit which displays or in or upon which there are displayed vehicles or any motor vehicle which is self-propelled and which is inoperative and which does not have lawfully affixed thereto both an unexpired license plate or plates and a valid motor vehicle safety inspection certificate and which is wrecked, partially dismantled or discarded, and/or iron, metal, glass, paper, cordage or other waste discarded or secondhand material which has been a part or is intended to be a part of any motor vehicle.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section I)
Application for a special use permit and/or license required by Section 4.801 hereof shall be made to the building official and shall set forth the following information: the name and address of the applicant; the trade name under which the applicant does or proposes to do business; the location where such business is to be conducted; if the applicant is a firm or corporation, its organization and personnel; the size of the territory the applicant proposes to allot such business; that the interest of said city require the establishing, operating or maintaining of such yard or business at the location designated; and any other information as may be required by the city council.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section II)
The building official shall make or cause to be made such investigations as the building official may deem desirable, as to any application for a certificate of approval under this article, and shall determine whether or not, in the interest of the safety, health, decency, comfort, convenience, necessity and welfare of the inhabitants of said city, or requirement for the operation of such a business exists, and whether or not the applicant is a fit and proper person or concern to conduct such business; and such investigation may extend to the fitness of the stockholders and officers of any corporation making such application. The building official shall submit his or her findings to the planning and zoning commission for its recommendation of approval or disapproval to the city council. In considering such application, the planning and zoning commission shall take into account the nature and development of the surrounding property, the proximity of churches, schools, hospital, public buildings and other places of public gathering, the sufficiency in number of such other yards or businesses in the vicinity, the health, safety and general welfare of the public, and the suitability of the applicant to establish, maintain or operate such yard or business.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section III)
(a) 
If the city council finds that the convenience, necessity, welfare and comfort of the public requires that operation of a motor vehicle junk-yard, and that the applicant is fit to conduct the business, and that its establishment, operation and/or maintenance will not be harmful to the public health, safety or welfare, and that any other ordinance or laws affecting same, and the other requirements herein, have been complied with, it shall notify the applicant of its findings. If it finds that the public convenience, necessity, welfare and comfort does not require the establishment, operation and/or maintenance of such business in the location applied for, or that the applicant is not fit to conduct such business, or that the public health, safety or welfare will be or is likely to be harmed by the establishment, operation and/or maintenance of such business, or that any other ordinance or law prohibits such establishment, operation and/or maintenance, it shall forthwith refuse such application, and no special use permit and/or license shall be issued to such applicant.
(b) 
Upon presentation of the certificate of approval required under this article within thirty (30) days from its date and satisfactory evidence that all permit and/or license fees have been paid to the city, and that such other fees and taxes as may be required by law have been fully paid, the building official shall issue to such applicant a special use permit and/or license to operate a motor vehicle junk-yard. Any special use permit and/or license issued hereunder shall remain in full force and effect, and no additional certificate shall be required for the purpose of obtaining a license so long as the original certificate remains in effect and the applicant strictly complies with all of the requirements and provisions of this article, and all of the requirements and provisions of the Planning and Zoning Ordinance.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section IV; Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section V)
(a) 
In order to defray a part of the expense necessary to provide for the surveillance, supervision and inspection of motor vehicle junk-yards required under the terms of this article, there is hereby fixed a license fee, which shall be collected from any person operating a motor vehicle junk-yard in said city in the amount as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code. Said fee is subject to change and may be changed by resolution of the city council.
(b) 
No license for the operation of a motor vehicle junk-yard shall be issued unless and until the city council has issued the special use permit and/or license under the terms of this article.
(c) 
The permit and/or license required by this article may be renewed from year to year, upon the payment of the fees as required for the original permit and/or license, so long as the original certificate of occupancy remains in effect and the owner or occupant strictly complies with all the requirements and provisions of this article.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section VI; Ordinance adopting Code)
The certificate of occupancy and the permit and/or license, when issued, shall not be transferable without the written consent and approval of the city council had after application and hearing as provided upon original application by the person to whom the certificate is issued.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section VII)
It shall be unlawful for any person to establish, operate or maintain a motor vehicle junk-yard or business without procuring a certificate of occupancy and holding a permit and/or license therefor, as hereinabove provided, and each day of such operation without such certificate or permit and/or license shall constitute a separate offense.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section VIII)
(a) 
Each motor vehicle junk-yard in the city shall be completely enclosed, except for entrances and exits, with a fence or structure with a minimum height of eight (8) feet measured from ground level which shall completely and effectively render the junked vehicles or scrapped material contained therein not visible from any street or other public or private property. Entrances and exits shall not be wider or more numerous than reasonably necessary for the conduct of the authorized business. Entrances and exits shall be constructed and maintained so that they may be closed and secured with opaque gates which shall likewise effectively render the junked vehicles or scrapped material contained therein not visible from any street or other public or private property.
(b) 
No motor vehicles or part thereof shall be piled or stacked in any such motor vehicle junk-yard in any manner as to exceed six (6) feet in height, or six-hundred-twenty-five (625) square feet in floor or lot area. An aisle of at least four (4) feet shall be maintained at all times between piles or stacks of motor vehicles or parts thereof in such a manner as to allow free access on the part of the fire department of said city.
(c) 
All gasoline shall be drained from the gasoline reservoirs of all motor vehicles stored or kept on the premises of any such motor vehicle junk-yard unless such motor vehicles are in such state of repair as to enable them to be removed from the premises under their own power.
(d) 
It shall be absolutely prohibited for the owner or occupier of a junk-yard to burn scrap material or any part thereof at any time under any circumstances.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section IX; Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section X; Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section XI; Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section XII)
Any motor vehicle junk-yard or business established, operating or maintained in the city on the date this article first becomes effective, shall be exempt from the enforcement of the terms and conditions of this article for a period of twelve (12) months for the specific purpose of allowing any such existing motor vehicle junk-yard or business a sufficient amount of time to comply with all of the terms and conditions of this article. The city council hereby judicially determines that twelve (12) months is a reasonable amount of time for an existing motor vehicle junk-yard or business to come in to compliance with the terms and conditions of this article.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section XIII)
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate or cause or permit anyone to violate any of the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in accordance with the general penalty provision found in Section 1.106 of this code. Each and every day that any violation of this article or any part thereof shall occur shall be considered to be a separate and distinct offense and punishable as such.
(Ordinance 445, adopted 1/18/95, Section XV)