[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Sandyston 7-11-1985. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It shall hereafter be unlawful for any person
to keep or maintain a junkyard or junk shop or deal in junk at any
place within the limits of the Township without first having obtained
a license for such purpose as hereinafter provided, and in any manner
contrary to the provisions of this chapter.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any land or building which is maintained, used or operated
for storing, keeping, buying or selling wrecked, scrapped, ruined
or dismantled motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts. three or more
such vehicles will constitute an "automobile graveyard."
[Amended 8-1-1985]
The violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or
any false statement contained in the application for license or failure
to pay any license fee when due or any conviction of the applicant
during the term for which the license was issued for the violation
of any criminal statute or law of the State of New Jersey, or of any
state in the United States or the United States Government.
Any old, discarded or unused waste material of any type that
has outlived its usefulness for its original purpose, including iron,
metals, glass, paper, rags, clothes, machines, automobiles, motor
vehicles or parts thereof or accessories thereof, such as auto bodies
and the like, and all other materials commonly or generally known
as "junk" in the ordinary meaning of the word, including, specifically,
parts and portions of automobiles and discarded automobiles and automobile
bodies.
Any person who deals in junk for commercial purposes or who
buys or otherwise acquires or collects or stores junk for commercial
purposes within the Township in the manner provided in this chapter.
Any building within the Township in which junk is stored,
placed, sold or purchased for commercial purposes within the provisions
of this section.
Any lands or parcels thereof on which junk is collected or
placed or stored or used for the operation of an automobile graveyard,
or for commercial purposes or any remuneration.
[Amended 8-1-1985]
Any lands or buildings or both whereon a junkyard is maintained
under license hereunder or any junk shop which is licensed or any
premises for which a license is issued to a junk dealer under the
provisions of this chapter.
A.
All applicants desiring a license for the maintenance
of a junkyard or junk shop, or as a junk dealer, shall first file
a written application signed by the applicant with the Township Clerk,
containing the following information:
(1)
The name and status of the application, that is, whether
an individual, corporation, partnership or association. If an applicant
is a corporation, the applicant shall furnish the names and addresses
of all officers and registered agents and shall designate the office
of each; if a partnership or association, the applicant shall state
the names and addresses of all members thereof.
(2)
The permanent residence address of the applicant.
(3)
The place of the permanent residence of the applicant
for each of the preceding three years.
(4)
A full description of the premises desired to be licensed,
including a metes-and-bounds description of the lands constituting
the premises, together with a description of any buildings or improvements
thereon, and a sketch, diagram or map of the lands desired to be licensed.
(5)
A description of the type and size of any buildings
to be maintained as a junk shop.
(6)
A description of materials to be purchased or sold
or stored in any junk shop or on any junkyard or in which any junk
dealer intends to deal.
(7)
A statement of the equipment to be used in the operation
of the business and the method of operation.
B.
The application shall be accompanied by payment of
the amount of the license fee for the period involved.
C.
An applicant for a license shall cause notice of his
application to be published twice in successive weeks, at least once
each week in a newspaper published and circulating within the county,
the first of which publication shall be at least 10 days prior to
the date for consideration of the application by the Township Committee,
and the applicant shall also file due proof of publication of the
application with the Township Clerk prior to the date for consideration
of the application.
D.
The Township Clerk shall present any applications,
together with the fee accompanying the same and proofs of publication,
to the Township Committee at its next meeting following receipt of
proofs of publication from the applicant. In the event that the license
applied for shall be denied, the fee accompanying the license shall
be returned, less, however, the sum of 10% thereof to cover the cost
of investigation of the applicant.
E.
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 the business described in the application shall be endorsed in
writing on the application or otherwise annexed thereto.
A.
The Township Committee may consider the application
for license at the meeting for which said application and proofs and
fees are presented, or it may set a date for a hearing to be held
on said application at some reasonable time thereafter; which hearing,
however, shall not be later than one month from the date of the Township
Committee meeting considering the same and at which hearing, any objectors
to the license may be heard and may present evidence, as well as the
applicant and those in support of the license.
B.
If a date for the hearing on the application for a
license is set, the Township Committee may investigate the applicant
and the matters set forth in the application through its own officers,
employees or representatives and:
(1)
Shall require the Chief or Assistant Chief of any
duly established Fire Department located within the Township, to be
appointed for the purpose by the Chairman of the Township Committee,
to make an inspection of the premises to determine whether the operations
involved or the proposed location for the operation would constitute
a fire hazard to the surrounding neighborhood. The persons shall make
a report in writing to the Township Clerk at least five days prior
to the date of the hearing, which report, if unfavorable, shall set
forth the facts or evidence upon which an unfavorable recommendation
is based.
(2)
The Township Committee shall also obtain a report
in writing from the Tax Collector as to whether the applicant is in
default in the payment of any taxes owing the Township at the time
the application is filed, which report shall be filed with the Township
Clerk at least five days before the date of the hearing set for the
application.
(3)
The Township Committee may investigate and consider
as part of its determination for the issuance of a license any unreasonable
depreciation of surrounding property of adjoining owners, which might
ensue from the establishment or maintenance of such a business at
the location designated in the application. The proximity of schools;
churches; public highways; the suitability of the applicant to receive
the license, which shall include his arrest or conviction for criminal
acts; public convenience and necessity; and social and aesthetic desirability
shall also be taken into consideration of such application.
C.
After considering all the evidence with respect to
the application, the Township Committee may deny the license to the
applicant for good cause revealed by the facts or evidence, and if
any application for license is denied, the Township Committee shall
state in writing the reasons for the denial forming the good cause
found by the Township Committee denying the license to the applicant.
D.
The license, when issued by the Township, shall be
displayed in a conspicuous place upon the licensed premises at all
times.
E.
