[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Mansfield
12-30-1963 by Ord. No. 1963-4. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
No person, firm or corporation shall exercise, carry on or be engaged in the trade or business of secondhand automobile dealer or secondhand automobile parts dealer, or store or expose for sale used or new motor vehicles in the manner set forth in § 29-10 hereof, within the corporate limits of the Township of Mansfield, without first having obtained a license so to do in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.
B.
Every applicant for any said license shall make application
therefor to the Township Committee of said Township; and every said applicant
shall cause to be filed with the Clerk of said Township, at least seven days
before such application shall be made, an application therefor in writing
signed by said applicant or applicants, which application shall set forth:
(1)
The name and place of residence of each applicant; if
any such applicant shall be a partnership, the name and place of residence
of each partner; and if any such applicant shall be a corporation, the name
and place of residence of each officer and of the registered agent thereof.
(2)
The period of residence of each applicant, or, if the
applicant be a corporation, the period of residence of the person or persons
who intend to be the managers or in charge of such business, in said Township,
if any of said persons reside there; his place or their respective places
of previous employment and whether any said applicant, manager or person to
be in charge has ever been convicted of a crime, and if so, when, where, of
what crime and before what court.
(3)
The detailed nature of the business intended to be conducted.
(4)
A detailed description of the place where any said business
is intended to be conducted.
C.
Every such applicant shall deposit with the said Clerk
at the time of filing of any such application a sum of money in cash equal
in amount to the entire license fee, which sum shall be returned to said applicant
in the event that the license applied for shall not be granted.
D.
Every such applicant shall, at least seven days prior
to the making of said application to said Township Committee, cause notice
of said application and of the time when and the place where it will be made
to said Committee, to be published at least once in a newspaper circulating
in said Township, and shall also, at least seven days prior to the making
of said application, cause notice thereof as aforesaid in writing to be given
either personally or by registered mail, to each owner of, and to each tenant
or person in possession of, real property situate within 500 feet of the land
upon which said business is proposed to be conducted. If the residence or
address of any said owner, tenant or person in possession shall be unknown,
said notice shall be sent by registered mail, addressed to the last known
address of said person appearing upon the tax records of said Township. Said
notice shall be given or mailed, in the case of an infant or incompetent,
to the guardian of such person; when the title to any real property shall
be held in trust, to the trustee; and when the title to any such real property
shall be held by joint tenants, tenants in common or tenants by the entireties,
to any one of said tenants.
A.
The term "secondhand automobile dealer," as used in this
chapter, shall be construed to mean any person, firm or corporation engaged
in, or who or which shall engage in, the business of buying and selling secondhand
or used motor vehicles; and the term "secondhand automobile parts dealer,"
as used in this chapter, shall be construed to mean any person, firm or corporation
engaged in, or who shall engage in, the business of buying and selling secondhand
or used parts for motor vehicles; and the fact that any person, firm or corporation
maintains and conducts, or shall maintain and conduct, an agency or subagency
for any automobile manufacturer shall not exempt any such agent or subagent
from the provisions of this chapter if such agent or subagent is engaged in,
or shall engage in, the business of buying and selling secondhand or used
motor vehicles, or secondhand or used parts for motor vehicles, or both of
said businesses.
B.
Either of the terms "secondhand automobile" and "used
automobile" as used in this chapter shall be construed to mean every motor
vehicle, title to or possession of which has been transferred from the person
who first acquired it from the manufacturer or dealer, and so used as to become
what is commonly known as "secondhand" or "used" within the ordinary meaning
thereof, and includes every motor vehicle other than a new motor vehicle,
which is fit for use for highway transportation or which, by ordinary and
reasonable adjustment, repair or replacement of parts thereon or attachments
thereto, will become fit for such use, which is being maintained in fit condition
for, and which is intended for, a resumption of such use, and from which no
part thereof or attachment thereto shall have been removed excepting such
part or attachment as shall have been removed temporarily for repair to or
replacement of such part or attachment.
Every person or firm who, or corporation which, shall apply for the granting or renewal of the license to conduct the business of secondhand automobile dealer and secondhand automobile parts dealer, and to store or expose for sale any used or new motor vehicles according to the provisions of § 29-10 hereof, required by the provisions of § 29-1 hereof, shall, if such person, firm or corporation shall maintain and conduct a bona fide agency or subagency for any automobile manufacturer, pay to the Clerk of said Township at the time of making said application the sum of $25, and every person or firm who, or corporation which, shall apply for the granting or renewal of any said license shall, if any such person, firm or corporation shall not maintain and conduct a bona fide agency or subagency for any automobile manufacturer, pay to the Clerk of said Township at the time of making said application the sum of $1,000; provided, however, that if said application shall be made by any person, firm or corporation as last aforesaid on or after July 1 of the year for the remainder of which said license is sought, such person, firm or corporation last aforesaid shall pay to the said Clerk at the time of making said application the sum of $500.
Before any person, firm or corporation shall be licensed as a secondhand
automobile dealer, such applicant shall file with the Township Clerk a bond
in the sum of $1,000 with a duly licensed surety company as surety thereon,
such surety to be approved by the Township Committee and said bond to be approved
as to form and execution by the Township Counsel; and before any person, firm
or corporation shall be licensed as a secondhand automobile parts dealer,
such applicant shall file with the Township Clerk a bond in the sum of $1,000
with a licensed surety company as surety thereon, such surety to be approved
by the Township Committee and said bond to be approved as to form and execution
by the Township Counsel; conditioned that such licensee shall observe the
ordinances of said Township in violation to the business to do which such
applicant has applied for license; and that such licensee will conduct said
business in conformity therewith and will account for and deliver to any person
legally entitled thereto any automobile or automobile parts which of such
licensee or in lieu thereof may have come into the possession such licensee
shall pay in money to such person or persons the reasonable value thereof.
