Unless it is apparent from the context that a different meaning
is intended, the following words, as used in this article, shall have
the meaning ascribed to them:
Junk.
Includes scrap iron, tin, brass, copper, lead, zinc, and
all other metallic substances, secondhand watches, knives, guns, cameras,
jewelry, fishing equipment, and similar items handled, purchased,
received, or offered for sale by dealers in junk, and shall mean and
include secondhand plumbing and electric fixtures, wire, boats, brass
pipe, lead pipe and pipes of other metals, melted metals of any kind,
parts of machinery or of machines that may be identified as such,
any fixture pertaining to a residence or business house or other house
of any kind, automobile accessories (including horns, hubcaps, tires,
and all detached and detachable parts of any automobile), motorcycles
or bicycles or motor vehicles or any vehicles of any kind, hydrants,
faucets, lawn hoses, lawn sprinklers, gas fixtures, fittings and appliances,
garden tools, mechanical tools of every description, harnesses, rags,
rubber, rope, bottles and utensils of every description, televisions,
radios, microwave ovens, CB radios, tape players, tapes, tape cassettes,
and utensils and other accessories of every description. The enumeration
of articles above shall not be held to exclude other articles that
may be originally included under the general definition of “junk,”
when given its usual trade meaning.
Junk dealer.
Includes any person primarily engaged in collecting, handling,
buying, or selling any of the articles defined as “junk”
in this section.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 1)
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be subject to a in accordance with section
1.01.009 of this code. Each transaction in violation of any of the provisions hereof shall be deemed a separate offense.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
II, sec. 1)
(a) Every
junk dealer, dealer in secondhand material, or person who shall purchase
any kind of junk or secondhand material shall keep an accurate record
of each item purchased, the time when purchased (the week, month,
and year), and an accurate description of the person selling the article,
giving the name, race, sex, age, and residence. All such entries shall
be made at the time of the purchase.
(b) Every
junk dealer is hereby required to keep and maintain a record used
exclusively for purposes described above, in which at the time of
the transaction, and coincident therewith, shall be explicitly, plainly,
and intelligently written in ink and in the English language, without
alterations and erasures, the name, residence address, and business
address of the person or agent, messenger or drayman of such person,
the race of the person from whom such junk is purchased or obtained,
the nature of the junk, and, if the same is a finished product or
several parts of the same, then a separate description of such parts
including serial numbers, if any, and any other descriptive marks
or symbols shall be listed. Such records shall further contain the
source and place from which the junk came or was obtained. When any
junk dealer shall receive junk from any common carrier from a point
outside the limits of the city, the record herein required to be kept
by the junk dealer shall be sufficient if it shows the name of such
common carrier, the nature of the material received, and the name
and address of the person from whom the same was received.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 2)
The records specified in section
4.04.003 shall be accessible at all times to the chief of police of the city or any other peace officer, and all such policemen and peace officers shall have the right to examine such records at all times when searching or looking for lost or stolen articles or when determining whether or not the provisions of this article are being faithfully kept and observed. Any person who refuses to permit any such officer to inspect such records shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 3)
Before any junk dealer shall purchase any junk of any description,
he shall secure from the person selling the same evidence showing
how the same came into the possession of such seller.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 4)
No junk shall be sold or removed from the place of business
of any junk dealer within forty-eight (48) hours after the same has
been purchased or acquired, and all junk received shall be kept separate
and apart from all other articles so that the same may be identified
for a full forty-eight (48) hours after the same is received. In the
event that a dealer desires to sell or dispose of merchandise that
has not been in his possession for a full forty-eight (48) hour period,
he shall secure from the purchaser the same information and identification
that are required by this article for the persons that sell the junk
to the dealer.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 5)
No junk dealer shall receive or purchase any junk from any intoxicated person or from any person under the age of eighteen (18) years, except upon the written consent of the parent or guardian of such minor, and in the event such sale occurs, [such written consent] shall be preserved by said junk dealer for a period of not less than six (6) months thereafter for public inspection. When any such purchase is made from any minor with such consent, a notation of the same shall be made by such dealer in the books or register required by section
4.04.003.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 6)
Every junk dealer shall, at all times, allow the chief of police
or any other police officer the privilege of examining all junk for
the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the articles are stolen
or lost property. All junk so purchased shall be included, whether
received at his place of business or elsewhere.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 7)
Every junk dealer and dealer in secondhand material shall keep
posted in a conspicuous place at his place of business a copy of the
regulations prescribed by this article.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 8)
It shall be unlawful for any person to use any land or other
real property adjacent to and within three hundred (300) feet of any
state or federally maintained highway or roadway within the city limits
for the purpose of storing any junk, trash, refuse, debris, wrecked
automobiles, or wrecked automobile parts.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 9)
The property and premises on which any junk business or junkyard
is located shall be enclosed by a tight board fence at least six (6)
feet high, which fence shall be kept in a neatly painted condition.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 10)
No person shall transact or engage in the business of a junk
dealer within the corporate limits of the city until he shall have
secured an annual license therefor.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 11)
An applicant for a junk dealer’s license shall make request
therefor in writing to the chief of police. Such application shall
contain the name, residence address, and business address of the applicant.
In the case of a firm or partnership, the application shall show the
individual names of members of the firm or partnership, and, if a
corporation, the names of the officers thereof. The application shall
contain the following words: “The license hereby applied for
shall be subject to all provisions and regulations of ordinances of
the City of Yorktown relating to junk and junk dealers.”
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 12(a))
The application for a junk dealer’s license shall be signed
and sworn to by the person applying therefor before some officer authorized
by law to administer oaths or, in the case of a partnership or corporation,
by one member of the firm or officer or agent of the corporation,
and shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by three (3) responsible
citizens of the city certifying that the applicant is a safe and proper
person to engage in the business of a junk dealer. Such application
shall be filed with the chief of police.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 12(b))
Upon receipt of an application for a license under this article,
the chief of police shall carefully examine the facts of the same
and approve or disapprove the application. If the chief of police
deems the applicant an unsafe or improper person to be granted a license
as a junk dealer, the application shall be disapproved. Whether he
shall approve or disapprove the application, the same shall be referred
to the city council. The council shall then either approve or disapprove
the application; provided, however, that before such disapproval,
the council shall give the applicant an opportunity to be heard, giving
said applicant written notice of the time and place of the hearing
at least five (5) days prior thereto, at which time the applicant
shall appear and be heard. After such hearing, if the city council
finds such applicant to be an unsafe and improper person to engage
in the business of a junk dealer, it may, at its discretion, disapprove
the application.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 12(c))
Upon compliance with the provisions of this article and upon
the approval of the application by the city council, the city tax
assessor and collector shall issue the license provided for herein
and shall number all such licenses consecutively.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 12(d))
Every junk dealer who is issued a license by the city shall
display such license in a conspicuous place at such business location.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 12(e))
Every license issued under this article shall expire on the
thirty-first day of December next after its issuance.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 12(f))
Conviction of any person licensed under this article for violating
any of the provisions of this article shall be, within the discretion
of the city council, sufficient cause for the cancellation of a license.
(Ordinance adopted 3/12/79, art.
I, sec. 12(g))