NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1967 SESSION
CHAPTER 1198
HOUSE BILL 1193
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR CONTROL OF JUNKYARDS IN THE VICINITY OF INTERSTATE AND PRIMARY HIGHWAYS AND FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF SUCH CONTROLS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
Section 1. This Act may be cited as the Junkyard Control Act.
Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. The General Assembly hereby finds and declares that although junkyards are a legitimate business, the establishment and use and maintenance of junkyards in the vicinity of the Interstate and primary highways within the State should be regulated and controlled in order to promote the safety, health, welfare and convenience and enjoyment of travel on and the protection of the public investment in highways within the State, to prevent unreasonable distraction of operators of motor vehicles and to prevent interference with the effectiveness of traffic regulations, to attract tourists and promote the prosperity, economic well-being and general welfare of the State, and to preserve and enhance the natural scenic beauty of the highways and areas in the vicinity. It is the intention of the General Assembly to provide and declare herein a public policy and statutory basis for regulation and control of junkyards.
Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act:
a. The term "junk" shall mean old or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber, debris, waste, or junked, dismantled or wrecked automobiles, or parts thereof, iron, steel, and other old or scrap ferrous or non-ferrous material.
b. The term "automobile graveyard" shall mean any establishment or place of business which is maintained, used, or operated for storing, keeping, buying or selling wrecked, scrapped, ruined, or dismantled motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts.
c. The term "junkyard" shall mean an establishment or place of business which is maintained, operated, or used for storing, keeping, buying, or selling junk, or for maintenance or operation of an automobile graveyard, and the term shall include garbage dumps and sanitary fills.
d. "Interstate System" means that portion of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways located within the State, as now officially designated, or as may hereafter be so designated as Interstate system by the State Highway Commission, or other appropriate authorities.
e. "Primary System" means that portion of connected main highways, as now officially designated, or as may hereafter be so designated as primary system by the State Highway Commission or other appropriate authorities.
Sec. 4. Restrictions as to Location of Junkyards. No junkyard shall be established, operated or maintained, any portion of which is within 1,000 feet of the nearest edge of the right of way of any Interstate or primary highway, except the following:
a. Those which are screened by natural objects, plantings, fences or other appropriate means so as not to be visible from the main-traveled way of the highway at any season of the year or otherwise removed from sight or screened in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Highway Commission.
b. Those located within areas which are zoned for industrial use under authority of law.
c. Those located within unzoned industrial areas, which areas shall be determined from actual land uses and defined by regulations to be promulgated by the State Highway Commission.
d. Those which are not visible from the main-traveled way of an Interstate or primary highway at any season of the year.
Sec. 5. Enforcement Provisions. Any person, firm, corporation or association that establishes, operates or maintains a junkyard within 1,000 feet of the nearest right of way of any Interstate or primary highway, after the effective date of this Act, that does not come within one or more of the exceptions contained in Section 4 hereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and each day that the junkyard remains within the prohibited distance shall constitute a separate offense. In addition thereto, said junkyard is declared to be a public nuisance and the State Highway Commission may seek injunctive relief in the Superior Court of the county in which the said junkyard is located to abate the said nuisance and to require the removal of all junk from the prohibited area.
Sec. 6. Removal of Junk From Unlawful Junkyards. Any junkyard established after the effective date of this Act in violation of the provisions of this Act, or after the effective date and in violation of the rules and regulations issued by the State Highway Commission pursuant to this Act shall be unlawful and shall constitute a public nuisance. The State Highway Commission shall give 30 days' notice by certified mail, to the owner of the said junkyard to remove the junk or to make the junkyard conform to the provisions of this Act and rules and regulations promulgated by the State Highway Commission hereunder. The State Highway Commission or its agents may remove the junk from the nonconforming junkyard at the expense of the owner, if the said owner fails to act within 30 days after receipt of such notice. The State Highway Commission or its agents may enter upon private property for the purpose of removing junk from the junkyards prohibited by this Act without civil or criminal liability.
Sec. 7. Screening of Junkyards Lawfully in Existence. Any junkyard lawfully in existence on the effective date of this Act, which does not conform to the requirements for exceptions in Section 4 hereof, and any other junkyard lawfully in existence along any highway which may be hereafter designated as an Interstate or primary highway and which does not conform to the requirements for exception under Section 4 hereof, shall be screened, if feasible, by the State Highway Commission at locations on the highway right of way or in areas acquired for such purposes outside the right of way in such manner that said junkyard shall not be visible from the main-traveled way of such highways. The State Highway Commission is authorized to acquire fee simple title or any lesser interest in real property for the purpose required by this Section, by gift, purchase or condemnation.
