[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.]
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:
Passenger auto, truck, tractor truck, trailer, bus, motorcycle or
other vehicle, however propelled, as well as tractors, bulldozers, machinery
and equipment.
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.
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.
