[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of New Lebanon 10-12-1961.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
By the adoption of this chapter, the Town Board of the Town of New Lebanon
declares its intent in so doing to be to regulate, control and license the
activities or businesses known as auto "graveyards," junkyards, second-hand
parts collection areas, the processing of used metals for resale and the dumping,
storage and disposal of waste, second-hand or used materials of whatever composition.
Said Town Board hereby declares that such activities or businesses can constitute
a hazard to property and persons and a public nuisance. Such materials may
be highly inflammable and sometimes explosive. Gasoline tanks on old autos
often contain in some quantity combustible gasoline; the engine and other
parts of such autos are frequently covered with grease and oil which is also
inflammable. The tires, plastic seats, tops and other elements of such autos
are also inflammable. Batteries and other elements of such autos can contain
acids and other matter potentially harmful to humans. These autos frequently
contain sharp metal or glass edges or points upon which a human could receive
serious cuts and abrasions. These autos can constitute attractive nuisances
to children and some adults.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Passenger auto, truck, tractor-trailer, bus, motorcycle, or other
vehicle, however propelled, as well as tractors, bulldozers, machinery and
equipment.
An individual, an association, a partnership, a corporation.
No person shall engage in or conduct on real property within the Town
of New Lebanon either for himself or for and on behalf of any other person
directly or indirectly as agent, employee or otherwise any activity or business
either for profit or otherwise, at wholesale or retail, which involves the
collection, storage, burning, disassembling, dismantling, salvaging, sorting
or otherwise handling or arranging for sale, resale, storage or disposal or
otherwise of bodies, engines or parts of autos, or of any other second-hand
or used property of whatever material it is composed or any waste material
whether composed of wood, paper cloth, cardboard, plastics, metals, stone,
cement or otherwise without first obtaining a license therefor as hereinafter
provided.
A.
Each applicant for a license hereunder shall execute
under oath an application therefor to be supplied to him by the Town Clerk,
which shall contain the following information: that the applicant is over
twenty-one (21) years of age, that he is a citizen of the United States, whether
he has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, and such other facts
or evidence as is deemed necessary to establish that he is a person fit and
capable of properly conducting the activity or business for which the license
is sought; a description of the exact type of business he intends to conduct;
the nature of the materials he intends to handle; the approximate number of
employees he intends to engage; and the name and address of the owner of the
land and the nature of the right of occupancy of the applicant to the use
of such land.
B.
At the time of making the application the applicant shall
submit to and file with the Town Clerk a map or plan of the real property
upon which he intends to conduct the activity or business for which he is
making application for a license hereunder with the area of such real property
which it is proposed to use for such purpose, the location of the fence required
hereunder indicated thereon as well as the location of any buildings on such
land and the location of any streets or highways abutting or passing through
such land and the location of any water, sewer or gas mains or laterals available
thereto as well as the general drainage pattern of such land.
C.
In the application the applicant shall agree that if
granted the license applied for, he will conduct the activity or business
pursuant to the regulations hereinafter set forth and that upon his failure
to do so such license may be revoked forthwith.
D.
A person presently engaged in or conducting an activity
or business such as described herein, on real property within the Town of
New Lebanon, must apply for a license therefor within 30 days of the adoption
of this chapter. If the place where he conducts such activity or business
presently complies with the requirements a person must meet to secure a license
in the first instance, he shall be issued a license therefor if he meets the
other requirements contained herein. If the place where he conducts such activity
or business does not presently comply with the requirements a person must
meet to secure a license in the first instance he may be granted a temporary
license for one (1) year, during which year he must arrange the place where
he conducts such activity or business so that it does then comply with the
requirements a person must meet to secure a license in the first instance.
If at the end of such year such person has not so arranged his place of such
activity or business he shall forthwith cease and desist in engaging in or
conducting the same and shall remove from such place any autos, parts or other
materials of the nature described herein.
E.
If the person conducting such activity or business is
not the sole owner thereof, he shall state such fact at the time he applies
for his temporary license and the Town Clerk at the time of issuing such temporary
license shall send the owners or each of them a notice of the issuance of
such temporary license to such person together with a copy of this chapter.
A.
The fee for the license shall be as set from time to
time by resolution of the Town Board,[1] which sum covers not only the cost of issuing the license itself
but also the cost of making the necessary inspections of the premises to ascertain
compliance with the regulations hereinafter prescribed.[2]
B.
Such license shall be placed and at all times displayed
in a conspicuous place at the licensee's place of activity or business
for which it is issued.
C.
