[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Kingston 7-12-1961. Amendments noted where applicable.]
By the adoption of this chapter, the Town Board
of the Town of Kingston declares its intent in so doing to be to regulate,
control and license the activities or businesses known as auto "graveyards,"
junkyards, secondhand parts collection areas, the processing of used
metals for resale and the dumping, storage and disposal of waste,
secondhand or used materials of whatever composition. Said Town Board
hereby declares that such activities or businesses can constitute
a hazard to property and persons and a public nuisance. Such materials
may be highly inflammable and sometimes explosive. Gasoline tanks
on old autos often contain in some quantity combustible gasoline;
the engine and other parts of such autos are frequently covered with
grease and oil which is also inflammable. The tires, plastic seats,
tops and other elements of such autos are also inflammable. Batteries
and other elements of such autos can contain acids and other matter
potentially harmful to humans. These autos frequently contain sharp
metal or glass edges or points upon which a human could receive serious
cuts and abrasions. These autos can constitute attractive nuisances
to children and certain adults. The presence of such junkyards even
in areas zoned for business or industry is unsightly and tends to
detract from value of surrounding land and property unless such areas
are properly maintained and operated.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Passenger auto, truck, tractor-truck trailer, bus, motorcycle
or other vehicle, however propelled, as well as tractors, bulldozers,
machinery and equipment.
An individual, an association, a partnership, a corporation.
No person shall engage in or conduct on real
property within the Town of Kingston either for himself or for and
on behalf of any other person directly or indirectly as agent, employee
or otherwise any activity or business either for profit or otherwise,
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 autos, 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.
Each applicant for a license hereunder shall execute
under oath an application therefor to be supplied to him by the Town
Clerk, which shall contain the following information: That the applicant
is over 21 years of age, that he is a citizen of the United States,
whether he has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor and
such other facts or evidence as is deemed necessary to establish that
he is a person fit and capable of properly conducting the activity
or business for which the license is sought; a description of the
exact type of business he intends to conduct, the nature of the materials
he intends to handle; the number of employees he intends to engage;
and the name and address of the owner or owners of the land and the
nature of the right of occupancy of the applicant to the use of such
land.
B.
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 intends to conduct the activity or business
for which he is making application for a license hereunder with the
area of such real property which it is proposed to use 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.
C.
In the application, the applicant shall agree that,
if granted the license applied for, he will conduct the activity or
business pursuant to the regulations hereinafter set forth and that
upon his failure to do so, such license may be revoked forthwith.
D.
A person presently engaged in or conducting an activity
or business such as described herein on real property within the Town
of Kingston must apply for a license therefor within 30 days of the
adoption of this chapter. If the place where he conducts such activity
or business presently complies with the requirements a person must
meet to secure a license in the first instance, he shall be issued
a license therefor if he meets the other requirements contained herein.
If the place where he conducts such activity or business does not
presently comply with the requirements a person must meet to secure
a license in the first instance, he may be granted a temporary license
for one year, during which year he must arrange the place where he
conducts such activity or business so that it does then comply with
the requirements a person must meet to secure a license in the first
instance. If at the end of such year such person has not so arranged
his place of such activity or business, he shall forthwith cease and
desist engaging in or conducting the same and shall remove from such
place any autos, parts or other materials of the nature described
herein.
E.
If the person conducting such activity or business
is not the sole owner thereof, he shall state such fact at the time
he applies for his temporary license, and the Town Clerk at the time
of issuing such temporary license shall send the owners or each of
them a notice of the issuance of such temporary license to such person
together with a copy of this chapter.
A.
The fee for the license shall be as set from time
to time by resolution of the Town Board; such sum covers not only
the cost of issuing the license itself but also the cost of making
the necessary inspections of the premises to ascertain compliance
with the regulations hereinafter prescribed.[1]
B.
Such license shall be placed and at all times displayed
in a conspicuous place at the licensee's place of activity or business
for which it is issued.
C.
Such license shall be effective from the date of its
issuance until the 31st day of December of the year of such issuance
after which a new application for license must be made yearly if licensee
desires to continue such activity or business.
D.
Such license is personal with the licensee. It does
not go with the title of the land nor may it be sold, assigned, transferred
or disposed of.
E.
Such license may be revoked by the Town Board after
a public hearing thereon at which the licensee shall have an opportunity
to be heard. Upon revocation of a license, the Town Board may require
the removal of autos, parts and materials left as above provided in
the case of an applicant for a temporary license who fails to qualify
for a license.
F.
In the event that an applicant for a license as provided
herein shall have previously been duly issued a valid and effective
junk dealer's license by the Supervisor of this Town, pursuant to
the provisions of Article 6 of the New York State General Business
Law, then such applicant shall be entitled to and allowed a credit
against the above provided license fee in the amount of $5, such junk
dealer's license fee actually paid by such applicant, otherwise, this
chapter shall be fully binding upon and applicable to the holder of
any such junk dealer's license.
A.
The licensee must personally manage or be responsible
for the management of the activity or business for which the license
is granted.
B.
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.
The licensee must erect and maintain a six-foot wire
fence of close mesh or one made of wood or of other material, adequate
to prohibit the entrance of children and others into the area of the
activity or business and to contain within such fence the materials
dealt in by the licensee, and if such area abuts a residential area
or public street or highway, such fence shall be 25 feet from the
boundary line thereof. All the materials dealt in by the licensee
shall be kept within such fence at all times.
D.
Inside and adjacent to and contiguous with such fence
a strip of land at least 10 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 area where the activity or business
of the licensee is being conducted.
E.
The autos, parts and materials dealt in by the licensee
shall be disassembled or dismantled by means other than by burning.
They shall be piled or arranged in neat rows so as to permit easy,
clear passage through the area.
F.
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.
When the area is not supervised by the licensee or
his employees, the fence shall be locked at a secure gate in a secure
manner.
H.
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.
I.
The area of the licensee's activity or business shall
not be used as a dump area nor as a place for the burning and disposal
of junk or trash.
J.
The Town Police, the Town Clerk or the Town Board
or any of its representatives 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.
The owner or licensee of any such place of business
who commits or permits any acts in violation of any of the provisions
of this chapter shall be deemed to have committed an offense against
such chapter, and also shall be liable for any such violation or the
penalty therefor. Each day such violation shall continue or be permitted
to exist shall constitute a separate violation.
B.
For every violation of any provision of this chapter,
the person violating the same shall be subject to a fine of not more
than $250 or imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine
and imprisonment.
C.
Conviction for any above-mentioned violation shall
constitute and effect an immediate forfeiture of the license.
D.
In addition to the above-provided penalties and punishment,
the Town Board may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name
of the Town in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance
with or to restrain by injunction the violation of such chapter.