[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Harmony 5-8-1961 (Ch. 107 of the 1990 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
From and after the passage of this chapter,
it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to maintain,
operate or conduct a junk shop or junkyard in or upon which junk,
as hereinafter described, shall be purchased, sold, stored, repaired,
renovated or restored within the Township of Harmony without first
having obtained a license for such purpose as hereinafter provided.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following
definitions are hereby established:
Includes rags, scrap iron, shavings, borings, old rope, old
iron, brass, copper, tin, lead and other old materials; unregistered
automobiles which are unfit for reconditioning for sale for highway
transportation; used parts of motor vehicles; old bottles; glass;
lumber; paper; discarded machinery or parts thereof; and any other
secondhand articles or used materials and merchandise and such other
articles or things as commonly come within the classification of "junk."
[Amended 7-12-2022 by Ord. No. 22-3; 5-2-2023 by Ord. No. 23-03]
A.
Any person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation 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:
(1)
The name and residence of the applicant and, if a firm, association,
or corporation, the name and address of the officers and the registered
agent or partners; and
(2)
The detailed nature of the business to be conducted and the class
or classes of material(s) which it is proposed to store therein, the
premises at which it is proposed to establish the business, including
a full description of such premises, and whether the applicant owns
the premises or leases them.
B.
All persons, firms, or corporations receiving such license or licenses
shall pay to the Township of Harmony a nonrefundable annual fee of
$250 for each license issued pursuant to this chapter.
C.
In addition to the written application set forth in Subsection A and the payment of nonrefundable $250 application fee set forth in Subsection B, the applicant shall submit a sum of $1,000 to the Township of Harmony to be placed in an escrow account maintained by the Township. The account shall be subject to the costs of any legal, engineering, planning, and other professional services rendered in conjunction with the Township's review of the application.
(1)
In the event the actual costs of administration of the application
exceed or are reasonably anticipated to exceed the escrow funds remaining
on deposit with the Township, the applicant shall be so notified and
shall be required to post such additional escrow fees which shall
be anticipated to be necessary to reimburse the Township for the costs
of professional services rendered on account of the administration
of such application.
(2)
In the event the fees deposited into the escrow account exceed the
actual costs, the applicant may obtain a refund.
Each application shall contain the agreement
that the applicant accepts the license to be granted upon the condition
that it may be suspended or revoked for cause at any time by the Township
Committee of the Township of Harmony. Any license issued pursuant
to this chapter may be revoked or suspended for cause by the Township
Committee of the Township of Harmony.
The Township Committee of the Township of Harmony
may restrict the number of such licensed premises within the Township
and the location thereof and may impose such reasonable regulations
and rules with regard to said business as to be conducted not contrary
to law as the Township Committee of the Township of Harmony may deem
necessary and proper for the preservation of the public health, safety
and welfare of the Township and its inhabitants and as may be necessary
to carry into effect the powers and duties conferred and imposed upon
the Township by law.
If the applicant is not the owner of the site
where the business is to be conducted, the owner's consent to the
conduct of said business shall be endorsed on said application.
The license shall authorize the licensee or
licensees to conduct said 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 new license or
renewal of an existing license to conduct said business shall be accepted
by the Township Clerk, there shall be presented to him at the time
of the making of said application a paid tax bill by the Tax Collector
of the Township of Harmony indicating that said 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
the license is sought.
[Amended 5-4-2004 by Ord. No. 04-6]
The Township Committee of the Township of Harmony
shall issue all licenses under this chapter, and they shall be good
and valid from April 1 of each year.[1]
Every person, firm, partnership or corporation
to whom such license may be issued shall, when engaging in business
within the Township of Harmony, be in possession of such license and
is hereby required to have such license on exhibition at all times.
The property upon which said business shall
be conducted shall be enclosed by a hedge or fence not less than six
feet high nor more than eight feet high. Said hedge shall be kept
in a trimmed and neat condition at all times. Where said property
is either entirely or partly bounded by a natural barrier such as
a high bank, the Township Committee may waive the erection of a hedge
as to that part of the property bounded by said natural barrier. This
section shall not preclude the erection of a different type of enclosure,
such as a brick wall, wooden fence or cyclone fence, but this cannot
be done without the consent of the Township Committee of the Township
of Harmony.
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 Chief of Police or any other
officer or representative of the Township.
All goods, articles, merchandise or motor vehicles
must be stored and kept within the enclosed fence above described
and not upon the sidewalk, street, highway or any part thereof.
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 burn junk upon the licensed premises,
provided that he uses a high degree of care and does not create a
nuisance in the neighborhood of the junkyard.
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.
Any member of the Township Committee of the
Township of Harmony, Board of Health, the Health Officer, the Chief
of Police or any authorized agent of the Township shall have the right
at any and at all reasonable times to inspect any or all parts of
the licensed premises.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
It shall be unlawful for persons to deposit
or leave any abandoned or unlicensed automobile, truck or other automotive
equipment or any part thereof or other junk in open fields or upon
other unfenced private property without first obtaining the permission
of the Township Zoning Officer and of the owner of such private property.
[Added 9-6-1966]
A.
Not more than
three junkyards shall be licensed to do business in the Township of
Harmony.
B.
Location restrictions.
[Amended 12-4-2018 by Ord. No. 18-7]
(1)
It shall be unlawful for
any person or persons, firm or corporation to deposit, keep, maintain
or leave any abandoned or unlicensed vehicles in the front yard or
outside of the side yard setback of any property.
(2)
It shall be unlawful for
any person or persons, firm or corporation to deposit, keep, maintain
or leave more than two abandoned or unlicensed motor vehicles or other
automotive equipment in the rear yard or within the side yard setback
of any property at any time unless the vehicles are out of plain sight
and housed in a permanent structure.
B.
The imposition
of a penalty for a violation of this chapter shall not excuse the
violation or permit it to continue.
C.
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.
D.
The application
of the above penalty shall not be held to prevent the enforced removal
of prohibited conditions.
