The Town Board of the Town of Batavia recognizes that the proper storage
or disposal of unregistered, abandoned, dismantled or partially dismantled
automobiles, as well as other large scrap objects, is in the overall best
interests of the residents of the Town of Batavia in order to avoid potential
health hazards or nuisances, protect property values in the community and
provide for a pleasing visual landscape. The purpose of this chapter is to
provide for the uniform regulation of junkyards and used material collection
or processing operations. It is not intended to prevent the operation of such
a business or to be interpreted to impose unrealistic restrictions on any
other type of business; rather, it seeks to allow such uses of land to exist
in harmony with surrounding land uses and to be of service and assets to the
community.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
DISMANTLING FOR REPAIR
Dismantling operations necessary to repair, as well as the actual
repair itself, of the vehicle, machine or equipment of the customer of a junkyard
operator.
DISMANTLING FOR SALVAGE
Dismantling operations performed on a machine, vehicle or piece of
equipment in which the components of the vehicle or machine are removed and
used (or stored) for their own intrinsic value rather than as a part of the
entire vehicle, equipment or machine. The operations render the vehicle, equipment
or machine, as a whole, inoperable and are performed solely because of the
value of the parts or components, rather than of the whole.
JUNKYARD
An area of land, including buildings thereon, on or in which metal,
automobiles, waste paper, rags, household debris, tin cans and other materials
are collected, stored, processed, dismantled and/or sold.
JUNKYARD OPERATOR
The owner of land upon which a junkyard is located, his tenant, associates
or assignees responsible for the operations and conduct of business in the
junkyard.
PERSON
A title owner, including a corporation, of real property, including
a mobile home park within the Town of Batavia, New York.
STACKED
Piling two or more vehicles, machines, pieces of equipment or other
materials on top of one another to make use of vertical space rather than
horizontal space.
TENANT
A person, firm or corporation leasing real property from a person.
The following are conditions constituting a junkyard:
A. The storage or abandonment of waste paper, rags, scrap
metal and/or discarded materials or the collection, storage, salvage or abandonment
of machinery or vehicles not in operable condition by any person.
B. The allowance, with or without permission, by a person
of the storage or abandonment of waste paper, rags, scrap metal and/or discarded
materials for the collection, storage, salvage or abandonment of machinery
or vehicles not in operable condition on real property owned by the person's
tenant or other leaseholder of real property.
C. The storage or deposit of more than two unregistered,
disabled, dismantled or partly dismantled vehicles (whether or not dismantled
for repair), equipment, machines or material or comparable volume not stored
in a completely enclosed structure shall constitute a junkyard.
The following conditions are hereby excluded from the definition of
a junkyard.
A. Unlicensed vehicles in operating condition stored by
or for the owner while the owner is:
(1) A full-time student of the immediate family attending
a school, college or university.
(2) A member of the United States Armed Forces.
(3) Suffering from an injury or illness requiring hospitalization
or confinement to a bed.
B. Seasonal vehicles or machinery during their off-season
if kept in a location not visible from any road, street or highway, when practicable;
otherwise, the same must be stored in a neat and orderly fashion.
C. Vehicles or machinery used on the premises for the purpose
of conducting a business or industry.
D. Operable vehicles by an approved auto or comparable agency
in business or industrial districts.
E. Maximum of two customized or modified vehicles in operable
condition. (All modifications must be performed in a fully enclosed structure.)
F. By-products or waste generated in the natural course
of running an on-site operation which is a necessary part of the business
being conducted and which is being temporarily stored (for a maximum of six
months) for future disposal in a sanitary manner as determined by the Genesee
County Health Department and/or the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation.
A hearing on the application shall be held by the Town Board not less
than two nor more than four weeks from the date of the receipt of the completed
application record from the Zoning Enforcement Officer. Notice of the hearing
shall be given to the applicant and shall be published once in the official
newspaper of the town, which publication shall be not less than seven days
before the date of the hearing.
At the time and place set for the hearing, the Town Board shall hear
the applicant and all other persons wishing to be heard on the special use
permit to operate, establish or maintain the junkyard. In considering such
application, it shall take into account the suitability of the applicant with
reference to his ability to comply with the fencing requirements and all other
requirements of this chapter, to any record of convictions for any type of
larceny or receiving of stolen goods and to any other matter within the purposes
of this section.
At the time and place set for the hearing, the Town Board shall hear
the applicant and all other persons wishing to be heard on the application
for a special use permit on the location of the junkyard. In passing upon
the same, it shall take into account, after proof of legal ownership and right
to such use of the property by the applicant, the nature and development of
surrounding property, such as the proximity of churches, schools, homes, hospitals,
public buildings or other places of public gathering, and whether or not the
proposed location can be reasonably protected from affecting the public health
and safety by reason of offensive or unhealthy odors, smoke or other causes.
