Hancock, New York

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Town Board of the Town of Hancock, Delaware County, New York, after holding a Public Hearing at the Municipal Building in the Village of Hancock, New York, on the 3rd day of August, l966, at 7:30 o'clock, P. M., and hearing all interested persons, did enact an Ordinance for the regulation of automobile junk yards as follows:

Section l. Legislative intent. A clean, wholesome, attractive environment is declared to be of importance to the health and safety the inhabitants and the safe-guarding of their material rights against unwarrantable invasion and , in addition, such an environment is deemed essential to the maintenance and continued development of the economy of the town and the general welfare of its citizens. It is further declared that the unrestrained accumulation of junk and junk motor vehicles is a hazard to such health, safety and welfare of citizens of the state necessitating the regulation, restraint and elimination thereof. At the same time, it is recognized that the maintenance of junk yards as hereinafter defined, is a useful and necessary business and ought to be encouraged when not in conflict with the express purposes of this section.

Section 2. Territory affected.. This ordinance shall be applicable to all territory within the Town of Hancock outside of incorporated villages.

Section 3. Definitions. "Junk yard" shall mean any place of storage or deposit, whether in connection with another business or not, where junk is accumulated for sale or reuse or where three or more unregistered, old, or secondhand motor vehicles, no longer intended or in condition for legal use on the public highways, are held, whether for the purpose of resale of used parts therefrom, for the purpose of reclaiming for use of some or all of the materials therein, whether metal, glass, fabric or otherwise, for the purpose of disposing of the same or for any other purpose; such term shall include any place of storage or deposit for any such purposes of used parts or waste materials from motor vehicles, or of scrap metals or other scrap materials which, taken together, equal in bulk three or more such vehicles.

"Motor vehicle" shall mean all vehicles propelled or drawn by power other than muscular power originally intended for use on public highways.

Section 4. Requirement for operation or maintenance. No person shall operate, establish or maintain a junk yard until he (l) has obtained a license to operate a junk yard business and (2) has obtained a certificate of approval for the location of such yard.

Section 5. Application for license and certificate of approval. Application for the license and the certificate of approved location shall be made in writing to the town board, and shall contain a description of the land to be included with the junk yard. In the event the Town of Hancock ever creates a Zoning Board and a Zoning Ordinance, then, the application shall be accompanied by a certificate from the Zoning Board that the proposed location is not within an established district restricted against such uses or otherwise contrary to the prohibitions of such Zoning Ordinance.

Section 6. Hearing. A hearing on the application shall be held within the town not less than two nor more than four weeks from the date of the receipt of the application by the Town Board. Notice of the hearing shall be given to the applicant by mail, postage prepaid, to the address given in the application and shall be published once in a newspaper having a circulation within the town, which publication shall be not less than seven days before the date of the hearing.

Section 7. License requirements. At the time and place set for hearing, the town board shall hear the applicant and all other persons wishing to be heard on the application for a license to operate, establish or maintain the junk yard. In considering such application, it shall take into account the suitability of the applicant with reference to his ability to comply with the fencing requirements or other reasonable regulations concerning the proposed junk yard, to any record of convictions for any type of larceny or receiving of stolen goods, and to any other matter within the purposes of this section.

Section 8. Location requirements. At the time and place set for hearing, the town board shall hear the applicant and all other persons wishing to be heard on the application for certificate of approval for the location of the junkyard. In passing upon same, it shall take into account, after proof of legal ownership or right to such use of the property for the license period by the applicant, the nature and development of surrounding property, such as the proximity of churches, schools, hospitals, public buildings or other places of public gatherings; and whether or not the proposed location can be reasonably protected from affecting the public health and safety by reason of offensive or unhealthy odors or smoke, or of other causes.

Section 9. Aesthetic considerations. At the hearing regarding location of the junk yard, the town board may also take into account the clean, wholesome and attractive environment which has been declared to be of vital importance to the continued general warfare of its citizens by considering whether or not the proposed location can be reasonably protected from having an unfavorable effect thereon. In this connection the town board may consider collectively the type of road servicing the junk yard or from which the junk yard may be see, the natural or artificial barriers protecting the junk yard from view, the proximity of the proposed junk yard to established residential and recreational areas or main access routes thereto, as well as the reasonable availability of other suitable sites for the junk yard.

Section l0. Grant or denial of application; appeal. After hearing the town board shall, within two weeks, make a finding as to whether or not the application should be granted, giving notice of their finding to the applicant by mail, postage prepaid, to the address given on the application. If approved, the license, including the certificate of approved location, shall be forthwith issued to remain in effect until the following April first. Approval shall be personal to the applicant and not assignable. Licenses shall be renewed thereafter upon payment of the annual license fee without hearing, provided all provisions of this ordinance are complied with during the license period, the junk yard does not become a public nuisance under the common law and the applicant is not convicted of any type of larceny or the receiving of stolen goods. The determination of the town board may be reviewed under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.

Section ll. License fees. The annual license fee shall be twenty-five dollars to be paid at the time the application is made and annually thereafter in the event of renewal. In event the application is not granted, the fee shall be returned to the applicant. The town, in addition to the license fee, may assess the applicant with the costs of advertising such application and such other reasonable costs incident to the hearing as are clearly attributable thereto and may make the license conditional upon payment of same.

Section 12. Fencing. Before use, a new junk yard shall be completely surrounded with a fence at least eight feet in height which substantially screens and with a suitable gate which shall be closed and locked except during the working hours of such junk yard or when the applicant or his agent shall be within. Such fence shall motor vehicles and parts thereof be erected nearer than fifty feet from a public highway. All or other junk stored or deposited by the applicant shall be kept within the enclosure of the junk yard except as removal shall be necessary for the transportation of same in the reasonable course of the business. All wrecking or other work on such motor vehicles and parts and other junk and all burning of same within the vicinity of the junk yard shall be accomplished within the enclosure.

Where the topography, natural growth of timber or other considerations accomplish the purposes of this ordinance in whole or in part, the fencing requirements hereunder may be reduced by the town board, upon granting the license, provided, however, that such natural barrier conforms with the purposes of this ordinance.

Section l3. Established junk yards. For the purposes of this ordinance, the location of junk yards already established shall be considered approved by the town board and the owner thereof deemed suitable for the issuance of a license. Within sixty days from the enactment of this ordinance, however, the owner shall furnish the town board the information as to location which is required in an application, together with the license fee, and the town board shall issue him a license valid until the next April first, at which time such owner may apply for renewal as herein provided. Such owner shall comply with all other provisions of this ordinance including the fencing requirements set forth in Section l2 above, provided, however, that such owner shall have one year from the enactment of this ordinance to comply with such fencing requirements.

Section l4. Additional requirements. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing provisions of this section, no junk yard, hereafter established, shall be licensed to operate if such yard or any part thereof shall be within five hundred feet of a church, school, hospital, public building, or place of public assembly.

Section l5. Violations and penalties. Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars in amount or by imprisonment not exceeding twenty-five days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.

Section l6. Validity. Should any section or provision of this ordinance be declared by the courts to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so decided to be unconstitutional or invalid.

Section l7. Repeal of prior ordinances and regulations. Any and all ordinances or regulations in conflict with this ordinance, at any time, heretofore adopted, are hereby duly and fully repealed. Section l8. Effective date. This ordinance shall take effect ten (l0) days after publication and posting as required by Section l33 of the Town Law of the State of New York.

Dated: August ll, l966
By Order of the Town Board
of the Town of Hancock
Florence A. Whiting, Town Clerk