A business registration certificate is required for any person
conducting, operating or engaging in any business located in the municipality.
The following words and phrases, when used in this chapter,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
BUSINESS
Any person offering and/or engaged in buying, selling, storing
and/or transferring merchandise, goods, real property, personal property,
moneys, services and/or other items who do so for a fee, price, retainer,
commission, percentage and/or other means of compensation for the
purpose, stated or otherwise, of realizing a profit or other gain.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, limited partnership, association,
firm, limited liability company, corporation or similar entity. Whenever
used in any clause prescribing or imposing a penalty, the term "person,"
as applied to associations, shall mean the partners or members thereof
and, as applied to limited liability companies or corporations, the
officers thereof.
The municipal officials shall assist all registrants with information
that they require in an effort to promote greater harmony and cooperation
between the municipality and owners of business and industrial enterprises.
Further, the municipal officials will encourage cooperation among
the individual registrants in achieving mutually constructive goals.
Every person having a certificate for a business which ceases
to operate, changes the principal activity in which it is engaged,
changes its location and/or locations in the municipality, moves out
of the municipality or changes owners and/or managers must submit
written notice to the Municipal Clerk within 30 days of such change.
In the event of cessation of business or moving out of the municipality,
the person having a certificate for a business must provide the name,
address and home telephone number of the person or principal officer
of the business to the Municipal Clerk within 30 days of such event.
The certificate shall be effective until December 31 of the
year it is issued. Thereafter, a new certificate will be required
annually for each calendar year. All certificates shall be renewed
no later than January 31 of each year. It shall be the responsibility
of any person conducting, operating or engaging in any business to
apply for a certificate at the Office of the Municipal Clerk.
The registration certificate of the individual business or industrial
enterprise shall be publicly displayed at the principal place of the
business or industrial organization of the registrant in the municipality.
Upon request by any official of the municipality, such registration
certificate must be presented, and, further, such municipal official
may direct that such certificate must be placed in a more prominent
location, and the owner of said business or industrial enterprise
must comply with such request.
The following persons shall be exempt from the provisions of
this chapter:
A. Persons employed for a wage or salary, provided that their principals
have obtained a certificate; agencies of the government of the United
States or the State of New Jersey; and children under 18 years who
reside with their parents within the municipality, doing part-time
business, are exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
B. Persons rendering services to a household and persons engaged in a home occupation as defined in Chapter
205 (Land Use and Development Ordinance) or operating from a professional office in a residential zone.
C. Persons conducting or participating in activities such as art shows,
rummage sales or similar events for which other municipal permits
have been issued.
D. Persons rendering delivery services to residential or business properties,
if such person does not maintain a business physically located within
the municipality.
E. Utility companies whose activities or rates are regulated by the
State of New Jersey.
Issuances of a business registration certificate by the municipality
does not evidence compliance with other applicable rules, regulations,
ordinances and statutes of the municipality, county and State of New
Jersey, or other regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the
activities of the certificate holder.
Any person or principal owner of a corporation or other legal
entity who violates any of the provisions this chapter shall be subject
to prosecution in the Municipal Court of the Borough of Westville
and, further, shall be subject to one or more of the following: a
fine not exceeding $2,000, or imprisonment in the county jail for
a term not exceeding 90 days, or a period of community service not
exceeding 90 days, in the discretion of the Municipal Court Judge.
Each day that such violation exists shall constitute a separate offense.