[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Troy 3-1-1973
as Ch. 17 of the 1973 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as "The Junk Dealer's and Junkyard Ordinance
of the City of Troy, New York."
When used in this chapter, unless otherwise expressly stated or unless
the context or subject matter requires a different interpretation, the following
definitions shall apply:
Any person engaged in the business of buying or selling old or scrap
metal, junk or secondhand articles of any nature or operating a junkyard or
vehicles for the collection of junk of any nature, anywhere within the limits
of the City.
Any lot, piece or parcel of land which is used for the purpose of
accumulating, storing, weighing or buying or selling any scrap, metal, junk,
scrap automobiles or secondhand articles of any nature whatever, and is generally
used for the purpose of transacting any junk business whatsoever, and which
is held out to the public as being a junkyard at which they can buy or sell
any secondhand articles of any nature.
Any vehicle used by any junk dealer in connection with such business
and shall include towing trucks, cranes, dump trucks, hoists, wreckers and
all vehicles of such nature.
It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the health, safety, morals
and general welfare of the inhabitants of the City by a more efficient regulation
of junk dealers and junkyards operating within the City.
It shall be unlawful for any person to operate any vehicle in connection
with any junk business within the limits of the City, except as provided in
this chapter.
After the issuance of a separately numbered license under this chapter,
a junkyard or business shall not be maintained or operated other than in accord
with the applicable laws and terms of this chapter.
The regulations set forth in this chapter shall be minimum requirements
and shall be maintained at all times in all junkyards and shall pertain to
all junk businesses in the City.
A.
All land used as a junkyard shall be of ample size, free
from heavy or dense growth or brush or weeds and well drained so as to be
free from stagnant pools of water and so as to allow ease of passage through
such junkyard by anyone there on business.
B.
All land used as a junkyard shall be enclosed by a fence
of steel, wood or wire to be not less than five feet high. Such fence shall
be erected in a first-class and workmanlike manner and using new material
so that the same is pleasing to the eye and shuts off the view of the junkyard
from the outside and therefore prevents an eyesore or a public or private
nuisance within the limits of the City. Each such junkyard shall be equipped
with a front gate suitable for entry and egress and built in the same manner
as the aforesaid fence.
At each junkyard operated by a junk dealer, a record book must be kept
for that yard, which will remain continuously at the yard. In such record
book, all purchases must be recorded, stating the item purchased, the date
of purchase, the name and address of the person from whom the article is purchased
and the place where the seller obtained the property so purchased by the junk
dealer. Such record book must be kept with the license issued under this chapter,
and both shall be kept on the junkyard premises at all times and must be kept
open for inspection at all reasonable times. It will not be necessary for
any junk dealer, for inspection by City officials, to preserve such records
of purchases after the lapse of three years from the time the purchase took
place.
A.
All operations of the junk business shall be under the
management of the licensee under this chapter, who must be of good reputation
and character and who shall manage such junk business from an office located
on the premises of the junkyard and it shall be the duty of the licensee:
(1)
To provide for the collection and removal of garbage
and other waste material from the premises at least every seven days.
(2)
To prohibit the arranging, storing and piling of junk,
scrap metal or any other material any higher than the fence which surrounds
such junkyard, thereby preventing such junk, scrap or other material from
being an eyesore above the height of the fence surrounding such yard.
(3)
To provide for the maintenance of the material so kept
in such yard so as to keep it rodent free at all times.
(4)
To provide underground storage of gasoline.
(5)
To prevent the committing of any nuisance in the yard
and to report to the authorities of the City all acts of disorderly character
committed by any person within such yard.
(6)
To keep such yard free of possible fire hazards at all
times.
(7)
To provide for the compliance with this chapter in regard
to keeping the license in such yard and keeping the record books for such
yard.
B.
The obtaining of a license under this chapter shall not
be construed to eliminate the necessity of complying with all the applicable
provisions of this chapter and all other applicable ordinances, resolutions
and regulations of the City and other regulatory authority.
A.
It shall be the duty of the licensee under this chapter:
(2)
To provide for the display of the City license number
in a prominent place upon each vehicle used for the collection of junk.
(3)
To provide for the keeping of the license or a copy thereof
in each vehicle and open for inspection by any City official while operating
within the City limits.
(4)
To provide a record book and to keep the records provided
for by this chapter and to see that his/her agents or employees also keep
such records.
B.
The obtaining of a license under this chapter to collect
junk within the City limits shall not be construed to eliminate the necessity
of complying with all the applicable provisions of this chapter and all other
applicable ordinances, resolutions and regulations of the City and other regulatory
authority.
In regard to regulations of junkyards, the provisions of §§ 61,
62 and 63 of Article VI of the General Business Law of the state are reiterated
and repeated and apply as if herein fully set forth.
The City Council shall provide for the enforcement of the provisions
of this chapter. The official authorized by the City Council shall have the
right to enter upon such junkyard or inspect the license or books of such
junk dealer for the purpose of inspection and enforcement of this chapter.
It shall be unlawful for any person, being the owner, lessee or occupant
of land or premises within the City, to use or permit the use of such land
or premises for the establishment or maintenance of a junkyard or engage in
the junk business within the limits of the City, until a separately numbered
license for the establishment or maintenance of a junkyard or such a license
to engage in the junk business has been obtained as provided in this chapter.
A separately numbered license for the establishment and operation of
a junk dealer's business or the establishment and maintenance of a junkyard
in the City shall be issued or denied by the City Clerk in accordance with
the procedure specified in this chapter. A written application for such license
executed in duplicate by the person who proposes to engage in or operate such
junk business, on forms supplied by the City Clerk, shall be filed with the
City Clerk, accompanied by cash or a certified check for the amount of $5,
the fee required by this chapter for a license, and shall contain the following
information:
A.
