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Township of Lopatcong, NJ
Warren County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (26) Index
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Lopatcong 5-20-1987 as Ord. No. 1987-3. Sections 211-3B(3) and (4), 211-6, 211-17, 211-21 and 211-25 amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I. Other amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 227.
A. 
The following terms used herein shall be taken construed to mean as follows:
AUTOCAB; LIMOUSINE; LIVERY
Includes any automobile or motor car with a carrying capacity of not more than nine (9) passengers, not including the driver, used in the business of carrying passengers for hire, which is held out, announced or advertised to operate or run or which is operated or run over any of the streets or public highways of the state and which is hired by charter or for a particular contract or by the day or hour or other fixed period or to transport passengers to a specified place or places or which charges a fare or price agreed upon in advance between the operator and the passenger. Nothing in this definition contained shall be construed to include taxicabs, hotels or buses.
PERSON
A natural person, partnership or corporation.
TAXICAB
Any vehicle used to carry passengers for hire but not operating on a fixed route.
B. 
Words used in the singular number shall include the plural, and words used in the plural shall include the singular.
The licensing, regulation and inspection of taxicabs, autocabs, liveries and limousines, the licensing of operators and drivers as hereinafter provided and the enforcement of provisions of this chapter shall be under the control of the Township Council of Lopatcong Township.
A. 
It shall be unlawful to engage in the business of operating a taxicab in Lopatcong Township without having secured a license therefor. Application for such license shall be made in writing, in duplicate, to the Municipal Clerk and shall state therein the name and address of the applicant, the intended place of business and the number of taxicabs to be operated, including the serial number, type, color, age, make and seating capacity thereof. If the applicant is a corporation, the names and addresses of the president and secretary shall be given. A complete financial statement of the applicant shall accompany the application. The number of such licenses outstanding shall not exceed three (3) at any time. All applicants must file a financial statement with their application.
B. 
It shall be unlawful to engage in the business of operating a livery, autocab or limousine in Lopatcong Township without having secured a consent therefor. Said application for consent shall be made in writing to the Municipal Clerk and shall state therein the name and address of the applicant and the intended place of business and shall be accompanied by the following information:
(1) 
An insurance certificate which shall recite the name of the insurance company.
(2) 
The number and date of policy expiration with a description of every livery, autocab or limousine consent to be issued thereunder, with the registration number of the same.
(3) 
A power of attorney in which the applicant appoints the chief fiscal officer, in the case of Lopatcong Township the Chief Financial Officer, appointing said Chief Financial Officer as the true and lawful attorney for the purpose of acknowledging service of any process out of a court of competent jurisdiction to be served against the owner.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.
(4) 
A check in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.) payable to the Township of Lopatcong for the annual consent fee.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.
C. 
The Clerk shall forthwith, upon satisfaction of the above requirements, forward a duplicate of the certificate to the Division of Motor Vehicles.
A. 
Taxicabs. All applications shall be filed with the Municipal Clerk, who shall submit said applications to the Township Council at the next succeeding meeting for action, and any or all applications may be granted or by a vote of the members of said body present at such meeting.
B. 
Applications for consent for livery, autobus and limousine service shall be granted by the Clerk upon satisfaction of those conditions outlined in § 211-3 above. No consent by the governing body shall be required.
No such license shall be issued or held by any person who is not a citizen of good moral character, nor shall such license be issued or held by a corporation other than one organized and existing under the laws of the State of New Jersey and maintaining an office in the Township of Lopatcong.
A. 
Taxicabs. The annual fee, payable in advance for such licenses, shall be seventy-five dollars ($75.), plus fifty dollars ($50.) for each taxicab operated. Whenever the number of cabs so operated shall be increased during the license year, the licensee shall notify the Municipal Clerk of such change and shall pay the additional fee.
B. 
Limousines, autocab and liveries. Upon the proper qualification as set forth in § 211-3 above, the annual license fee for the operation of limousines, autocabs and livery services shall be seventy-five dollars ($75.), plus fifty dollars ($50.) for each limousine, autocab or livery operated with the Township of Lopatcong.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.
No taxicab shall be licensed or operated until it has been inspected and approved for operation by the Chief of Police of the Township of Lopatcong. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to make a quarterly inspection of all cabs licensed under this chapter to determine their fitness and serviceability for public patronage. He may, at any time during the year, suspend the operation of a taxicab which, in his judgment, is unfit for service.
A. 
Requirements.
(1) 
No taxicab shall be licensed until the owner of the taxicab shall have filed with the Municipal Clerk an insurance policy or a certificate in lieu thereof of a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of this state, conditioned for the payment of a sum of not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.) to satisfy all claims for damages by reason of bodily injuries to or death of any one (1) person resulting from an accident and a sum of not less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.) to satisfy all claims for damages by reason of bodily injuries to or death of all persons on account of any such accident, and conditioned for the payment of a sum not less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.) to satisfy all claims for property damages on account of an accident.
(2) 
No autocab, limousine or livery service shall be operated fully or partially along the street in the municipality until the owner of said autocab, limousine or livery service shall have filed with the Clerk of the municipality in which the owner has its principal place of business an insurance policy of a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of this state in the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.) against loss by reason of the liability imposed by law upon every autocab, limousine or livery service owner for damages on account of bodily injury or death suffered by any person as a result of an accident occurring by reason of the ownership, maintenance or use of the autocab, limousine or livery service upon any public street.
