Warwick, RI Business Licensing & Operations: Secondhand Dealers (2026)
Key Facts
- License required for
- junk/secondhand dealing, auto junkyards
- License fee
- $100.00 (junk shop or auto junkyard)
- Neighbor objection radius
- 200 feet of proposed site
- Max license term
- 1 year
- Licensing authority
- Board of public safety
- General penalty
- up to $500 fine or 30 days jail
Summary
Anyone buying, selling, bartering, or dealing in junk, old metals, or other secondhand articles in Warwick, or running an automobile junkyard, needs a license from the board of public safety under City Code § 32-1. Neighbors within 200 feet of a proposed new location can block the license by filing a written objection under § 32-3, and every license is revocable after a show-cause hearing.
No person shall engage in selling, purchasing, bartering, or dealing in junk, old metals, or any other secondhand articles, or establish, operate or maintain an automobile junkyard, in the city, without first obtaining a license for such purpose from the board of public safety. ... No license required by this chapter shall be granted for any location not lawfully occupied for such purpose at the time of the application for the same, where the owners or occupants of the greater part of the land within 200 feet of such building or place shall file with the board of public safety their objection to the granting of such license... For the keeper of a shop or storehouse for the reception of any junk, old metals, or other secondhand articles which is not an automobile junkyard, the sum of $100.00.
Full Breakdown
Section 32-1 reaches selling, purchasing, bartering, or dealing in junk, old metals, or any other secondhand articles, and separately covers establishing, operating, or maintaining an automobile junkyard; none of it is lawful in the city without a board of public safety license first. 00 for a foundry operator or a gatherer working from a bag, wagon, or cart. Section 32-3 lets the owners or occupants of the greater part of the land within 200 feet of the proposed shop, storehouse, or junkyard block the license entirely by filing a written objection with the board, unless the applicant already holds a license for that same use elsewhere in the city and is being displaced by eminent domain.
Every license issued runs for a term the board sets, capped at one year, and it can carry whatever conditions the board attaches; § 32-4 makes every license revocable after a show-cause public hearing. § 5-21-4, though that mandate does not reach back to junkyards that already held a valid city license as of May 19, 1965. Violating any part of the chapter, or the regulations the board adopts under it, is punishable under the general penalty in § 1-4.
Violations & Fines
Operating as a secondhand or junk dealer, or running an automobile junkyard, without the board of public safety's license is punishable under the general penalty in § 1-4, which allows a fine of up to $500.00 or up to 30 days in jail, with each day of continued operation a separate offense. A license already issued can be pulled entirely after a show-cause hearing under § 32-4, and neighbors can block a brand-new location before it ever opens by objecting under § 32-3.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can neighbors stop a new junkyard from getting licensed in Warwick?
How much does a secondhand dealer's license cost in Warwick?
Can Warwick revoke a secondhand dealer's license once issued?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Warwick
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