Such license shall be effective from the date of its
issuance until the 31st day of December of the year of such issuance, after
which a new application for license must be made yearly if the licensee desires
to continue such activity or business.
D.
Such license is personal with the licensee. It does not
go with the title of the land nor may it be sold, assigned, transferred or
disposed of.
E.
All locations or areas used in such business or activity
by a particular person must be contiguous, and may not be separated by public
highways or lands of another to which the licensee has no right of occupancy.
Only one such location or area will be licensed to a particular person at
any one time.
F.
Such license may be revoked by the Town Board after a
public hearing thereon at which the licensee shall have an opportunity to
be heard. Upon revocation of a license the Town Board may require the removal
of autos, parts and materials left as above provided in the case of an applicant
for a temporary license who fails to qualify for a license.
G.
In the event that an applicant for a license as provided
herein shall have previously been duly issued a valid and effective junk dealer's
license by the supervisor of the town, pursuant to the provisions of Article
6 of the General Business Law of this state, then such applicant shall be
entitled to and allowed a credit against the above provided license fee in
the amount as set from time to time by resolution of the Town Board,[3] such junk dealer's license fee actually paid by such applicant;
otherwise, this chapter shall be fully binding upon and applicable to the
holder of any such junk dealer's license.[4]
A.
The licensee must personally manage or be responsible
for the management of the activity or business for which the license is granted.
B.
The licensee must maintain an office and a sufficient
number of employees on the premises to assure the proper and safe conduct
of such activity or business, to minimize the fire hazard therefrom and to
prevent improper trespass thereon by children and others.
C.
Except as hereinafter provided, the licensee must erect and maintain a six (6) foot fence of close mesh or one made of stone or of other materials, adequate to prohibit the entrance of children and others into the area of the activity or business and to contain within such fence the materials dealt in by the licensee, and if such area abuts a residential area, public street or highway, such fence shall be twenty-five (25) feet from the boundary line thereof. All the materials dealt in by the licensee shall be kept within such fence at all times. However, special permission will be granted to persons presently engaged in or conducting the activity or business such as herein described, to continue their present operation without such a fence, as long as they own such business or activity; and further provided that such special permission will be upon the express condition that such persons will keep a strip at least twenty-five (25) feet in width where the same abuts a residential area, public street or highway, plus the additional fifteen (15) foot strip provided under Subsection D, thus making a strip of forty (40) feet, in the same manner as imposed by such subdivision, viz., free of all dry grass or undergrowth or other combustible material, and of the materials in which the licensee deals.
D.
Inside and adjacent to and contiguous with such fence
a strip of land at least fifteen (15) feet in width shall be kept free of
all dry grass or other growth of other combustible material, and of the materials
in which the licensee deals, so as to provide a fire lane or line around the
whole area where the business or activity of the licensee is being conducted.
E.
The autos, parts and materials dealt in by the licensee
shall be disassembled or dismantled by means other than by burning, except
that special permission will be granted to persons presently engaged in or
conducting an activity or business such as herein described, to continue to
burn, provided such persons agree that no burning will be done within six
hundred (600) feet of any building. The autos, parts and materials dealt in
by the licensee shall be piled or arranged in neat rows so as to permit easy,
clear passage through the entire area, leaving adequate space of at least
fifteen (15) feet between such rows to permit the clear and unimpeded passage
of fire control vehicles between same.
F.
When the area is not supervised by the licensee or his
employee, the fence where required shall be locked at a secure gate in a secure
manner.
G.
The area of the licensee's activity or business
shall not be used as a dump area nor as a place for the burning and disposal
of junk or trash.
H.
The Town Constables, the Town Clerk or the Town Board
or any of its representatives shall be granted access to the area of the activity
or business of the licensee at all reasonable hours to inspect the same for
compliance herewith.
A.
The owner or licensee of any such place of business who
commits or permits any act in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter
shall be deemed to have committed an offense against such chapter, and also
shall be liable for any such violation or the penalty therefor. Each day such
violation shall continue or be permitted to exist shall constitute a separate
violation.
B.
For every violation of any provision of this chapter,
the person violating the same shall be subject to a fine of not more than
$250 or imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.[1]
C.
Conviction for any above mentioned violation shall constitute
and effect an immediate forfeiture of the license.
D.
Any person violating this chapter shall be subject to
a civil penalty enforceable and collectable by the town in the amount of $100
for each such offense. Such penalty shall be collectable by and in the name
of the town for each day that such violation shall continue.
E.
In addition to the above provided penalties and punishment,
the Town Board may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the
town in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or restrain
by injunction the violation of such chapter.