Any person, firm or corporation licensed under the provisions of this
chapter shall at all time during the term of said license allow the Chief
of Police or any member of said Police Department of the Township of Mansfield
to enter the premises where said licensee is carrying on such business, for
the purpose of inspecting such premises and inspecting the automobiles or
automobile parts or license plates therein for the purpose of locating goods
suspected or alleged to have been stolen or otherwise improperly disposed
of.
Before such person, firm or corporation shall be licensed to conduct
such business in said Township, a copy of the application for such license
shall be delivered to the Chief of Police of said Township; the Chief of Police
or any member of the Police Department shall investigate the applicant and
report the result of such investigation to the Township Committee, together
with the approval or the disapproval of such application by said Chief of
Police; provided, however, that no person shall be licensed under the terms
hereof who may at any time prior to the issuance of said license have been
duly convicted in any court of competent jurisdiction of having received stolen
goods or of any infraction of the terms and provisions of this chapter or
any of the ordinances of the Township of Mansfield regulating the business
to do which said applicant has applied for a license.
No person, firm or corporation licensed under the terms hereof shall
keep his office or place of business open for the transaction of business
of any day of the week before 7:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m., when all lighting,
with the exception of safety lighting, shall be extinguished; nor shall any
person licensed under the terms hereof purchase or receive any automobile
or automobile parts of any nature from any minor.
Whenever the Chief of Police of the Mansfield Township Police Department
shall notify any licensee hereunder not to sell or permit to be removed any
automobile or automobile part purchased by any such licensee, the same shall
not be permitted to be removed nor shall the same be sold until such time
as may be determined by the Mansfield Township Police Department; provided
that such time shall in no case exceed the period of six months from the date
of such notifications.
All automobiles, parts or accessories thereof coming into the possession
of any licensee under the terms hereof shall at all times be open to the inspection
and right of examination of any person claiming to have been the owner thereof
or claiming to have had any interest therein, when such person is accompanied
by a police officer of the Mansfield Township Police Department; nor shall
any licensee under the terms hereof hide, conceal or stow away any of the
said property in his possession from any member of the Mansfield Township
Police Department.
From and after the passage of this chapter, it shall be unlawful for
any person, firm or corporation to use any vacant lot or property or any portion
thereof outside of a building for the storage or exposure for sale of used
or new motor vehicles without first having obtained a license therefor from
the Township Clerk as hereinbefore provided.
Wherever two or more motor vehicles are stored on any such vacant lot
or land for sale, whether adjacent to a duly established garage, service station
or any other motor vehicle business or not, the license as herein provided
shall be required, and a separate license shall be required for each separate
lot or parcel of ground upon which the said business is conducted; provided,
however, that where several lots are continuous to each other and the business
is conducted on all of said lots, only one license shall be necessary.
The license shall authorize the licensee to conduct the said business
on the lot specified in the license, shall not be transferable to another
plot or lot, nor shall said license be assignable or transferable in any manner.
No motor vehicle shall be placed by the said licensee on the sidewalks
or any part thereof, nor shall the said licensee use the street or any part
thereof for the storage, display or sale of said motor vehicle.
No licensee or his agent shall knowingly buy, sell, receive, dispose
or conceal or have in his possession any motor vehicle from which the manufacturer's
serial number or any other number or identification mark has been removed,
defaced, altered, covered or destroyed for the purpose of concealing the identity
of such vehicle.
All licenses under this chapter shall at all times be subject to such
reasonable rules as may be made by resolution from time to time by the Township
Committee of the Township of Mansfield for the proper operation and regulation
of the places of business named in such license.
If the applicant is not the owner of the site where the said business
is to be conducted, the owner's consent to the conduct of said business shall
be endorsed on the said application.
The licensee by accepting a license hereunder agrees to comply with
all of the terms and conditions set forth in this chapter and all rules and
regulations promulgated by the Township Committee.
Any person, firm or corporation now conducting the business herein licensed
shall have 45 days after the final passage hereof in which to obtain the license
herein required, and during said period this chapter shall not become operative
or effective as to persons now engaged in the said business in order that
they may have ample opportunity to secure the necessary license.
This chapter is passed for the purpose of raising revenue and regulating
the business hereinabove referred to.
Each license so to be issued as above set forth shall continue for the
term of one year from the first day of the preceding January, provided that
any person securing such license after the first day of January in any year
shall be required to pay for such license only for that portion of the calendar
year for which said license is to run.
[Amended 5-5-1988 by Ord.
No. 1988-11]
Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment
in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days or to a period of community
service not exceeding 90 days, or to such combination of punishments as the
Municipal Judge may, in his or her discretion, deem appropriate and just.
In case, for any reason, any section or any provision of this chapter
shall be questioned in any court and shall be held unconstitutional or invalid,
the same shall not be held to affect any other section or provision of this
chapter.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith are hereby
repealed.
This chapter shall take effect immediately after publication as required
by law.
