[Adopted 2-24-1937 by Ord. No. 6-1937]
No person or persons, association, partnership, firm or corporation
shall hereafter in the City of Atlantic City keep, conduct or maintain
any building, structure, yard or place for keeping, storing or piling
in commercial quantities, whether temporarily, irregularly or continually,
or for the buying or selling, or dealing in by weight, piece or quantity,
or otherwise, at retail or wholesale, any old, used or secondhand
materials of any kind, including cloth, rags, clothing, paper, rubbish,
bottles, glass, rubber, iron, brass, copper or other metal, furniture,
newspapers, magazines, cardboard, rags of cotton, wool or mixed, carpets,
bagging, hair, feathers, mattresses, automobile tubes, used motor
vehicles or the parts thereof, and other articles which from their
worn condition renders them practically useless for the purpose for
which they were made and which is commonly classed as junk, whether
with a fixed place of business or as an itinerant peddler, without
first having obtained and paid for a license as hereinafter provided.
One carrying on the aforesaid business shall be referred herein to
as "junk dealer."
Any person or persons, association, partnership, firm or corporation
buying or selling at retail or wholesale, or dealing in by weight,
piece or quantity, or otherwise, any of the materials itemized above
from any peddler, gatherer or scavenger of said material, or from
any person not engaged in the junk business, shall be construed to
be a "junk dealer" under the terms of this article and shall be subject
to its terms and conditions.
A.
Information required. Every applicant for a license to engage in
the business of junk dealer shall file with the Director of Revenue
and Finance a written application upon a form prepared and provided
by the City, signed by the applicant or applicants. Said application
shall state:
(1)
The names and residences of the applicants if an individual, partnership
or firm, or the names of the principal officers and their residences
if the applicant is an association or corporation.
(2)
The length of time such applicant or applicants if an individual,
firm or partnership, or the manager or person in charge if the applicant
is a firm or corporation, has or have resided in the City of Atlantic
City, his or their places of previous employment, whether married
or single, whether he or they, or any of them, have been convicted
of a felony or misdemeanor and, if so, what offense, when and in what
court.
(3)
Whether the applicant or applicants or officers or manager of the
applicant had been employed by a junk dealer or had been a junk dealer.
(4)
The detailed nature of the business to be conducted and the kind
of materials to be collected, bought, sold or otherwise handled.
(5)
The premises where such business is to be located or carried on.
B.
Notary public signature. Every application for a license to engage
in the business of junk dealer shall be signed and acknowledged before
a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths in
the State of New Jersey.
The Director of Revenue and Finance shall report such application
to the Chief of Police, Health Officer, Fire Chief and Superintendent
of Buildings, who shall inspect or cause to be inspected such premises
to determine whether it complies with all laws, ordinances, rules
and regulations. Said premises and all structures thereon shall be
so situated and constructed that the business of junk dealer may be
carried on in a sanitary manner, shall contain no fire hazards and
shall be arranged so that a thorough inspection may be made at any
time by the proper health, fire, building and police authorities.
A.
Upon the filing of the application, as provided in the preceding section, the Director of Revenue and Finance shall, upon his approval of such application, after investigation and the payment to the City of the license fee hereinafter provided, issue to the applicant a license to engage in business as provided in § 158-7. All licenses shall be numbered in the order in which they are issued and 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.
B.
No license as a junk dealer shall be granted to any person, persons
or the members or officers of associations, partnership or corporations
who shall have been convicted within five years of the date of application
of a violation of this article; nor to any person who has within five
years of the date of application been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor;
provided, however, that if, in the judgment or discretion of the Director
of Revenue and Finance, the applicant or applicants are fit persons
to hold such license, then the provisions of this section notwithstanding,
said Director of Revenue and Finance may issue to such person or persons
a license as a junk dealer.
A.
Every holder of a junk dealer's license shall at all times keep
said license posted while in force in a conspicuous place on the premises
described in the application for such license. It shall be unlawful
for any person to post it upon the premises other than those mentioned
in the application, or knowingly to deface or destroy any such license.
B.
