[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Springfield
12-14-1994 as § 5-8 of the 1994 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and terms used
herein shall be defined as follows:
An area of land, with or without buildings, used for the storage of
used and discarded materials, including, but not limited to, waste paper,
rags, metal, building materials, house furnishings, machinery, vehicles or
parts thereof, with or without the dismantling process, salvage, sale or other
use or disposition of the same. The deposit or storage on a lot of two or
more unlicensed or disabled vehicles, or the major part thereof, shall be
deemed to be a junkyard.
Junkyard shall also include the business of purchasing, selling, exchanging
or storing old iron, brass, copper, tin, lead, dismantled or partly dismantled
used motor vehicles, parts of used motor vehicles, all paper, rags, rubber,
glass and other secondhand materials of like nature, secondhand lumber, doors,
window frames, plumbing fixtures and any secondhand materials acquired by
reason of the demolition of any structure.
The Township Council hereby expressly finds that junkyards are places where inflammable and combustible materials are stored and deposited in large quantities, where the danger of fire or explosion exists and where vermin may live and multiply, and that therefore junkyards are threats to the public safety, are threats to the public health and tend to unfairly discourage the sale and to depress the value of real property in the neighborhood. It also finds that the maintenance of junkyards may hinder or interfere with the detection of crime. It further finds and declares that the adoption of this chapter is necessary in aid of the enforcement of the provisions of Chapter 215, Zoning.
It shall be unlawful for any person to use any real estate owned or
possessed by him/her for the purpose of maintaining thereon or thereat any
junkyard without a license for that purpose being first had and obtained from
the Township Clerk.
Applications for a junkyard license shall be made, in writing, on forms provided by the Township and shall be signed and verified by the oath or affirmation of the applicant, or his/her authorized agent. In addition to the applicable information required by Chapter 122, Licensing, the application for such a license shall state:
As a condition for the issuance of a junkyard license, the applicant
shall file with the application a signed consent that the members of the Township
Council and any police officer may, at any reasonable time, enter upon the
premises to inspect the same for the purpose of determining the identity and
ownership of any item of property located thereon or for the purpose of determining
that the licensee is using reasonable care to prevent the happening of fire
or explosion, the spread of conflagration, the breeding of mosquitoes, vermin
or other animals and insects deleterious to the public health, and for the
purpose of determining that they are licensed to be operated as a junkyard
or automobile graveyard is not being exceeded.
A.
The license shall be issued by the Township Clerk and
shall authorize the use of such specifically defined property as the licensed
premises of a junkyard as the application specifically describes. The license
privileges shall be confined strictly to the area so described in the application.
B.
The license issued pursuant to any such application shall
limit the number of automobiles to be kept at any one time in the junkyard
to the number set forth in the application, and it shall be unlawful for any
person to keep or store in any junkyard in the Township any larger number
of automobiles than that authorized by the license.
C.
The Township Clerk shall not issue any license for a
junkyard in a commercial or industrial district which did not lawfully exist
therein at the time of the taking effect of this chapter, nor shall (s)he
issue any license for any junkyard in a commercial or industrial district
where such junkyard is not being lawfully maintained therein at the time of
the taking effect of this chapter.
Before any application for a license to conduct such business shall
be accepted by the Township Clerk, there shall be presented to him/her, at
the time of the making of such application, a paid tax bill receipted by the
Tax Collector indicating that all property taxes due on the proposed premises
have been paid.
A.
Term. Every license for a junkyard shall expire on December
31 in the year for which it was issued.
B.
Renewal. All renewal applications shall be filed with the Township Clerk prior to January 1 in the year for which the license applied for is to be effectual, and for failure to do so, in addition to the regular license fee, the applicant shall pay a penalty as set forth in Chapter 91, Fees, § 91-3A, for each month or part thereof that (s)he shall be tardy in perfecting his/her renewal application. No renewal license shall be granted until all such penalties, in addition to the license fee, shall have been paid.