B. 
Such operation shall be permitted only as long as the insurance policy shall remain in force to the full and collectible amount of said policy. The insurance policy shall provide for the payment of any final judgment recovered by any person on account of the ownership, maintenance and use of such autocab, limousine or livery service or any fault in respect thereto and shall be for the benefit of every person suffering loss, damage or injury as aforesaid.
There shall be affixed in every taxicab, in such manner that the same can be conveniently read by any person therein, a card at least three (3) inches in height by five (5) inches in length, containing the name of the owner, the license number of the vehicle and year of issue.
The schedule of rates and rate zones to be charged by each operator shall be filed with the Municipal Clerk and approved by the Township Council. The schedule of rates may be amended from time to time and, upon approval by the Township Council, shall become binding. Each taxicab licensed under this chapter shall have displayed therein, in a place where the same may be easily observed by passengers, a schedule of rates and rate zones as approved by Lopatcong Township.
All persons engaged in the taxicab business in the Township of Lopatcong shall maintain a central place of business and keep the same open twenty-four (24) hours a day for the purpose of receiving calls and dispatching cabs. They shall answer all calls received by them for service inside the corporate limits of the township as soon as they can do so, and if said service cannot be rendered with a reasonable time, they shall then notify prospective passengers how long it will be before said call can be answered and give the reason therefor. Any operator who shall refuse to accept a call anywhere in the corporate limits of the township at any time when such operator has available cabs or who shall fail to give overall service shall be deemed a violator of this chapter, and the license granted shall be revoked at the discretion of the Township Council.
The owner and operator of a taxicab business must provide a garage or off-street parking area for all taxicabs licensed under this chapter. It shall be deemed a violation of this chapter to park a taxicab on the public streets, highways, alleys or other public places in the Township of Lopatcong.
The owner and operator of a taxicab business shall give sixty (60) days' notice to the township of the discontinuance or stoppage of the taxicab service unless such discontinuance or stoppage is occasioned by court order.
No license granted hereunder may be sold, assigned, mortgaged or otherwise transferred without the consent of the Township Council.
No person shall drive a taxicab or be hired or permitted to do so unless he is duly licensed as a taxicab driver, as hereinafter provided.
A. 
An applicant for a taxicab driver's license must be a citizen over the age of twenty-one (21) years, a licensed driver of the State of New Jersey, in good health, of good moral character and familiar with the traffic laws of the State of New Jersey and the ordinances and geography of the Township of Lopatcong. The Chief of Police shall examine such applicant to determine his eligibility and competency, and no license shall be issued except on certificate of the Chief of Police that the applicant is qualified for such license. The applicant must furnish with his application a recent photograph of himself one and one-fourth by one and three-fourths (1 1/4 x 1 3/4) inches and shall submit to fingerprinting by the Police Department of the Township of Lopatcong. He shall also provide two (2) character references.
B. 
Before a taxicab driver's license shall be issued, the applicant shall:
(1) 
Supply a doctor's certificate of good health.
(2) 
Supply references from persons who are not related to the applicant or associated with the taxicab company or the issuing authority. Such reference shall send a letter certifying his knowledge of the applicant's background.
(3) 
Be required to satisfactorily complete a road driving test to be administered by a Township of Lopatcong police officer.
(4) 
Be free from any criminal record, local, state or federal, and the application shall be approved by the Chief of Police.
C. 
Failure to meet any of the above requirements shall be sufficient grounds to reject the application or to revoke a taxicab driver's license. Any false statement on the application or an incomplete application shall also be sufficient grounds to reject the application or to revoke said license.
The annual fee for a taxicab driver's license shall be thirty dollars ($30.).
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.
A. 
Upon approval of an application for a taxicab driver's license and the payment of the required fee, the Municipal Clerk shall issue a license to the applicant, which shall bear the name, address, color, age, signature and photograph of the applicant. This license shall not be transferred or used by any person other than the one to whom issued.
B. 
Every driver licensed under this chapter shall post his taxicab driver's license in such a place as to be in full view of all passengers while such driver is operating a taxicab.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any driver of a taxicab while on duty to drink any intoxicating liquor, use narcotic or habit-producing drugs, to use any profane or obscene language, to shout or call to prospective passengers or to disturb the peace in any way.
B. 
No driver shall permit more persons to be carried in a taxicab than the rated seating capacity of his taxicab.
C. 
No person shall be admitted to a taxicab occupied by a passenger without the consent of the passenger.
A. 
It shall be the duty of every driver of a taxicab to obey all traffic rules established by statute or ordinance.
B. 
He shall not solicit passengers at the terminal of any other common carrier nor at any intermediate points along any established routes of any other common carrier during hours buses are operating.
It shall be the duty of the driver of any taxicab to accept as a passenger any person who seeks to use the taxicab, provided that such person conducts himself in an orderly manner.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.
All licenses issued hereunder shall expire March 31 next succeeding the date thereof, unless sooner suspended or revoked.
All changes of address of the taxicab operator or taxicab driver shall be reported, in writing, to the Municipal Clerk within twenty-four (24) hours after such change takes place.
Any license may be revoked or suspended at any time for cause by the Township Council.
Every person or persons, firm or corporation found guilty of violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000.), imprisonment for a term not exceeding ninety (90) days or a period of community service not exceeding ninety (90) days, or any combination thereof. Each succeeding violation shall be construed to be a new violation.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.