[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Albion 2-17-1960.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
By the adoption of this chapter, the Town Board of the Town of Albion
declares its intent in so doing to be to regulate, control and license the
activities or businesses known as auto "graveyards," junkyards, secondhand
parts collection areas, the processing of used metals for resale and the dumping,
storage and disposal of waste, secondhand 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 flammable 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 flammable.
The tires, plastic seats, tops and other elements of such autos are also flammable.
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
certain adults. The presence of such junkyards 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 person who acquires, buys, stores or collects within the Town
of Albion any variety of old metals, paper or rags or old or broken-down machinery
of any kind with the intent to resell same, whether in its original state
or after being reduced to scrap metal.
[Amended 4-14-1989 by L.L.
No. 1-1989]
A place of storage or deposit, whether in connection with another
business or not, where motor vehicles, engines, bulldozers, cranes and other
construction equipment, airplanes, boats, major household appliances, furniture,
farm machinery or other large equipment or the parts thereof are held, whether
for the purpose of resale of used parts therefrom, for the purpose of reclaiming
for use some or all of the materials thereof, whether metal, glass, fabric
or otherwise, for the purpose of disposing of the same or for any other purpose.
By the open storage or deposit of any two such items or of the parts thereof
such that the recombination of such parts would be substantially similar to
two such items, a rebuttable presumption is created that such open storage
or deposit is a junkyard. The presumption may be rebutted by such evidence
as a currently valid motor vehicle registration, together with proof of insurance
coverage and a current inspection with respect to motor vehicles or, with
respect to such other items, evidence demonstrating current fitness for the
original intended purpose, as well as evidence that such storage or deposit
is of a temporary nature; provided, however, that the term "junkyard" shall
not be construed to mean an establishment having facilities for processing
iron, steel or nonferrous scrap and whose principal produce is scrap iron,
steel or nonferrous scrap, for sale, for remelting purposes only. Automobile
junkyards as defined in the General Municipal Law, § 136, shall
be included within this definition.
[Amended 4-14-1989 by L.L.
No. 1-1989]
An individual, an association, a partnership, a corporation.
No person shall engage in or conduct on real property within the Town
of Albion 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, 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 or of any other secondhand
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 a citizen
of the United States, whether he has 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
number of employees he intends to engage; and 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.
[Amended 4-14-1989 by L.L.
No. 1-1989]
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, and the application
shall provide that prior to its approval all applicable SEQR regulations shall
be complied with.
[Amended 4-14-1989 by L.L.
No. 1-1989]
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.
The applicant shall also furnish a bond, satisfactory
to the Town Attorney, in the amount of $10,000 per 1/4 acre or fraction thereof
of property to be used in the junkyard operation, conditioned upon the conduct
of the business in compliance with all provisions of this chapter and all
applicable statutory provisions. This bond shall be discharged upon the discontinuance
of the business and the inspection of the premises by the Town Board to its
satisfaction.
[Amended 4-14-1989 by L.L.
No. 1-1989]
E.
A person presently engaged in or conducting an activity
or business such as described herein on real property within the Town of Albion
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 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 engaging in or conducting the same and
shall remove from such place any autos, parts or other materials of the nature
described herein.
F.
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 is hereby fixed in the sum of
$100, 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.
[Amended 4-14-1989 by L.L.
No. 1-1989]
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 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.
Such license may be revoked by the Town Board after a
public hearing and notice to the bonding company 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. In the event that the licensee fails to comply, the
bonding company shall have not more than 30 days to remedy the violation.
In the event that the violation is not remedied by either the licensee or
the bonding company, the bond shall be forfeited.
[Amended 4-14-1989 by L.L.
No. 1-1989]
F.
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 this Town pursuant to the provisions of Article
6 of the New York State General Business Law, then such applicant shall be
entitled to and allowed a credit against the above-provided license fee in
the amount of $5, 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.
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 an eight-foot solid
fence of wood or of other opaque 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 dealt in by the licensee
shall be disassembled or dismantled by means other than by burning, except
pursuant to such regulations as the Town Board may from time to time adopt
upon application of a licensee or licensees, they 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
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 licensed 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 Town 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.
The owner or licensee of any such place of business who
commits or permits any acts 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
$1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both such fine and imprisonment.
[Amended 4-14-1989 by L.L.
No. 1-1989]
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 collectible by the Town in the amount of $100
for each such offense. Such penalty shall be collectible 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 to
restrain by injunction the violation of such chapter.