Each vehicle, wagon and cart kept or used by a junk dealer in the
exercise of his license shall be marked on both sides with his or
its name, the street and number of the place of business, the words
"junk dealer" and "Atlantic City, New Jersey," and the number corresponding
to the number of his license in plain letters and figures at least
two inches high and of such color as to be plainly read at a distance
of 60 feet.
C.
Every licensed junk dealer shall have and keep a sign on the outside
and in front of each of his or its places of business, on which shall
be clearly set forth in conspicuous letters his or its name, the words
"junk dealer" and the number corresponding to the number or his or
its license.
Every junk dealer's license shall designate the place of business in or from which the junk dealer receiving such license shall be authorized to carry on such business. No licensee shall remove his or its place of business from the place designated in the license until a written permit has been secured from the City of Atlantic City and the same shall have been endorsed upon the license. All signs required by § 158-12 of this Article shall be altered to contain the new address.
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 said business
be carried on after such license has been revoked or has expired.
B.
No junk dealer shall make any purchase from any person or receive
any articles except between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.,
standard time. No purchase or receipt of any goods shall take place
on Sundays and holidays.
C.
No junk dealer shall purchase or acquire from any person under the
age of 21 years any junk, other than old rags or paper, unless accompanied
by a parent or guardian of such person. No item shall be acquired
from any intoxicated person.
D.
The contents of the premises of every junk dealer shall be arranged
in an orderly manner with all similar things located together so as
to facilitate inspection by the proper authorities. The premises of
every junk dealer shall be subject to inspection by the proper municipal
authorities at any time.
E.
All articles received, except old paper and rags, shall be retained
for at least 48 hours before disposal or before such articles are
broken or otherwise changed from the condition in which they were
at the time of purchase or their identity otherwise destroyed. Payment
shall not be made for any junk purchased, except paper and rags, until
at least 24 hours after the time when said articles have been received
by the junk dealer, and then payment shall only be made between the
hours of 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon so as to permit police investigation.
However, where the person from whom junk is purchased is personally
known to the junk dealer and said person's residence or place
of business is likewise known, then the restriction as to the time
of payment shall not apply. If said person from whom junk is purchased
cannot be found at the residence or place of business shown on the
record of the junk dealer, this fact shall be considered prima facie
proof that said person was not personally known to the junk dealer.
F.
No junk dealer shall purchase or otherwise acquire bottles or glass
from bottles owned or used by any individual, firm or corporation
engaged in the dairy business in the City of Atlantic City except
from the legal owner of such bottles. Every junk dealer shall report
to the Chief of Police of the municipality within two hours the fact
that such bottles or glass were presented or offered to such junk
dealer for sale or other disposition.
The Health Officer may formulate reasonable rules and regulations
relating to the conduct of the business of junk dealing which shall
protect the health of the community. No junk dealer shall violate
any such rule or regulation.
A.
Each junk dealer shall keep, in such form as may be prescribed by
the Department of Public Safety and written in ink or indelible pencil,
a daily record, in the English language, of articles purchased, including
an accurate description, the name and residence of the person from
whom each article was purchased and the name of the employer of such
person, if any; also the day and hour of such purchase and the price
paid. The records shall at all reasonable times be open to the inspection
of any police officer or the Director of Public Safety, Chief of Police,
or any person duly authorized in writing for such purpose by the Chief
of Police, who shall exhibit such authorization to the junk merchant,
his agent or employee. No entry in such records shall be changed,
erased, obliterated or defaced.
B.
In the case of motor vehicles or parts thereof, there shall be kept,
in addition, a personal description of the person from whom purchased
and a complete description of the purchase. When parts of motor vehicles
are purchased as a complete unit and are capable of reuse, in the
same form, this description shall include the trade name and the motor
body, axle, coil, starter, carburetor, magneto, steering gear, radiator,
and manufacturers' numbers and any other serial number, the style
of body, model, color, and license number. When parts of motor vehicles
are bought in bulk, as metal junk, said description may be general
in its character.
C.
In purchasing junk from any person or persons delivering said junk
by any vehicle, wagon or cart, the dealer shall, in addition to writing
down the information above mentioned, make a record of the motor vehicle
registration number or municipal license number of the wagon or cart.
