[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Township
of Burlington 6-22-2010 by Ord. No. 10-OR-013. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Peddling and soliciting — See Ch. 407.
For the purposes of this chapter "solicitation" or "solicit"
means the request, directly or indirectly, for money, credit, property,
financial assistance, or other thing of any kind or value. Solicitation
shall include, but not be limited to, the use or employment of canisters,
cards, receptacles or similar devices for the collection of money
or other things of value. A solicitation shall take place whether
or not the person making the solicitation receives any contribution.
A.
No person shall place, use or employ a donation clothing bin, for
solicitation purposes, unless the person has obtained a permit, valid
for the calendar year, from the Zoning Officer following submission
of the required application. The application shall include the following
information:
(1)
The proposed location of the bin, as precisely as possible;
(2)
The manner in which the person anticipates any clothing or other
donations collected via the bin will be used, sold, or distributed;
(3)
The method by which the proceeds of collected donations will be allocated
or spent;
(4)
The name and telephone number of the bona fide office of any entity
which may share or profit from any clothing or other donations collected
via the bin; and
(5)
The written permission from the property owner.
B.
A bona fide office is the place where a representative of the person
obtaining the permit, and any other entity which may share or profit
from any clothing or other donations collected via the bin, can be
reached at a telephone information line during normal business hours
for the purpose of offering information concerning the person or other
entity. An answering machine or service unrelated to the person, or
any other entity, does not constitute a bona fide office.
The Zoning Officer shall review each application for a permit
to place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin on any property that
has a current state recycling center approval and shall approve said
application upon the determination that the property owner has consented
to the application and the placement of the bin will not constitute
a safety hazard. Such hazards shall include, but are not limited to,
the placement of a donation clothing bin within 100 yards of any place
which stores large amounts of, or sells, fuel or other flammable liquids
or gases. Nothing within this chapter shall be construed as to prohibit
the placement and operation, by permit, of up to three on-site donation
clothing bins at any donation center located within a nonresidential
zone district that is operated solely by a registered nonprofit organization,
whose primary purpose is to collect donated clothing and other items
for charitable purposes. At the discretion of the Zoning Officer,
any permit approval may be conditioned upon the application securing
a site plan approval.
The permit fee shall be $25 per calendar year per donation clothing
bin.
An expiring permit for a donation clothing bin may be renewed
upon application for renewal and payment of the $25 annual fee. The
application shall include the following information:
A.
The location where the bin is situated and, if the person intends
to move it, the proposed new location where the bin would be situated
following renewal;
B.
Written consent from the property owner to place the bin on his property;
C.
The manner in which the person has used, sold, or distributed any
clothing or other donations collected via the bin, the method by which
the proceeds of collected donations have been allocated or spent,
and any changes the person anticipates it may make in these processes
during the period covered by the renewal; and
D.
The name and telephone number of the bona fide office of any entity
which shared or profited from any clothing or other donations collected
via the bin, and of any entities which may do so during the period
covered by the renewal.
Each donation clothing bin shall conspicuously disclose on its
exterior the following information:
A.
The permit number and date of expiration;
B.
The name and address of the registered person that owns the bin,
and of any other entity which may share or profit from any clothing
or other donations collected via the bin;
C.
The telephone number of the person's bona fide office and, if
applicable, the telephone number of any other entity which may share
or profit from any clothing or other donations collected via the bin;
D.
In cases when any entity other than the person who owns the bin may
share or profit from any clothing or other donations collected via
the bin, a notice, written in a clear and easily understandable manner,
indicating that clothing or other donations collected via the bin,
their proceeds, or both, may be shared, or given entirely to, an entity
other than the person who owns the bin, and identifying all such entities
which may share or profit from such donations, and a statement indicating
the manner in which the person anticipates any clothing or other donations
collected via the bin would be used, sold, or distributed, and the
method by which the proceeds or collected donations would be allocated
or spent.
It shall be the duty of the person in whose name the permit
has been issued to properly maintain and service the donation clothing
bin to prevent any nuisance, hazardous or unsafe condition.
A.
The Zoning Officer shall receive and investigate, within 30 days,
any complaints concerning a donation clothing bin. Whenever it appears
to the Zoning Officer that a person has engaged in, or is engaging
in, any act or practice in violation of this chapter, other than for
a nuisance, hazardous or unsafe condition, the person to whom the
permit was issued shall be issued a warning, or in the case of a nonpermitted
bin, the property owner shall be issued a warning by personal service
or certified mail, stating that if the violation is not rectified,
or a hearing with the Zoning Officer is not requested, within 45 days,
the bin will be seized or removed at the expense of the permittee,
and any clothing or other donations collected via the bin will be
sold at public auction or otherwise disposed of. In addition to any
other means used to notify the person who placed the bin, such warning
shall be affixed to the exterior of the bin itself.
B.
In the event that the permittee does not rectify the violation or
request a hearing within 45 days of issuance of the warning, the appropriate
municipal agency may seize the bin, remove it, or have it removed,
at the expense of the person who placed the bin, and sell at public
auction, or otherwise dispose of, any clothing or other donations
collected via the bin. Any proceeds from the sale of the donations
collected via the bin shall be paid to the Chief Financial Officer.
C.
In addition to the applicable penalties set forth in § 210-9 of this chapter, any person who violates this chapter and whose donation clothing bin has been seized, may also be subject to a penalty of up to $20,000 for each violation and be deemed ineligible to place, use or employ a donation clothing bin for solicitation purposes. A person's eligibility may be restored pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.63.
Any person who is operating a nonpermitted donation clothing
bin or has obtained a permit but has been cited by the Zoning Officer
for neglecting to maintain a donation clothing bin so that it does
cause a nuisance, or create a hazardous or unsafe condition, and has
failed to cure such violation within 48 hours of written notice of
such violation shall be subject to a fine for the first offense of
$100 per day and for the second offense of $250 per day upon failure
to cure such violation. However, nothing within this section shall
be construed as to limit the ability of the appropriate municipal
agency to seize any bin that fails to comply with the applicable provisions
of this chapter concerning seizure of clothing bins and the penalties
associated with such seizure.
