[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Lebanon
by Ord. No. 2-1964 (Sec. 4-2 of the 1985 Revised General
Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
It shall be unlawful within the Township for any person to maintain,
operate or conduct a junk shop, or junkyard or automobile junkyard, or motor
vehicle 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, as hereinafter provided.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Includes rags, scrap iron, brass, copper, tin, lead, unusable lumber,
plumbing fixtures and other old materials, more than two unregistered motor
vehicles which are unfit for reconditioning, or the bulk weight of motor vehicles
and parts exceeding 6,000 pounds and for sale for transportation, used part
of motor vehicles, old bottles, glass, lumber, paper, discarded machinery
not including usable farm machinery, appliance or parts thereof, and any other
secondhand articles or appliances or used materials and merchandise and such
other article 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 specifically licensed, and
a statement as to whether or not the 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.
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, however, 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.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1-1965; Ord. No. 2-1965]
The number of such licensed premises within the Township is hereby limited
to one licensed area of not more than 10 acres, one licensed area of not more
than 7 1/2 acres and one licensed area of not more than 1 1/2 acres
and it is understood that the Township Committee may impose further reasonable
rules and regulations with regard to the business so 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 business is to be
conducted, the owner's consent to the conduct of the business shall be endorsed
upon the first application and each renewal for a license on such premises.
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 license 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 receipted by the Tax Collector
of the Township of Lebanon, 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 chapter, 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 applications, 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.
[Amended by Ord. No. 2002-08[1]]
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 Lebanon 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 must 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 baling 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 or 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 automobile 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.
Any person who shall violate a provision of this chapter, or fail to comply therewith, or who shall violate or fail to comply with any order or regulation made thereunder, shall be subject to a penalty as established in Chapter 1, Article II, General Penalty. The imposition of a penalty for a violation of this chapter shall not excuse the violation, or permit it to continue; such violation shall be remedied within a reasonable time, and each 10 days that such violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. The application of the above penalty shall not be held to prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.
