Pursuant to the authority conferred upon the Town by MGL c.
140, § 54, this chapter is adopted for the regulation and
restriction of the collection and storage of previously damaged, used,
secondhand, worn out, scrapped or discarded materials or objects such
as, inter alia, automobiles, building materials, machinery, metal,
wastepaper, rags, glassware and tinware which are or in the future
may be collected and stored in a dangerous, unsightly or unsanitary
manner in yards or other places within the Town.
Except where otherwise indicated by law, the following definitions
shall apply in the interpretation and enforcement of this chapter:
JUNK
Any old, secondhand, previously used, discarded or scrapped
metals, plastics, bottles, glassware, tinware, paper bags, rubber
goods, plumbing, heating and electrical equipment, fixtures and appliances,
building materials, whole motor vehicles which are unregistered or,
if registered, no longer fit for reconditioning for use in highway
transportation, or motor or other vehicles which are wholly or partly
dismantled or used parts or scraps therefrom or any other old, secondhand,
used, discarded or scrapped material commonly called "junk salvage
material."
JUNK DEALER
A person who engages in the buying, selling, exchanging,
storing, processing, preparing for sale or use, or dealing in any
manner commercially with junk within the Town.
JUNK OR SALVAGE YARD
A yard, lot or place or any place of collection, storage
or deposit outdoors, within the Town of Braintree, where junk is kept
or stored. An area maintained and operated by the Town of Braintree
for the collection and storage of recyclable materials shall be excluded
from this chapter.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company, organization or any business entity permitted to do business
within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
No person shall engage in business as a dealer in junk or salvage
unless he/she obtains a license from the Board of License Commissioners
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
The annual fee for a license to conduct the business of a dealer
in junk or salvage shall be $1,000 per year. No license pursuant to
the provisions of this chapter shall be issued, and no renewal of
an existing license shall be granted, until the full amount of the
fee has been paid to the Board of License Commissioners.
Each license issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter
shall apply only to the premises shown on the survey furnished by
the licensee with the application for the license. The licensee may
not use any other premises.
An application for a dealer in junk or salvage license shall
be made by the applicant, in writing, on forms approved by the Board
of License Commissioners. The application shall be submitted under
oath and shall set forth the name and address of the person who will
conduct such business and the names and addresses of all persons having
a beneficial interest in the business. It shall set forth an accurate
description of the premises for which the license is sought, as shown
by a survey to be attached. It shall contain such other detailed information
as to the character and location of the business as may be required
by the Board of License Commissioners to determine whether the issuance
of the license sought would serve the public interest.
In each application, except in the case of an application for
renewal of a license, the applicant shall undertake to defray the
expense to the Town of the public hearing on his/her application.
The applicant shall be responsible for the cost of advertising and
mailing notices to abutters of the public hearing.
Any license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall
be effective from the date of its issuance. A new application for
a license must be made annually by December 31 if the licensee continues
in business. The fee for such license for the operation of a junk
or salvage yard for less than one year shall be prorated. Such license
is personal with the licensee and does not go with the title of the
land, nor may it be sold, assigned, transferred or disposed of without
the permission of the Board of License Commissioners. Applications
for renewal may be made within 60 days from the date of expiration
of the license and such renewal shall not be unreasonably withheld,
unless for a good cause shown.
Such license shall be placed and at all times displayed in a
conspicuous place at the licensee's place of activity or business.
Each licensee under this chapter shall install enclosed sanitary
facilities upon the junk or salvage yard for the use of all personnel
upon the premises in connection with the business in accordance with
regulations of the Town's Building Division.
The junk or salvage yard shall be maintained and kept in such
a manner as will prevent the habitation and breeding of rodents or
vermin in the ground under junk piles or in or about such piles and
as will prevent the accumulation of stagnant water on the ground in
or about such piles of junk. The licensee shall comply with all orders
issued by the Board of Health or its designee which are designed to
eliminate the breeding of rodents or vermin.
For the purpose of this chapter, the location of junk or salvage
yards already established shall be considered approved, provided that
such junk or salvage yards comply with this chapter, the provisions
of the Town Zoning Ordinances and the laws of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts and that they pay the license fee fixed in this chapter.
Such established junk or salvage yards shall have 120 days from the
date of mailing of notice to them to comply with such provisions of
this chapter.
Each licensee shall keep a record of all vehicles, appliances
or junk purchased in the course of business, setting forth the identity
of the items purchased, the dates of such purchases, the names and
addresses of the sellers and the amounts paid therefor. Such records
shall be available for inspection to all law enforcement officers
or other persons having lawful authority to make inquiry as to the
source from which the junk material was acquired, the nature of the
transaction and the title of the seller.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall,
upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of $150 a day. A separate
offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a
violation occurs or continues.