[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Collins 6-15-1987 by L.L. No.
1-1987 (Ch. 15 of the 1987 Code). Amendments noted
where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Town of
Collins Junk Dealers and Junkyards Law."
A clean, wholesome, attractive environment is declared to be
of importance to the health and safety of the inhabitants of this
Town and the safeguarding of their material rights against unwarrantable
invasion and, in addition, such an environment is deemed essential
to the maintenance and continued development of the economy of the
Town and the general welfare of its inhabitants. The outdoor storage
of junked or wrecked motor vehicles or parts thereof, and other scrap
or waste material is detrimental to the health, safety, and general
welfare of the Town. Such storage also endangers the person and property
of members of the community, since fuel tanks of junked automobiles
containing gasoline or gasoline fumes may easily explode and the accumulation
of waste material, unless regulated, can cause serious fire and safety
hazards and the harboring of vermin, or may have serious environmental
effects.
As used in this chapter, unless the context or subject matter
otherwise requires, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Any person who shall carry on the business of buying, selling, storing or processing any of the articles enumerated in § 190-4, at a place of business of a junkyard or automobile wrecking yard as defined in the next definition.
Any place of storage or deposit, whether in connection with
another business or not, where junked motor vehicles, wrecks or parts
thereof, and other waste material are bought, sold, stored, dismantled,
processed for salvage or otherwise handled for any other related purpose.
No person shall engage in or conduct the business of junk dealer
within the Town of Collins either for himself or herself or for and
on behalf of any other person directly or indirectly as agent, employee
or otherwise, either for profit 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
junked or wrecked motor vehicles, or of any other second hand 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.
Information required. Each applicant for a license hereunder shall
execute under oath an application therefor to be supplied by the Town
and obtained from the Town Clerk's office and submit that to
the Code Enforcement Officer's office, which shall contain the
following information:
(1)
Full name of the applicant. If an individual, his or her address;
if a partnership, the names and addresses of all partners; if a corporation,
the names and addresses of all officers, stockholders, and directors.
(2)
The applicant shall set forth for each person listed under Subsection A(1) above a record of conviction, except for traffic violations, and the nature, date, court, and disposition of each such conviction.
(3)
The applicant shall list any and all previous applications to the
Town, or any other town, to carry on this proposed business or a similar
business, and the disposition of the application, and if denied or
terminated, the reason why denied or terminated.
(4)
The applicant shall set forth a list of any zoning, building, or
junkyard violations or citations which have been issued by any state
or municipal government where the applicant has transacted business
or has been associated with a similar business, and give the state,
the municipality, and the reason for the citation and the final disposition
of the violations or citations.
(5)
The applicant shall list all organizations or persons who have a financial interest in the real property, or the inventory, or the business, and if the organization is other than a licensed banking institution in the State of New York, furnish the information under Subsection A(1) through (4) above with regard to each.
(6)
The applicant shall list all names or assumed names or corporate
names under which the applicant has done business or with which the
applicant has been connected in the previous 10 years, and the address
of each business.
(7)
The applicant shall state the name of the proposed business and,
if an assumed name, proof of compliance with the law, or if a corporation,
proof of incorporation and current status of the corporation.
(8)
The renewal of each license may incorporate by reference any previous
information submitted but shall also set forth any known citations,
violations, or complaints made to the Town or any state or county
official. The annual renewal fee shall be set from time to time by
the Town Board.[1]
(9)
The license issued shall not be transferable nor may a third party
lease the premises or operate under the license. A change in ownership
of the real property or the business or any shares or stock in the
corporation owning the real property or the business shall be a violation
of this section unless a new application is received and processed
prior to the effective date of change.
(10)
The applicant shall state that the applicant shall be responsible
for the proper maintenance of the junkyard or automobile wrecking
yard and its upkeep during the license period.
(11)
Such other information as may be required by the Town Board.
(12)
The applications shall be signed and sworn to before a notary
public or other officer authorized to administer oaths.
B.