At the hearing regarding location of the junkyard, the Town Board shall
take into account the clean, wholesome and attractive environment which is
hereby declared to be of vital importance to the continued general welfare
of its citizens by considering whether or not the proposed location can be
reasonably protected from having an unfavorable effect thereon. In this connection
the Town Board may consider collectively the type of road servicing the junkyard
or from which the junkyard may be seen, the natural or artificial barriers
protecting the junkyard from view, the proximity of the proposed junkyard
to established residential and recreational areas or main access routes thereto,
as well as the reasonable availability of other suitable sites for the junkyard.
The annual special use permit fee shall be $25, to be paid to the Town
Clerk at the time the application is made and annually thereafter in the event
of renewal.
The applicant shall demonstrate his ability to comply with the following
minimum standards:
A. Provide adequate screening of all operations and storage
carried on in the junkyard so as to maintain a reasonably pleasing visual
landscape.
B. Provide sufficient distance of a minimum of 50 feet between
the road right-of-way and junkyard operations so as not to interfere with
the flow of traffic.
C. Provide for adequate fire protection of the junkyard,
as well as a buffer for adjacent land uses.
D. All new buildings to be located on the site must be set
back a distance of at least 50 feet from the right-of-way of any roadway.
E. All sides of a yard must be enclosed and permanently
maintained with a fence and/or sight barrier constructed of materials to be
approved by the Town Board with a suitable gate which shall be closed and
locked except during the working hours of such junkyard or when the applicant,
his agents or employees shall be within. Said fence and/or sight barrier shall
be required to effectively screen the operations and storage taking place
within the yard from the view of passing motorists, pedestrians and neighbors.
F. If a front fence is erected it must be set back a distance
of at least 50 feet from the right-of-way of the roadway. Living hedges and/or
trees used as a sight barrier must be established clear of any right-of-way.
G. The remainder of the site shall be enclosed by a fence
or a sight barrier of acceptable natural or man-made materials (natural to
include stands of trees, brush, a berm of dirt, etc.) to reasonably screen
the operations and storage taking place within the yard from the view of passing
motorists, pedestrians and neighbors.
H. There shall be a fifteen-foot buffer zone around the
entire site between the adjoining property line and any fence or sight barrier.
Said lane shall be free of debris and excessive growth (trees, underbrush),
except where the natural materials are part of the fencing required.
I. No materials shall be stacked higher than 15 feet above
a junkyard's ground surface. Stacked materials shall have additional
sight barriers around them if not otherwise reasonably screened from general
view.
J. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing provisions of this
chapter, no person, firm or corporation shall be issued a special use permit
to operate such junkyard or any part thereof within 500 feet of any church,
school, hospital, public building or place of public assembly.
All operations constituting a junkyard shall be carried on within the
area enclosed by the fence or sight barrier.
Those persons, firms and corporations legally operating or maintaining
junkyards under the ordinance of the Town of Batavia licensing dealers in
used materials at the time this chapter becomes effective shall be permitted
to operate thereunder until current licenses and certificates of approval
expire on June 30, 1979. Thereafter, all applications for permits shall be
made under and pursuant to this chapter. Those junkyard operators holding
valid licenses under the town's present ordinance may be issued a permit
under this chapter effective July 1, 1979, upon making application as required
hereunder, upon demonstrating to the Town Board that substantial procedures
to comply with all of the provisions of this chapter have been undertaken
prior to July 1, 1979, and that screening of all sides of yards by fencing
or planting of natural sight barriers has been completed prior to said date.
Holders of validly issued licenses and certificates of approval under the
town's present ordinance shall have until July 1, 1980, to fully comply
with the provisions of this chapter. Failure to comply with the provisions
of this section shall result in the revocation, denial or nonrenewal of the
operator's special use permit.
It is the intention of this chapter to take the place of and supersede
Town of Batavia Local Law Nos. 1 of 1988 and 1 of 1991, as well as an ordinance
amendment adopted by the Batavia Town Board on May 29, 1991, all relating
to the regulation of junkyards in the Town of Batavia, New York; said repeal,
however, shall not prevent any enforcement of either of said local laws or
ordinance that may be undertaken or in progress prior to the adoption of this
chapter. In addition, all persons, firms and corporations legally operating
or maintaining a junkyard under either of said local laws or ordinance amendment
may continue to do so in accordance with permits issued to them.