Sec. 8. Acquisition of Existing Junkyards Where Screening Impractical.
a. In the event that the State Highway Commission shall determine that screening of any existing junkyard designated in Section 7 hereof would be inadequate to accomplish the purposes of this Act, the said Commission is authorized to secure the relocation, removal or disposal of such junkyard by acquiring the fee simple title, or such lesser interest in land as may be necessary, to the land upon which said junkyard is located, through purchase, gift, exchange or condemnation.
b. The State Highway Commission is authorized to move and relocate junk located on lands within the provisions of this Section, and is authorized to pay the costs of such moving or relocation.
c. The State Highway Commission is authorized to acquire by purchase, gift, exchange or condemnation, fee simple title or any lesser interest in real property for the purpose of placing and relocating the junk required to be moved under this Section or permitted by Section 6 hereof to be removed. The State Highway Commission is authorized to convey in the manner provided by law for the conveyance of State-owned property, the lands on which junk is to be relocated, to the owner of the junk with or without consideration, under such conditions and reservations as it deems to be in the public interest.
d. The State Highway Commission is authorized to convey in the manner provided by law for the conveyance of State-owned property any property acquired under the provisions of Section 8 of this Act, under such conditions and reservations as it deems to be in the public interest.
e. The State Highway Commission upon a determination that the same is necessary for the removal of any junkyard which is prohibited by Section 4 of this Act may acquire by gift, exchange, purchase or condemnation, the junk located on any junkyard which is acquired under Section 8 of this Act and may acquire by gift, exchange, purchase or condemnation the fee simple title or lesser interest in land for the purpose of storing said junk by the State Highway Commission and may dispose of said junk in any manner which is not inconsistent with this Act.
Sec. 9. Permit Required for Junkyards. No person shall establish, operate or maintain a junkyard, any portion of which is within 1,000 feet of the nearest edge of the right of way of the Interstate or primary system, without obtaining a permit from the State Highway Commission. No license shall be issued under the provisions of this Section for the operation or maintenance of a junkyard within 1,000 feet of the nearest edge of the right of way of Interstate or primary system except those junkyards which conform to one or more of the exceptions of Section 4 of this Act. The permit shall be valid until revoked for noncompliance with this Act. Any person aggrieved by any action of the State Highway Commission in refusing to grant or in revoking a permit may appeal in accordance with the terms of Article 33 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
Sec. 10. Condemnation Procedure. The State Highway Commission shall use the condemnation procedure as provided by Article 9 of Chapter 136 of the General Statutes for the purposes of this Act.
Sec. 11. Rules and Regulations by the State Highway Commission.
The State Highway Commission is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations which shall govern the location, planting, construction and maintenance of and materials used in the screening or fencing required by this Act, and to promulgate rules and regulations for determining unzoned industrial areas for the purpose of this Act.
Sec. 12. Agreements with the United States. The State Highway Commission is authorized to enter into agreements with other governmental authorities relating to the control of junkyards and areas in the vicinity of interstate and primary systems, and to take action in the name of the State to comply with the terms of such agreement.
Sec. 13. Zoning Changes. All zoning authorities shall give written notice to the State Highway Commission of the establishment or revision of any industrial zone within 660 feet of the right of way of Interstate or primary highways. Notice shall be by registered mail sent to the offices of the State Highway Commission in Raleigh, North Carolina, within 15 days after the effective date of the zoning change or establishment.
Sec. 14. Alternate Control. In addition to any other provisions of this Act, the State Highway Commission shall have the authority to acquire by purchase, gift, exchange, or condemnation, such interests in real property as may be necessary to control the establishment and maintenance of junkyards in accordance with the policy, standards and regulations set out herein.
Sec. 15. Availability of Federal Aid Funds. The State Highway Commission shall not be required to expend any funds for the regulation of junkyards under this Act, nor shall the provisions of this Act, with the exception of Section 12 hereof, have any force and effect until Federal funds are made available to the State for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, and the State Highway Commission has entered into an agreement with the Secretary of Transportation as authorized by Section 12 hereof and as provided by the Highway Beautification Act of 1965 or subsequent amendment thereto.
Sec. 16. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are declared to be severable.
Sec. 17. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 18. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 6th day of July, 1967.