MCA Chapter 25

MCA Chapter 25
in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-3 Purposes of chapter.

For the purpose of promoting the public safety, health, welfare, convenience and enjoyment of public travel, to protect the public investment in public highways, and to preserve and enhance 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 interstate and primary highway systems within this state. The legislature hereby finds and declares that junkyards which do not conform to the requirements of this chapter are public nuisances.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-5 Definitions.

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 nonferrous material. 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. 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 the maintenance or operation of an automobile graveyard, and the term shall include garbage dumps and sanitary fills. “Interstate system” means that portion of the national system of interstate and defense highways located within this state, as officially designated, or as may hereafter be so designated, by the state highway commission, and approved by the secretary of commerce, pursuant to the provisions of Title 23, United States Code, “Highway.” “Primary system” means that portion of connected main highways, as officially designated, or as may hereafter be so designated, by the state highway commission, and approved by the secretary of commerce, pursuant to the provisions of Title 23, United States Code, “Highways.”

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-7 Prohibited operations; exceptions.

No person shall establish, operate, or maintain a junkyard, any portion of which is within one thousand (1,000) feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way of any interstate or primary highway, except the following: 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 system, or otherwise removed from sight. Those located within areas which are zoned for industrial use under authority of law. 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. Those which are not visible from the main-traveled way of the system.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-9 Junkyards lawfully in existence.

Any junkyard lawfully in existence on June 16, 1966, which is within one thousand (1,000) feet of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main-traveled way of any highway on the interstate or primary system 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 so as not to be visible from the main-traveled way of such highways.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-11 Regulatory authority.

The State Highway Commission shall have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations governing the location, planting, construction and maintenance, including the materials used in screening or fencing required by this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-13 Authority to acquire interest in land in removal and screening of junkyards.

When the State Highway Commission determines that the topography of the land adjoining the highways will not permit adequate screening of junkyards, or the screening of such junkyards would not be economically feasible, the State Highway Commission shall have the authority to acquire by gift, purchase, exchange, or condemnation such interests in lands as may be necessary to secure the removal or disposal of the junkyards, and to pay just compensation for the costs of relocation, removal or disposal thereof. When the state highway commission determines that it is in the best interest of the state, it may acquire such lands, or interest in lands, outside highway rights-of-way as may be necessary to provide adequate screening of such junkyards.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-15 Nonconforming junkyards; limitation upon continued existence.

Any junkyard lawfully in existence on June 16, 1966, which does not conform to the exceptions contained in Section 49-25-7, or that cannot be made to so conform by screening as provided in this chapter, shall be required to be removed under Section 49-25-13 by July 1, 1970, or as soon thereafter as funds are available for that purpose. Any junkyard located along any highway made a part of the interstate or primary system after June 16, 1966, shall be considered to have been lawfully established for the purposes of this chapter; and in the event any such junkyard does not conform to the exceptions in Section 49-25-7, or cannot be made to so conform by screening as provided in this chapter, it shall be required to be removed under Section 49-25-13 by the end of the fourth year after it shall be determined that it is nonconforming or as soon thereafter as funds are available for that purpose.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-17 Enforcement provision.

Any person, partnership or corporation that seeks to establish, or establishes, a junkyard within one thousand (1,000) feet of the nearest right-of-way line of any interstate or primary highway that does not come within one or more of the exceptions contained in Section 49-25-7, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for any such offense. Each day’s presence of the junkyard within the prohibited distance shall be a separate offense for the purpose of the penalty provision. In addition thereto, the State Highway Commission may seek injunctive relief in the courts of the county in which said junkyard may be located to abate the said nuisance and to require the removal of all junk from the prohibited area.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-19 Interpretation.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to abrogate or affect the provisions of any lawful ordinance, regulation or resolution, which are more restrictive than the provisions of this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-21 Agreements with United States authorized.

The State Highway Commission is hereby authorized to enter into agreements with the United States Secretary of Commerce as provided by Title 23, United States Code, relating to the control of junkyards in areas adjacent to the interstate and primary systems, and to take action in the name of the state to comply with the terms of such agreement.

Miss. Code Ann. § 49-25-23 Apportionment of federal funds.

Federal funds appropriated to carry out the provisions of this chapter are to be apportioned to the commissioners’ districts in the same manner as such federal funds are apportioned to the state, and matching state funds are to be apportioned to the commissioners’ districts proportionately.