Springfield, OH Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)

Chapter 739 defines a "salvage yard operator" as anyone who runs a salvage yard, a term covering any outdoor or indoor site over 200 square feet where salvage is bought, stored, dismantled, sold, recycled, or exchanged for business, commercial, or personal purposes, including processing iron, steel, nonferrous metals or wastepaper. Under Section 739.02, no one may act as a salvage yard operator, personally or through agents or employees, alone or alongside another business, without first obtaining a license from the Community Development Department, or while that license is suspended or revoked under Section 739.12.

Operators running more than one salvage yard within the City need a separate license per location under Section 739.03. Applications go to the Chairman of the Salvage Yard Operator Licensing Board, created by Section 739.04, whose members are the City Manager, the Community Development Director, the Health Commissioner, the Police Division Chief and the Fire Division Chief. The Board enforces Chapter 739, may inspect subject premises at reasonable times under Section 739.05, and can grant, suspend or revoke licenses. Section 739.06 requires the application to disclose the applicant's business identity, City income tax ID, vendor license number, and, for every officer, partner, member or trustee, five years of residence history and any prior felony or theft convictions.

Owners of an unlicensed salvage yard who get a Section 739.14 order and fail or are ineligible to obtain a license have 150 days to remove salvage that could harbor vermin, create a fire hazard, or become a nuisance, and must level the ground to prevent mosquito-breeding water pooling.