Butte County Municipal Code Art. I In General

For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

"Junk" is defined as any old iron, wire, copper, tin, lead, rags, paper, bags, lumber, empty bottles, bones, parts of bicycles, tricycles, baby carriages, automobiles, and other vehicles, dismantled, in whole or in part, kept, stored, located, situated or piled in public view, and all other similar personal property ordinarily defined and classified as "junk," kept, stored, located, situated, or piled in public view and not screened from public view by a fence as provided in section 11-2 hereof.

"Junk collector" shall mean any person not having a fixed place of business in the county who goes from house to house, or place to place, in the unincorporated area of the county, gathering up, receiving, collecting, buying, or selling junk, as hereinafter defined.

"Junk dealer" shall mean any person with a fixed place of business, in the unincorporated area of the county, who carries on, conducts, maintains or engages in the business of buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in junk as hereinafter defined.

"Pawnbroker" shall mean a person engaged in conducting, managing or carrying on the business of pawnbroking, or the business of lending money for himself or any other person or firm upon personal property, or pledges; or the business of purchasing articles of personal property and reselling the same, or agreeing to resell the same, to the vendors or their assignees at prices agreed upon at or before the time of such purchase in the unincorporated area of the county.

"Pawnshop" is defined to be any room, store, building or other place, in which any such business is engaged in, carried on or conducted, in the unincorporated area of the county.

"Peddler" is defined as a person with no regular place of business, who sells, or offers to sell, wares or merchandise not produced or grown by such person, while traveling from place to place, or from a temporary stand.

"Secondhand dealer" is defined to be a person with a fixed place of business in the unincorporated area of the county, who conducts, manages or carries on the business of buying, selling, or otherwise dealing in miscellaneous secondhand goods, wares or merchandise which have been previously used or sold to a consumer, including antiques.

(Code 1952, § 71; Ord. No. 677, § 1; Ord. No. 733, § 1)

It shall be unlawful for any person maintaining or operating a junk yard, secondhand store or pawnshop or junk collecting business, to receive or purchase any property, article or thing, from any person who shall appear to be or who is known to be intoxicated or from any minor under the age of twenty-one (21) years, provided, however, that this prohibition shall not apply where the minor dealing with such person presents the written consent of his parent or guardian, duly signed, authorizing the particular transaction had with such person; provided further, that such written consent shall be retained by such person as long as the property procured through the transaction remains in the possession of such person; provided, that such written consent shall be exhibited upon demand to any peace officer requiring the same.

(Code 1952, § 81; Ord. No. 677, § 1)

Cross reference—Penalty, § 1-7(b); as to drunkenness generally, §§ 15-9, 15-10.

Every junk dealer, secondhand dealer and pawnbroker shall hold and keep exposed to public view during business hours any junk or secondhand goods, in any manner received, until the expiration of ten (10) days after the submission of the report required.

(Code 1952, § 81; Ord. No. 677, § 1)

Junk shall not be stored in the open unless the premises upon which it is stored is enclosed by a fence of a type and height recommended by the planning commission and included in their instructions to applicant, as provided in section 11-13 and as finally determined by the board of supervisors.

Each and every person, whether subject to the provisions of this chapter or not, and whether licensed under this chapter or not, who allows junk to be stored, located, situated, or piled on property or premises over which he has control, which is not obscured from public view by a fence as herein required, shall, after reasonable notice is served upon him in writing by the department of development services of the county, either remove such junk or obscure the same from the public view by a fence as herein provided, and upon failure to do so, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. The continued existence of such condition shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense for each and every day that such condition continues to exist after the time stated in the notice; and it shall be the duty of the district attorney to prosecute such violations until the condition is abated, fenced or removed.

(Code 1952, § 81; Ord. No. 677, § 1; Ord. No. 733, § 2; Ord. No. 3264, § 1, 5-14-96)

Cross reference—Penalty, § 1-7(b).

It shall be unlawful for any person required to be licensed under this chapter to gather, collect or otherwise receive junk or secondhand goods on Sunday at any time or on any other day between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

(Code 1952, § 82; Ord. No. 677, § 1)

Cross reference—Penalty, § 1-7(b).

Every junk dealer, secondhand dealer and pawnbroker shall keep in his place of business, and every junk collector shall keep in his possession while engaged in his business as a junk collector, a bound book provided by the sheriff in which he shall keep a written record in the English language of all purchases or other receipt and sale or other disposition of junk and secondhand goods made in the course of his business. Entry of each transaction shall be made at the time of the transaction. This record shall be exhibited upon demand to any peace officer.

(Code 1952, § 78; Ord. No. 677, § 1)

Cross reference—Penalty, § 1-7(b).

The record required shall contain a description of the property purchased or otherwise received and sold or otherwise disposed of, the date of each such transaction, the price paid, the name, address, occupation and license number of any vehicle used by the person with whom the transaction is made, a description of such person and his signature. Failure to keep such records shall be a misdemeanor.

(Code 1952, § 79; Ord. No. 677, § 1)

Cross reference—Penalty, § 1-7(b).

Any person required to be licensed shall submit in person or by mail a written report, daily to the sheriff, which report shall contain a description of all property purchased or otherwise received in his business prior to the time of the report and subsequent to the last prior report submitted, the date of receipt, price paid, the name, address and occupation of the person from whom such property was received and where such property will be located during the ten (10) days following the making of such report. Failure to make such reports shall be a misdemeanor.

(Code 1952, § 80; Ord. No. 677, § 1)

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any charitable organization incidentally engaged in the business of junk collector, junk dealer, secondhand dealer, or peddler.

(Code 1952, § 85; Ord. No. 677, § 1)

If any person shall engage in, conduct, manage or carry on, at the same time, more than one (1) of the businesses defined and referred to in this chapter, such person shall be deemed to be engaging in, conducting, managing and carrying on each such business separately and apart from the other such business, and such person shall comply in all respects with the provisions of this article relating to each such business, and it shall be unlawful for any such person to fail, refuse or neglect to do so.

(Code 1952, § 88)