                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

JUNKYARDS; PENALTY (§ 33.2-804)

A. For the purpose of promoting the public safety, health, welfare, convenience,
and enjoyment of public travel, protecting the public investment in public
highways, and preserving and enhancing the scenic beauty of lands bordering
public highways, it is hereby declared to be in the public interest to regulate
and restrict the establishment, operation, and maintenance of junkyards in areas
adjacent to the highways within the Commonwealth.

B. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Automobile graveyard&#8221; means any lot or place that is exposed to
the weather and upon which more than five motor vehicles of any kind that are
incapable of being operated and which it would not be economically practical to
make operative are placed, located, or found. The movement or rearrangement of
vehicles within an existing lot or facility does not render this definition
inapplicable. The provisions established by this subsection shall begin with the
first day that the vehicle is placed on the subject property.
			&#8220;Federal-aid primary highway&#8221; means any highway within that
portion of the primary state highway system as established and maintained under
Article 2 (&#xA7; 33.2-310 et seq.) of Chapter 3, including extensions of such
system within municipalities that have been approved by the U.S. Secretary of
Commerce pursuant to 23 U.S.C. &#xA7; 103(b).
			&#8220;Junk&#8221; means old or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries,
paper, trash, rubber, debris, or waste; junked, dismantled, or wrecked
automobiles or parts thereof; and old or scrap iron, steel, or other ferrous or
nonferrous material.
			&#8220;Junkyard&#8221; means an establishment or place of business that is
maintained, operated, or used for storing, keeping, buying, or selling junk or
for the maintenance or operation of an automobile graveyard.
&#8220;Junkyard&#8221; includes garbage dumps and sanitary landfills.
			&#8220;National Highway System&#8221; means the federal-aid highway system
referenced in 23 U.S.C. &#xA7; 103 and regulations adopted pursuant thereto,
which includes those highways that are designated as such by congressional
action or designation by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Prior to
congressional approval or designation by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation,
highways classified as National System of Interstate and Defense Highways,
Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways,
Interstate System, or federal-aid primary highways as that system existed on
June 1, 1991, shall be considered as the National Highway System.
			&#8220;Primary highway&#8221; means any highway within the primary state
highway system as established and maintained under Article 2 (&#xA7; 33.2-310 et
seq.) of Chapter 3, including extensions of such system within municipalities.
			&#8220;Visible&#8221; means capable of being seen without visual aid by a
person of normal visual acuity.

C. No junkyard shall be established any portion of which is within 1,000 feet of
the nearest edge of the right-of-way of any National Highway System highway or
primary highway or within 500 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of
any other highway or city street, except the following:

   1. Junkyards that 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 or city street or otherwise removed from sight.

   2. Junkyards that are located in areas that are zoned for industrial use under
   authority of state law or in unzoned industrial areas as determined by the
   Board.

   3. Junkyards that are not visible from the main-traveled way of the highway or
   city street.

D. Any junkyard lawfully in existence on April 4, 1968, that is within 1,000
feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main-traveled
way of any interstate or federal-aid primary highway, and not located within an
industrial area, shall be screened, if feasible, by the Commissioner of Highways
at locations on the highway right-of-way or in areas acquired for such purposes
outside the right-of-way, so as not to be visible from the main-traveled way of
such highways.
			Any junkyard lawfully in existence on April 4, 1968, that is within 1,000
feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of any other primary highway or
within 500 feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of any other highway and
visible from the main-traveled way of such highway, and not located within an
industrial area, may be screened by the Commissioner of Highways in the same
manner as junkyards adjacent to National Highway System highways.
			The Commissioner of Highways is authorized to acquire by purchase, gift, or
the power of eminent domain such lands or interests in lands as may be necessary
to provide adequate screening of such junkyards.

E. When the Commissioner of Highways determines that the topography of the land
adjoining a National Highway System highway will not permit adequate screening
of such junkyards or the screening of such junkyards would not be economically
feasible, the Commissioner of Highways shall have the authority to acquire by
gift, purchase, or the power of eminent domain such interests in lands as may be
necessary to secure the relocation, removal, or disposal of the junkyards and to
pay for the costs of their relocation, removal, or disposal. When the
Commissioner of Highways determines that the topography of the land adjoining
any other highway will not permit adequate screening or such would not be
feasible, the Commissioner of Highways may exercise the same authority to
relocate such junkyards as is vested in him in regard to National Highway System
highways.

F. Any junkyard that comes into existence after April 4, 1968, and that cannot
be made to conform to this section is declared to be a public and private
nuisance and may be forthwith removed, obliterated, or abated by the
Commissioner of Highways or his representatives. The Commissioner of Highways
may collect the cost of such removal, obliteration, or abatement from the person
owning or operating the junkyard.

G. The Board is authorized to enter into agreements with the United States as
provided in 23 U.S.C. &#xA7; 136 with respect to control of junkyards.

H. The Commissioner of Highways shall not be required to expend any funds for
screening or relocation under this section unless and until federal-aid matching
funds are made available for this purpose.

I. Any person violating any provision of this section is guilty of a Class 1
misdemeanor.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 33-279.3; 1958, c. 552; 1962, c. 8; 1966, c. 485; 1968,
c. 240; 1970, c. 322, § 33.1-348; 1973, c. 328; 2005, c. 291; 2013, c. 127;
2014, c. 805.