Map or plan. 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 or she intends to conduct the activity
or business for which he or she is making application for a license
hereunder with the area of such real property which it is proposed
to be used 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. This requirement shall be in addition to any requirements
set forth in any other chapter or section of the Town of Collins Municipal
Code.
C.
Agreement to comply with regulations. In the application the applicant
shall agree that, if granted the license applied for, he or she will
conduct the activity or business pursuant to the regulations hereinafter
set forth and that upon his or her failure to do so such license may
be revoked forthwith.
D.
Bond. Such application shall be accompanied by a bond to the Town of Collins, approved as to form by the Town Attorney in the penal sum set from time to time by the Town Board, with sufficient surety or securities or sufficient collateral security, conditioned for the due observance during the term of the license of any and all provisions of this chapter and Municipal Code which are now in force or may hereafter be adopted by the Town Board respecting the collection, buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in articles enumerated in § 190-4.[2]
A.
Upon the filing of the application and the bond as provided in the preceding section, the Town Supervisor may, upon approval of such application after investigation thereof, and of such bond as to sufficiency of surety or sureties or collateral security, and the payment to the Town of the license fee hereinafter provided, issue to the applicant a license to engage in business as provided in § 190-4. No license shall be refused except for a specific reason, including, but not limited to, past performance as an operator of such a business and/or his or her record of compliance with the laws and ordinances, the Town of Collins Municipal Code and of any other municipalities, and for the protection of public safety, health, welfare, or morals.
B.
All licenses shall state clearly the location of the junk business,
the date of issuance and expiration of the license and the name and
address of the licensee. No applicant to whom a license has been refused
or whose license has been terminated shall make further application
until a period of at least six months shall have elapsed since the
last previous rejection unless he or she can show that the reason
for such rejection no longer exists. Any license granted hereunder
shall not be deemed to waive any provision of the Town of Collins
Municipal Code.
Every junk dealer as defined in § 190-3 shall pay an annual license fee as set from time to time by the Town Board.
All licenses shall be issued as of January 1, and shall continue
in force until December 31 next succeeding and date of issuance thereof,
unless sooner revoked by the Town Board. Each applicant shall file
the renewal application not less than 60 days prior to the expiration
of the existing license. If it is an initial application for a license,
the application must be filed at least 60 days prior to the date the
business is expected to commence.
Each junk dealer while exercising his or her license shall exhibit
the same whenever requested to do so by a police officer or other
official of the Town. No license shall be used by any person other
than the original licensee, and any holder of such license who permits
it to be used by any other person and any person who uses such license
granted to any other person shall be guilty of a violation of this
chapter. Whenever a license shall be lost or destroyed without fault
on the part of the holder or his or her agent or employee, a duplicate
license in lieu thereof under the original application and bond may
be issued by the Town Supervisor, in his or her discretion, upon filing
of a sworn affidavit proving the loss of such license.
A.
Licensee to be responsible. The licensee must personally manage or
be responsible for the management of the activity or business for
which the license is granted.
B.
Office and employees. 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.
Fencing. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Municipal Code,
every junkyard shall be completely surrounded with a fence at least
eight feet in height which substantially screens by any opaque, permanent
material and with a suitable gate which shall be closed and locked
except during the working hours of such yard or when the applicant
or his or her agent shall be within. Such fence shall be erected not
nearer than 50 feet from a public highway. All junked motor vehicles
and waste material stored or deposited by the applicant or third parties
shall be kept within the enclosure of the junkyard except as removal
shall be necessary for the transportation of same in the reasonable
course of the business, but in no event shall any automobiles, parts
or material be allowed to remain outside of the fenced enclosure overnight.
All processing and dismantling shall be accomplished within the enclosure.
D.
Fire lanes. Inside and adjacent to and contiguous with such fence
a strip of land at least 12 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 are where the activity or business
of the licensee is being conducted.
E.
Other provisions. The applicant must comply with all the other provisions
of the Town of Collins Municipal Code.
F.
Burning prohibited; location of material.
(1)
No materials shall be burned.
(2)
The junked motor vehicles, parts, and materials dealt in by the licensee
shall be arranged in neat rows so as to permit easy, clear passage
through the area.