Any junkyard license issued by the Township Clerk shall be revocable by the Township Council after a public hearing has been held in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 1, General Provisions, § 1-5, if:
A.
The licensee has in any way violated the terms of his/her
license;
B.
The licensee has failed to use reasonable care to prevent
the happening of fire or explosion, the spread of a conflagration, the breeding
of mosquitoes, vermin or other animals or insects deleterious to the public
health;
C.
Opportunity for inspection of such premises by any member
of the Township Council or by any police officer shall be denied; or
D.
Any application shall contain any false statement.
A.
Any license heretofore or hereafter granted under the authority of this chapter shall be transferable from person to person by the Township Clerk. Any license heretofore or hereafter granted under the authority of this chapter shall be transferable from place to place, but only after approval of such transfer by formal action of the Township Council. No person-to-person or place-to-place transfer of any such license shall be valid or effectual until a written application therefor in substantially the same form as is prescribed for the initial license application shall have been executed and filed and for which a transfer fee, as set forth in Chapter 91, Fees, § 91-3A, shall have been paid.
B.
When a person-to-person or place-to-place transfer shall
have been granted, the Township Clerk shall require delivery to him/her of
the license issued prior to such transfer and shall issue a new license giving
effect to such transfer.
C.
Nothing herein contained shall authorize the approval
by the Township Council of the transfer of a license to a place where the
exercise of the license privileges is prohibited by any zoning ordinance of
the Township.
Any license required by the terms of this chapter shall not be construed
to be a permit or certificate of approval required by the terms of the Motor
Vehicle Junk Law of the State of New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 27:5E-1 et seq., and
N.J.S.A. 39:11-1 et seq.
A.
Fencing.
(1)
Required. When any business licensed hereunder is conducted
on an open air plot of ground, yard or parcel of land, the premises shall
be enclosed by a solid surfaced board fence.
(2)
Construction. Such fence shall:
(a)
Be set back a minimum distance of 15 feet from any street
line.
(b)
Be not less than six feet nor more than eight feet in
height from the ground.
(c)
Be substantially constructed with boards joining one
another.
(d)
May contain necessary gates which, when closed, will
properly conform to the fence.
(3)
Maintenance. The fence shall, at all times, be maintained
in good condition and properly painted.
(4)
View of materials. No secondhand materials, the purchase,
sale, exchange or storage of which is regulated herein, shall be piled or
placed so as to be visible above the fence.
(5)
Advertising signs. Any and all advertisements placed
or printed on such fence shall be confined solely to the advertisement of
the licensee’s business and shall conform to any sign regulations of
the Township, including application requirements.
B.
Storage outside offence. None of the materials, the purchase, sale, exchange or storage of which is regulated herein, shall be kept on any sidewalk or street, or outside the fence required to be erected pursuant to Subsection A, or in front of the place of business licensed hereunder.
C.
Drainage. It shall be unlawful for any licensee to permit
any of the materials, the purchase, sale, exchange or storage of which is
regulated herein, to be placed upon the licensed premises in such a manner
so as to permit rainwater to collect and remain in and about the premises
for a period longer than 24 hours.
D.
Fire or health hazard. It shall be unlawful for any licensee
to stack, pile or place any of the aforesaid materials upon the licensed premises
in such a manner as to create a fire hazard or to create a place for the harboring
or breeding of rats, mice or vermin.
E.
Burning of material. It shall be unlawful for any licensee
to cause any of the aforesaid materials which may be inflammable to be destroyed
by burning on the premises.
F.
Hours of operation. No work shall be done or business
conducted on the premises on Sunday or between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and
8:00 a.m. the following day.
G.
Additional regulations. All licenses issued pursuant
to this chapter shall at all times be subject to such reasonable rules and
regulations as the Township Council may, from time to time, determine to be
necessary and proper in the best interest of the citizens of
the Township.