It shall be the duty of every junk dealer to deliver or cause
to be delivered to the Chief of Police or his representative, every
day except Sunday, before the hour of 11:00 a.m., on blank forms to
be prescribed by the Department of Public Safety of Atlantic City,
a legible and correct transcript from the book or books provided for
showing the information provided for in this Article. Such other information
shall be supplied as the Chief of Police may require. All reports
required in this Article shall be signed at the bottom by the licensee
or his duly authorized representative. The Chief of Police shall cause
a record to be kept of all such reports, showing the date and time
each report is received, the licensee making the report, his license
number and his address.
No licensee, either acting for himself or itself or by or through him or its agent or employee, shall wreck, tear down, paint or otherwise destroy the identity of, or dispose of or allow to be taken out of his or its possession, any secondhand motor vehicle, part or accessory capable for reuse as such, in its same form, purchased or otherwise secured by, or left for sale with him or it until five days after the report provided in § 158-17 has been made to the Chief of Police, provided, however, that the Chief of Police may, after proper report is made to him, grant a special permit to a licensee permitting a secondhand motor vehicle, part or accessory, in such special permit properly described, to be sold or disposed of and delivered to another when the Chief of Police has investigated and determined that there is no question as to the ownership of such secondhand motor vehicle, part or accessory.
No person shall knowingly buy, sell, receive, dispose of, conceal
or have in his possession any motor vehicle, part or accessory from
which the manufacturer's serial number or any other number or
identification mark has been removed, defaced, covered, altered or
destroyed for the purpose of concealing or misrepresenting the identity
of such vehicle, part or accessory. Every person to whom is offered
for sale, storage or wreckage any motor vehicle, part or accessory
from which has been removed, defaced, altered or destroyed the manufacturer's
serial number or any other number or identification mark shall, within
two hours, notify the Chief of Police of such offer.
Every junk dealer, upon being served with a written notice to
do so by a member of the Police Department, shall in addition to the
reports above provided for report to the Chief of Police, on blank
forms to be furnished by the Police Department, an accurate description
of all goods, articles or things purchased or received by him in the
course of business of a junk merchant 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.
If any goods, articles or things whatsoever shall be advertised
in any newspaper printed in the city 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 possession of any junk merchant
or peddler, he or it shall give information thereof, in writing to
the Chief of Police, and state from whom the same was received. Any
junk merchant or peddler 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 the Director of Public Safety, Chief of Police, or any person duly
authorized in writing by the Chief of Police, who shall exhibit such
authorization to such dealer or peddler.
Every person or persons, association, partnership, firm or corporation
engaged in the businesses as referred to in this Article shall pay
an annual license fee of $300, which said license fee shall be due
and payable to the Department of Revenue and Finance at its office
in the City Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, on the first day of July
in each year, and all such licenses shall expire on the 30th day of
June following.
A.
Upon complaint being made in writing by any municipal official or
resident of the city to the Director of Revenue and Finance that any
licensee has violated any of the provisions of this Article, the Director
of Revenue and Finance shall summon such licensee to appear before
him at the time specified in the summons, which shall be not less
than three days after the date of the service thereof, to show cause
why his license shall not be revoked. The Director of Revenue and
Finance shall proceed to hear the matter and if he finds that the
allegations of said complaint are correct and disclose a violation
of this Article or any part hereof, he may revoke or suspend said
junk dealer's license.
B.
Whenever any license shall be so revoked or suspended, no refund
of any unearned portion of the fee therefor shall be made. The Director
of Public Revenue and Finance may, in his discretion should he deem
the person or persons unfit to hold a license, withhold a license
from any person, firm, partnership, association or corporation, whose
license has been so revoked within a period of five years from the
date of such revocation. Notice of such revocation and the reason
or reasons therefor in writing shall be served upon the person, firm,
partnership, association or corporation named in the application by
mailing the same to the address given in the application and upon
filing a copy of the same with the Director of Revenue and Finance.
[Amended 2-1-1989 by Ord. No. 2-1989; 11-25-2008 by Ord. No. 104]
Any person convicted of a violation of any provision of this
article shall be imprisoned in the county jail or in any place provided
by the municipality for the detention of prisoners for a period not
exceeding 90 days or pay a fine not exceeding $2,000 or both.