The name and address of the applicant and the names and
addresses of the partners, if a partnership, and the names and addresses of
the principal officers, if a corporation.
B.
The name of the junk business and at what addresses its
office and/or yard are located.
C.
The name and address of the owner and/or lessee of the
premises within the City upon which the office and yard of such junk business
will be located.
D.
A general description of the land or premises within
the City upon which any junkyard is to be located, showing the boundaries
and approximate quantity of land.
E.
A general description of the type of enclosure which
will be used to surround any land to be used as a junkyard within the City
limits.
F.
The number of vehicles used or to be used in connection
with the proposed junk business within the City and a general description
of each vehicle, stating its nature and use.
A.
Upon the receipt of an application for a license under
this chapter, properly prepared as provided for in this chapter, and upon
the approval of the City Clerk, the City Clerk shall forthwith issue a numbered
license to be effective from and after the date of issuance to and including
the 30th day of June next succeeding the date of issuance. If such application
is not approved by the City Clerk, he/she shall notify the applicant of such
refusal in writing setting forth therein the reason or reasons for such refusal.
B.
Any person deeming himself/herself aggrieved by the action
of the City Clerk may within 30 days thereafter apply to the City Council
for a review of such action, or the City Council of its own motion may review
the same. In case any review of the action of the City Clerk is to be made,
the City Council shall fix a date for such review and give the applicant at
least five days written notice of the time when and place where such review
will be made. The City Council may affirm, reverse or modify the determination
of the City Clerk and may direct the City Clerk to issue or rescind such license.
The fee is to be returned to the applicant if the license is not issued or
is rescinded in accordance with the provisions of this section.
A.
On the premises of any junkyard for which a license has
been issued under this chapter, such license shall be displayed in a prominent
position in the yard or in any building situated within such yard and shall
be open for inspection by any City official at all reasonable times.
B.
Where a junk dealer operates one or more vehicles in
connection with such business and so states upon his/her application for a
license under this chapter, and upon receiving a separately numbered license
under this chapter, each applicant will be required to display the number
of such license in a prominent position on each vehicle so used in connection
with the junk business for which such numbered license was issued and to state
the number which represents the City junk dealer's license number. The original
of such license shall be kept on the junkyard premises and open for inspection
at all reasonable times.
Any separately numbered junk dealer's license issued pursuant to the
terms of this chapter shall be assignable only with the consent of the City
Council.
A.
Any person not a resident of the City or who operates
a junk business outside the limits of the City and who intends to engage in
any junk dealer's business within the City limits, or operate any vehicle,
or solicit or buy any junk from any person within the City limits must obtain
a junk dealer's license pursuant to the terms of this chapter. The fee shall
be $5. Any such licensee who obtains such a license must, pursuant to the
terms of this chapter, display his/her license number in a prominent place
on the vehicle or vehicles for which it was issued, and the license or exact
copies thereof must be kept in each vehicle used in connection with the junk
business for which such license was issued at all times and open for inspection
by any City official while operating within the City limits.
B.
A record book shall be kept by the licensee or his/her
agents in each vehicle operated in connection with the business for which
the license was issued, such record book to be open for inspection by any
City official while the licensee or his/her agent is operating the vehicle
within the limits of the City. Such record book shall contain a record of
all purchases made within the City limits, stating the name and address of
the seller, the item of junk purchased, the date of purchase, and the place
where the seller obtained the article, except that such records need not be
kept more than one year after the date of purchase.
C.
This section is to be construed so as to apply only to
junk dealers who do not operate junkyards within the City limits thereby preventing
double sets of record books being kept and a copy of the license being kept
in each vehicle and at the junkyard maintained within the City.
The holder of a City junk dealer's license under this chapter may, between the first and 30th day of June of each year, apply for renewals thereof for the following year by filing with the City Clerk an application stating the information required by § 185-14 and showing also that there has been no change of ownership, operation or maintenance since the last license. If there has been such a change, a renewal will not be granted but a new license must be obtained. The City Clerk upon receipt of the application for a renewal, accompanied by cash or certified check for $5, the fee for such renewal license, shall forthwith issue a renewal to be effective from the first day of July next succeeding the date of expiration of the license to the following 30th day of June, a period of one year. In the event of a renewal, the junk dealer may continue to use the number of his/her original license.
The City Clerk shall receive a fee of $5 for each separately numbered
junk dealer's license issued by him/her under this chapter and further shall
receive a fee of $5 for each renewal of the original license.
If a City official upon inspection finds that a junkyard is not being
maintained in a sanitary condition as provided for in this chapter or that
such junk business is not being conducted in accordance with the regulations
and provisions of this chapter applicable thereto, he/she shall serve upon
the holder of the junk dealer's license under this chapter or the person in
charge of such junk business an order in writing directing that the condition
therein specified be remedied within five days after the service of such order
or as soon thereafter as possible. If after the expiration of such period
such conditions remain unchanged or are not corrected to conform with the
regulations and provisions of this chapter, the City official shall then serve
notice in writing upon such licensee or the person in charge of such junk
business requiring the holder of the license to appear before the City Council
at a time and place to be specified in such notice, not less than 24 hours
after such service, and show cause why such license should not be revoked.
The City Council may, after a hearing and on the testimony given thereat,
revoke such license if the holder of such license has violated the regulations
applicable to such junk business or has violated any of the provisions of
this chapter. Upon the revocation of such license, the licensee shall thereupon
cease carrying on the junk business, and the premises shall forthwith cease
to be used as a junkyard and cease to be used for carrying on such junk business.
