JUNK YARDS
39A:JY-1. Short title; definitions; licensing; municipal approval; fee; review of
action
a. The short title of this chapter is the "motor vehicle junk law".
b. The terms "motor vehicle junk business" or "motor vehicle junk yard" shall
mean and describe any business and any place of storage or deposit adjacent to or visible
from a highway, which displays, or in or upon which there are displayed, to the public
view, two or more unregistered motor vehicles which, in the opinion of the MVC, are
unfit for reconditioning for use for transportation, or used parts of motor vehicles or
material which has been a part of a motor vehicle, the sum of which parts or material
shall, in the opinion of the MVC, be equal in bulk to two or more motor vehicles.
c. The MVC may, in its discretion, issue licenses permitting the establishment and
maintenance of a motor vehicle junk yard or business, and no such business shall be
established or maintained unless it is licensed in accordance with this chapter.
d. Before making application to the MVC for a license for the motor vehicle junk
business or motor vehicle junk yard, the applicant shall first obtain a permit or certificate
approving its proposed location from the governing body or zoning commission of the
municipality in which it is proposed to establish or maintain the junk yard or business.
e. Upon receipt of an application for the local permit or certificate of approval, the
governing body or zoning commission of the municipality in which the junk business or
junk yard is proposed to be established or maintained, shall hold a public hearing upon
the application, which hearing shall take place not less than two weeks nor more than
four weeks from the date of the application. Notice of the hearing shall be given the
applicant and be published once in a newspaper having a circulation in the municipality
not less than seven days before the date thereof.
f. No permit or certificate of approval shall be granted unless the governing body
or zoning commission, as the case may be, shall, after the hearing, find that no
unreasonable depreciation of surrounding property would ensue from the establishment
or maintenance of the motor vehicle junk yard or business and that the best interests of
the community require the operation of the yard or business at the location designated.
The proximity of schools, churches or other places of public gatherings, the sufficiency in
number of other similar places in the vicinity and the suitability of the applicant to
receive the license, shall be taken into consideration in considering the application.
g. Each applicant shall pay a fee of $10 plus the costs of publication and expenses
of the hearing to the treasurer of the municipality.
h. Upon request of the governing body or zoning commission, as the case may be,
of the municipality in which the yard or business is proposed to be located, the MVC
shall hold a public hearing within the municipality not less than three nor more than five
weeks from the date of the application. Notice of the hearing shall be given to the
applicant and to the council or mayor, by mail, postage prepaid, and be published once in
a newspaper having a circulation within the municipality, not less than seven days before
the date of the hearing. The hearing shall be conducted by the MVC and the applicant
shall pay to the MVC a fee of $25 plus the costs of the notices and the expenses of the
hearing. Upon the conclusion of the hearing, the MVC shall, within five days,
recommend in writing to the governing body or the zoning commission, as the case may
be, the granting or refusal of the local permit or certificate of approval, giving its reasons
for the recommendation.
i. Application for a state license for the motor vehicle junk yard or business shall
be made to the MVC, in writing, upon a form to be supplied by it. With the application
there shall be submitted a local permit or certificate of approval, as described in this
section, and the application shall be accompanied by the amount of the fees fixed for the
license applied for. The MVC, upon receipt of the application, shall examine the location
of the motor vehicle junk yard or business proposed to be established or maintained, and
shall grant the license if in its judgment there is no valid reason why it should not be
granted. The MVC in granting the license, may impose upon the establishment or
maintenance of the yard or business, such conditions as it deems advisable, having regard
to the depreciation of surrounding property and the health, safety and general welfare of
the public, and no license for the junk yard or business shall be issued until these
conditions have been complied with.
j. An applicant for the license shall pay to the commission a fee of $50 for the
examination of the proposed location of each motor vehicle junk yard or business and a
license fee therefor of $100. No license shall be effective for more than 1 year from the
date of issue.
k. A person aggrieved by the action of the governing body or zoning commission
of a municipality under this chapter, or a person aggrieved by an action of the MVC
under this chapter, may obtain a review in the Superior Court by a proceeding in lieu of
prerogative writ.
Source: 39:11-1; 39:11-2; 39:11-3; 39:11-4; 39:11-5; 39:11-6; 39:11-7; 39:11-8;
39:11-10.
COMMENT
This section is substantially identical to the original sections. Subsection (a) is the former 39:111. Subsection (b) is the former 39:11-2. Subsection (c) is the former 39:11-3. Subsection (d) is the former
39:11-4. Subsections (e) – (g) are the former 39:11-5. Subsection (h) is the former 39:11-6. Subsection (i)
is the former 39:11-7. Subsection (j) is the former 39:11-8. Subsection (k) is the former 39:11-10.
39A:JY-2. Certification to commissioner; violations; enforcement
a. Every person holding a license issued in accordance with this chapter and a
dealer's license issued in accordance with 39:1-1 et seq., shall certify to the MVC, upon
the sale of a motor vehicle, that, at the time of the sale, the motor vehicle was or was not,
as the case may be, in suitable condition to be operated on the highways.
b. A person who violates any provision of 39:11-3 or 39:11-9 shall be fined
between $25 and $100.
c. The provisions of those sections shall be enforced and all penalties for the
violation thereof shall be recovered in accordance with the provisions of 2A:58-10 et seq.
and in addition to the provisions and remedies therein contained, the following provisions
and remedies shall be applicable in any proceeding brought for a violation of any of the
provisions of said sections:
(1) The several municipal courts shall have jurisdiction of any such
proceeding, in addition to the courts prescribed in "The Penalty Enforcement Law
of 1999";
(2) The complaint in any such proceeding may be made on information
and belief by the commission, or any police or peace officer of any municipality,
any county or the State;
(3) A warrant may issue in lieu of summons;
(4) Any law enforcement shall be empowered to serve and execute process
in any such proceeding;
(5) The hearing in any such proceeding shall be without a jury;
(6) Any such proceeding may be brought in the name of the MVC or in
the name of the State of New Jersey;
(7) Any sums received in payment of any fines imposed in any such
proceeding shall be paid to the MVC and shall be paid by it into the State
treasury;
(8) The Chief Administrator or judge before whom any hearing under said
sections is had may revoke the license of any person to maintain a motor vehicle
junk yard when such person shall have been guilty of such willful violation of any
of the said provisions as shall in the discretion of the MVC or judge justify such
revocation.
Source: 39:11-9; 39:11-11.
COMMENT
This section is substantially identical to the original sections. Subsection (a) is the former 39:119. Subsections (b) and (c) are the former 39:11-11. In subsection (b), references to incarceration for
violation of the chapter were removed to conform the penalty to others contained in Title 39. Reference to
a “police or peace officer” was replaced with “law enforcement officer”.