Lower Merion, PA Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Adopted in 1921 and still in force, Chapter 95 requires any person, firm, association or corporation engaged in the business of buying or selling junk, rubber, rags, rope, scrap iron, brass, lead, copper or other materials, commonly known as the business of a junk dealer, to first obtain a license from the Township Secretary before operating in Lower Merion Township, per § 95-1. Section 95-2 puts the licensing process in the hands of the Police Committee of the Board of Commissioners: an applicant applies in the form the Committee prescribes and pays the fee, and the Secretary issues a calendar-year license setting out whatever conditions the Committee attaches to the business.

The Police Committee can revoke a license at any time for a breach of those conditions, and revocation forfeits any unused portion of the fee already paid, since no refund is given. Section 95-3 ties the license fee itself to the Township's general Schedule of Fees in Chapter A167, which the Board of Commissioners adopts and amends from time to time, so the dollar amount is not fixed in the ordinance text itself. Section 95-4 supplies the penalty: operating as a junk dealer in the Township without first securing the required license is punishable by a fine of up to $600 for each and every offense, collectible before a District Justice the same way other fines are collected by law.

The chapter does not distinguish between a fixed shop and a mobile or occasional buyer of scrap materials, so the licensing duty attaches to anyone conducting the business described in § 95-1, and a Police Committee revocation for violating license conditions carries the same practical effect as never having obtained a license at all.