(3)
Open storage of junked motor vehicles and other waste material shall
be separated by twelve-foot lanes at least every 50 feet in width
and 75 feet in depth and shall not be stored closer than 12 feet to
any building or structure.
(4)
Access lanes shall be adequately graded and drained to prevent seasonal
flooding and shall be prepared and covered with a material to make
them operable in all seasons sufficient to support emergency vehicles.
(5)
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.
Waste facilities.
(1)
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.
(2)
A collection or holding tank shall be constructed with a collection
system to prevent contaminated runoff of other substances from leaving
the premises, except in trucks approved and licensed for that purpose
by the State of New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
H.
Access to Town officials. Police officers, any member of the Town
Board, or any of its representatives, in particular the Code Enforcement
Officer, 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.
No junk dealer shall carry on the business at or from any other place
than the one designated in the license therefor. Nor shall be or she
continue to carry on business after such license has been revoked
or has expired.
B.
No person licensed under the provisions of this chapter shall, during
the continuance of such license, use, exercise, or carry on the business
or trade of a pawn broker nor shall any pawn broker receive a license
under the provisions of this chapter.
C.
No license as junk dealer shall be granted to any person who shall
have been convicted of a violation of this Municipal Code within five
years of the date of application; or has been cited for a violation
of this chapter which has not been resolved to the satisfaction of
the appropriate agency within 10 days of receipt of the citation;
or who shall have been a member of an association or an officer of
a corporation which shall have been so convicted; also any person
who shall have been convicted of a felony or of knowingly receiving
stolen goods or a member of any association or partnership or an officer
of any corporation which shall have been so convicted or so cited
for a violation of the code subject, however, to the provisions of
Article 23-A of the Correction Law.
D.
No person shall be granted a license who does not at all times have
a valid dismantler's license from the State of New York.
After a public hearing thereon at which the licensee shall have
an opportunity to be heard, pursuant to § 137 of the Town
Law, the Town Board may revoke any license granted under the provisions
of this chapter. Whenever any license shall be so revoked, no refund
of any unearned portion thereof shall be made and no license shall
be granted to any person whose license has been so revoked within
a period of five years from the date of such revocation subject, however,
to Article 23-A of the Correction Law. Notice of such revocation and
the reason or reasons therefor, in writing, shall be served by the
Town Clerk upon the person named in the application by mailing the
same to the address given in the application, and upon filing a copy
of such with the Town Clerk.
A.
Keeping of records. Every junk dealer shall keep, in such form as
the State of New York or the Town of Collins may prescribe, and written
in ink or indelible pencil, a daily record of all articles purchased,
the name, residence, age, and occupation of the person from whom each
article was purchased, and the name of the employer, if any, of such
person; also the day and hour of such purchase and the price paid.
The records shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times by
any police officer or other authorized official of the Town. No entry
in such records shall be changed, erased, obliterated or defaced.
B.
Reports to police. Every junk dealer, upon being served with a written
notice so to do, by any police agency, shall report to the party requesting
same, on blank forms to be furnished by the police agency, an accurate
description of all goods, articles, or things purchased or received
by him or her in the course of business as a junk dealer at such time
and during such period of time specified in the notice, stating the
amount paid for and the name, residence and general description of
the person from whom such goods, articles, or things were received.
C.
Lost or stolen goods. If any goods, articles, or things whatsoever
shall be advertised in any newspaper having general circulation in
the Town as having been lost or stolen, and the same, or any answering
the description advertised or any part or portion thereof, shall be
or come into the possession of any junk dealer, he or she shall give
information thereof, in writing, to the Sheriff's Department
or State Police, and state from whom the same was received. Any junk
dealer who shall have or receive any goods, articles, or things lost
or stolen, or alleged or supposed to have been lost or stolen, shall
exhibit the same on demand to any police officer or to any official
of the Town.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall enforce this chapter, and
he or she and any of his or her subordinates or agents shall be granted
access to any junkyard and all areas therein within the control of
the junk dealer at all reasonable times, upon exhibiting proper credentials.
