[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Mansfield 8-27-1957 (§ 4-6 of the 1975 General Ordinances); as amended
through Ord. No. 7-82. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Zoning — See Ch. 363.
A.
After August 27, 1957, it shall be unlawful within
the Township for any person to maintain, operate or conduct a junk
shop, junkyard or automobile junkyard, or automobile graveyard in
or upon which junk, as hereinafter described, shall be deposited,
purchased, sold, stored, repaired, renovated or restored without first
having obtained a license for such purpose. Such license shall be
of three classes:
B.
Existing Class C licenses issued prior to April 14, 1982, shall continue in effect until a new Class C license, as defined herein, is issued by the Township, pursuant to § 220-10, after having held a public hearing thereon. Thereafter, the former existing Class C license shall terminate and cease to exist.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Includes rags, scrap iron, brass, copper, tin, lead and other
materials, unregistered automobiles which are unfit for reconditioning,
sale or highway transportation, used parts of motor vehicles, old
bottles, glass, lumber, paper, discarded machinery, or parts thereof,
and any other secondhand articles or used materials and merchandise
and such other articles or things as commonly come within the classification
of junk.
Any person desiring to obtain a license as herein
required shall file with the Township Clerk a written application
signed by the applicant or applicants, which application shall state:
A.
The name and residence of the applicant, and if a
firm, association, partnership or corporation, the name and address
of the officers and the registered agent or partners.
B.
The detailed nature of the business to be conducted
and the classes of material which are proposed to be stored therein,
the premises upon which it is proposed to establish the business,
a full metes and bounds description of the portion of such premises
to be specially licensed, and a statement as to whether or not applicant
owns or leases such premises. If a survey is required to identify
and define the limits of the licensed premises, the applicant shall
procure and pay for such survey.
C.
All applicants for licenses for any class of premises
shall apply for and hold such license subject to the express condition
and undertaking on the applicant's part that upon expiration of any
license or renewal thereof, or revocation thereof for cause, the licensee
will remove all junk and debris from the premises within the following
period following expiration or revocation:
Each application shall contain the agreement
that the applicant accepts the license to be granted upon condition
that it may be suspended or revoked by the Township Committee upon
failure of the licensee to comply with the regulations set forth in
this chapter; provided, that immediately upon notice of suspension,
the licensee shall have a right to a full hearing before the Township
Committee within three days from the notice of suspension or revocation.
The number of such licensed premises within the Township is hereby limited to a total of three, one of each class described in § 220-1, and it is understood that the Township Committee may impose further reasonable rules and regulations with regard to the business to be conducted which it may deem necessary and proper for the preservation of public health, safety and welfare of the Township and its inhabitants.
If the applicant is not the owner of the site
where the business is to be conducted, the owner's consent to the
conduct of the business on the premises shall be endorsed upon the
first application for a license for such premises and upon each and
every renewal application.
The license shall authorize the licensee to
conduct the business at the place specified in the license and shall
not be transferable to another location, nor assignable or transferable
in any manner.
Before any application for a licensee to conduct
the business shall be accepted by the Township Clerk, there shall
be presented to him at the time of the making of the application a
paid tax bill by the Tax Collector of the Township, indicating that
the applicant has paid all personal property taxes due from such applicant
for the chattels on the licensed premises for the year preceding the
year for which new license is sought.
The Mayor and Township Committee shall issue
all licenses under this chapter and they shall be good and valid from
the date of issue until December 31 next after granting the same.
There shall be no apportionment of the license fee for any expired
portion of the calendar year in which such license is issued.
Before granting an initial license pursuant
to this section, the Township Committee shall conduct a hearing on
the application to determine whether or not the granting of such license
would unreasonably affect the public health and welfare and the applicant
shall cause a notice of such hearing to be published in a newspaper,
circulating in the Township at least 10 days prior to the hearing.
No hearing shall be required upon renewal application, unless formal
complaints have been filed against licensee alleging violation of
this chapter or other unlawful conduct. Any application seeking an
enlargement of the licensed premises shall be regarded as a new application
as to such additional area sought to be licensed.
All persons receiving and holding any licenses
pursuant to this chapter shall pay to the Township an annual fee for
each license issued according to the following schedule:
Every person to whom such license may be issued
shall, when engaging in business within the Township, be in possession
of such license, and is hereby required to have such license on exhibition
at all times.
The property upon which such licensed junkyard
business shall be conducted shall be enclosed by a fence, painted
green, or a hedge, which fence or hedge shall be of a minimum height
of seven feet and a maximum height of nine feet, and such fence or
hedge shall be kept in good repair and trimmed and in a neat and clean
condition at all times. Failure to maintain the fence or hedge in
such manner shall be cause for revocation of the license. The provisions
of this section may be waived by the Township Committee where such
Committee finds that the natural topographical features of the land,
or the existing foliage, indicate that such requirements are unnecessary
for the protection of neighboring properties.
Any licensee or the person in charge of any
licensed premises, who shall receive or be in possession of any goods,
articles or things which may have been stolen or lost, or alleged
or specified to have been stolen or lost, shall forthwith, upon demand
to view the same, present the same to the Township Clerk, any member
of the Township Committee or any state or municipal police officer.
All goods, articles, merchandise, or motor vehicles
shall be stored and kept within the enclosed fence above described,
and not upon the sidewalk, street or any part thereof. Motor vehicles,
used auto parts and other materials shall be stored side by side in
neat orderly rows and shall be kept in normal upright positions, without
any stacking, nor shall there be any bailing or noisy smashing of
any of such parts.
No licensee or his agent shall knowingly buy,
sell, receive, dispose of, conceal, or have in his possession any
motor vehicle from which the manufacturer's serial number or any other
number of identification mark has been removed, defaced, altered,
covered or destroyed, for the purpose of concealing the identity of
such vehicle.
A licensee may not burn junk, wrecked or discarded
automobiles, or any parts thereof, and there shall be no burning of
any kind except in designated spaces in incinerator enclosures meeting
the standards of the Air Pollution Code promulgated by the New Jersey
Department of Health.
It shall be unlawful for any licensee to stack,
pile or place any of the aforesaid secondhand materials upon the licensed
premises in such a manner as to create a fire hazard, or to create
a place for the harboring or breeding of rats, mice or vermin.
The Mayor or any member of the Township Committee,
health officer, or any authorized officer, or agent of the Township
shall have the right at any and all reasonable times, to inspect any
or all parts of the licensed premises.
It shall be unlawful for persons to deposit
or leave any abandoned or unlicensed automobile, truck or other automotive
equipment, or any part thereof, or other junk, in open fields or upon
other unfenced private property without first obtaining the permission
of the chairman of the Township Committee and of the owner of such
private property.
