[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Pleasant Valley 8-15-2001 by L.L. No. 14-2001. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Refuse collection, storage and disposal — See Ch. 57.
Zoning — See Ch. 98.
A. 
The Town intends to regulate, control and license the activities know as "auto salvage yards." The Town hereby declares that such activities or businesses can constitute a hazard to property and persons and a public nuisance.
B. 
The presence of such auto salvage yards, even in areas zoned for business or industry, is unsightly and tends to detract from the value of surrounding land and property unless such areas are properly maintained and operated.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUTO
Passenger auto, truck, tractor truck, trailer, bus, motorcycle or other vehicle, however propelled, as well as tractors, bulldozers, machinery and equipment.
AUTO SALVAGE YARD
Any activity or business which involves the collection, storage, burning, dumping, disassembling, dismantling, salvaging, sorting or otherwise handling or arranging for sale, resale, storage or disposal or otherwise of bodies, engines or parts of autos.
PERSON
An individual, an association, a partnership, a corporation or a limited liability company.
No new auto salvage yards shall be permitted in the Town.
All persons who operate existing auto salvage yards within the Town are licensed, and such licenses are subject to renewal on an annual basis. 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. No person seeking to operate an existing auto salvage yard shall do so without first obtaining a license.
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:
(1) 
That the applicant is over 21 years of age.
(2) 
That he/she is a citizen of the United States.
(3) 
Whether he/she has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor and such other facts or evidence as is deemed necessary to establish that he/she is a person fit and capable of properly conducting the activity or business for which the license is sought.
(4) 
A description of the exact type of business he/she intends to conduct.
(5) 
The nature of the materials he/she intends to handle.
(6) 
The number of employees he/she intends to engage.
(7) 
The name and address of the owner or owners 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/she intends to conduct the activity or business for which he/she is making application for a license hereunder, showing:
(1) 
The area of such real property which it is proposed to use for such purpose.
(2) 
The location of the fence required hereunder.
(3) 
The location of any buildings on such land.
(4) 
The location of any streets or highways abutting or passing through such land.
(5) 
The location of any water, sewer or gas mains or laterals available thereto.
(6) 
The general drainage pattern of such land.
C. 
In the application, the applicant shall agree that, if granted the license applied for, he/she will conduct the activity or business pursuant to the regulations hereinafter set forth and that upon his/her failure to do so such license may be revoked forthwith.
A. 
The annual fee for the license is hereby fixed as set by resolution of the Town Board, 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.
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 December 31 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 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.
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. 
The licensee must erect and maintain a six-foot wire fence of close mesh or one made of wood or of other material 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 or public street or highway, such fence shall be 25 feet from the boundary line thereof. All the materials dealt in by the licensee shall be kept within such fence at all times.
D. 
Inside and adjacent to and contiguous with such fence, a strip of land at least 10 feet in width shall be kept free of all dry grass or other growth or other combustible material so as to provide a fire lane or line around the whole area where the activity or business of the licensee is being conducted.
E. 
The autos, parts and materials shall be piled or arranged in neat rows so as to permit easy, clear passage through the area.
F. 
There shall be maintained at each such place of activity or business for which a license is issued at least one fire extinguisher of approved design and capacity for each 40,000 square feet of area. Each such fire extinguisher shall be hung or mounted in a conspicuous place, clearly marked and available.
G. 
When the area is not supervised by the licensee or his/her employees, the fence shall be locked at a secure gate in a secure manner.
H. 
Suitable sanitary facilities shall be available, connected to approved public sewers or septic tanks, for the use and convenience of the employees of the licensee as well as the general public visiting the area.
I. 
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.
J. 
The police, 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. 
Any person committing an offense against the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a violation, punishable by a fine of not more than $250 or by imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation of an offense shall constitute, for each day the offense is continued, a separate and distinct violation hereunder.
B. 
Conviction for any offense against the provisions of this chapter shall constitute and effect an immediate forfeiture of the license.
C. 
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 the provisions of this chapter or to restrain by injunction an offense against this chapter.