Spotswood tightens up junkyard regulations

BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

SPOTSWOOD — The borough’s junkyard law is being changed in an effort to make things a little more quiet and peaceful for residents who happen to live near such a site.

On June 13, the Borough Council will hold a public hearing on the ordinance, which restricts the hours of operation of junkyards, as well as the times they can perform functions such as crushing, metal banging and hammering. Mayor Barry Zagnit said the junkyard ordinance is about 40 years old, and Borough Attorney Gary Schwartz said the amendments would “tighten up” the old ordinance.

According to the amendments, no hammering, pounding or crushing of any metals or other materials can happen before 8:30 a.m. or after 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The same actions are also prohibited before 10 a.m. or after 5 p.m. on Saturday, and are banned entirely on Sunday and legal holidays spelled out in the ordinance. Those holidays include New Year’s Day, Christmas, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day and Thanksgiving.

The amendments also limit hours of operation to 7 a.m. through 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Operations are banned on Sundays, though shelf items can be sold as long as they do not require the use of any machinery, equipment or tools to conduct the sale, the ordinance said.

The law does include a clause that would allow the junkyard operator to extend the hours of operation as long as council limits the extension to specified hours and a duration of time no more than 90 days. The junkyard licensee must also show good cause for the extension.

The amendments came about after residents complained about noise from the Giancola junkyard, which is a nonconforming use, officials said. After the initial version of the ordinance was created, Giancola discussed the changes with borough officials and the proposed amendments were changed.

Officials said the amendments are a separate issue from a lawsuit brought by Giancola against the town after it effectively shut the business down for a period of time.

Schwartz said the amendments include the regulation of hours for operation and crushing and some other things the old ordinance did not address. He said state statutes and case law permit the changes.

The activities the ordinance seeks to limit or ban “are offensive and abusive to residents surrounding such junkyard operations to the extent that such activities annoy or disturb a reasonable person,” according to the ordinance.

The law also contains standards for junkyards, including the mandate that they be gated. Operators are not allowed to “stack, pile or place motor vehicles, parts of motor vehicles or any other junk or materials” in a way that would create problems with vermin.

Junkyards must also be completely blocked from the ground-level view of all adjacent landowners, the ordinance states.