The Township Committee, after investigating and considering
an application for license hereunder or after a hearing on the same,
shall, if the application subscribes to the provisions of this section,
authorize the Township Clerk to issue a license to the applicant,
which license shall be effective from the date of issuance to midnight
of the last day of December of the year in which issued.
All licenses granted under this chapter and
all premises licensed hereunder shall be subject to the following
regulations:
B.
No part of any premises sought to be licensed shall
be located within 200 feet from any private residence not owned by
the applicant or within 500 feet of any church or school.
D.
A junkyard shall be completely obstructed from view from the public road. In obstructing the view from the public road, the licensee shall construct, within 90 days of the granting of any license, a solid fence at least four to six feet high from the ground to effectively screen or obstruct visibility of the junkyard from any public street or public property from outside the enclosure. There shall be no advertisement allowed or any description or writing on the fence except the owner's name and a description of the character of his business, and such description or writing shall conform to the regulations of Chapter 150, Zoning. The requirement as to fencing may be waived by the Township Committee, in its discretion, where other effective, appropriate means of screening may be accomplished, including natural objects, landscape plantings, relocation of inventory on site to utilize an existing natural screen or screenable portion of the site or earth berms, graded and shaped and recovered with topsoil and planted so as to provide a natural appearance. Screening and/or fencing shall be maintained in good condition and be as compatible with the general area as possible.
[Amended 8-1-1985]
E.
No junk or rubbish or salvage material of any type
shall be maintained outside the enclosure surrounding the licensed
premises of any junkyard nor outside of any junk shop licensed hereunder.
F.
No license issued hereunder shall entitle any licensee
to operate under said license at, in or on any lot, building or location
or any part thereof other than that specified in the license, and
no license shall be assignable or transferable to any other person
or party whatever.
G.
Material of a combustible and/or flammable nature
shall be inspected pursuant to the New Jersey Uniform Fire Code, N.J.A.C.
5:18-2.1.
[Amended 8-1-1985]
H.
No materials shall be kept or maintained on the licensed
premises which shall be of such an odorous nature as to be offensive
to adjoining property owners or other inhabitants in the area of the
licensed premises.
I.
The licensee shall take all reasonable measures to
keep rats or other vermin from the licensed premises.
J.
The licensee shall maintain sufficient fire extinguishers
on the licensed premises at all times and shall also establish fire
protection according to standards recommended by the National Board
of Fire Underwriters for such premises. The licensee shall also report
all fires to the Township Clerk, furnishing the date and extent of
fire and the cause, if known.
K.
No licensee shall pile or stack or place junk above
the level at the height of the fence enclosing a junkyard or otherwise
in such manner as to create a fire hazard or to create a place for
the harboring of rats, mice or vermin.
L.
The business of the licensee shall be operated in
such manner as not to cause unreasonable, loud noises that are either
so consistent or so audible as to be a nuisance to other property
owners or inhabitants in the neighborhood.
M.
No licensee 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 with
the apparent purpose of concealing the identity of such vehicle.
N.
All junk dealers shall keep books in which records
are maintained of all purchases by the junk dealer, and which books
shall be open to inspection by any law enforcement agency in order
to enable any law enforcement agency to trace stolen goods.
A.
Any license issued by the Township may be renewed each year thereafter, without publication of a notice of application, by furnishing notice of intention to renew said license, in writing, with the Township Clerk at least 30 days prior to the first of the year and upon payment of the annual license fee in accordance with Chapter 69, Fees. No hearing shall be required for the issuance of any renewal license unless objections are filed in writing with the Township Clerk, by any inhabitant or taxpayer of the Township, against the renewal of the license. In the event that a written objection is filed before renewal as herein provided, the Township Committee shall set a date for a hearing and proceed to hear the objection and all evidence for and against the issuance of such license not later than 15 days from the beginning of the renewal period, and at the conclusion of the hearing, the Township Committee may then determine whether to issue a renewal license or to deny the same if the evidence presented indicated sufficient cause by virtue of prior violations of this chapter by the licensee.
[Amended 12-4-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-13]
B.
The Township Committee may authorize a temporary permit
for such licensee until the hearing has been completed and a determination
made so that the business of a licensee may not be suspended or interfered
with unreasonably by the filing of any written objections.
A.
The Township Committee may revoke any license granted
at any time during the period for which the license was issued on
the Township Committee's own action or on the objection of any taxpayer
or inhabitant of the Township for good cause shown after a hearing
provided to the licensee following a complaint in writing and at least
seven days' notice to the licensee setting forth the grounds of the
complaint.
B.
The licensed premises shall be open to inspection
by the Police Department or the Board of Health of the Township at
any reasonable time of day or night, upon the proper authorization
for such inspection by the Chief of Police or the Police Commissioner
of the Township or the Health Officer or the Board of Health of the
Township.
A.
The annual fees for each license issued hereunder shall be in accordance with Chapter 69, Fees, which shall be prorated where the license shall not have been issued on January 1 of a year, and any period less than 15 days shall constitute a half-month for the purposes of prorating the annual fee.
[Amended 12-4-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-13]
B.
Payment of the fees shall accompany the filing of
all applications for licenses or for any intention to renew thereafter.
In the event that an application for license is denied or renewal
license is denied, the fee shall be returned, less the cost of the
Township in investigating the same. In the event that a license shall
be revoked for good cause shown or terminated voluntarily by the licensee,
there shall be no refund of any portion of the license fee.
Any person who violates any provision of this
chapter shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $100 or be
imprisoned for not more than 90 days, or both. Each day that a violation
shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense.
[Added 8-1-1985]
Automobile graveyards, as defined in this chapter, are exempt from licensing requirements, provided that they shall meet the screening and/or fencing provisions as set forth in § 91-5D of this chapter.
