The recitals set forth above are incorporated
herein by reference as if set forth at length.
The Township Committee finds and determines
that it is important for the safety of visitors to our community to
control vice, disturbances and narcotics offenses; and to protect
the general public and for peace and good order. To meet these goals,
the Township requires certain security measures at motels and temporary
housing accommodations, including requiring the licensing of motels
and mandating additional requirements necessary to ensure safety based
in part on minimum standards required for a motel to receive or renew
a motel operation license and requiring additional registration requirements
and limiting the length of stay of guests.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following
words will have the following meanings:
CONTRACT GUEST
Any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy
by reason of a contract or voucher or by other payment method from
a state, county or local agency or not-for-profit corporation engaged
in providing housing accommodations for the right to occupy the premises
for a period of one calendar month or less. Any such person so occupying
space in a motel shall be deemed a "transient" up to and including
the last day of a calendar month. In determining whether a person
is a "transient," uninterrupted periods of time extending both prior
or subsequent to the effective date of this chapter may be considered.
MOTEL
Any structure or any portion of any structure which is occupied
or intended or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling,
lodging or sleeping purposes. For purposes of this chapter, the term
“motel” shall include any hotel, inn, tourist home or
residential rental housing having three or more rental units or apartments,
or any other similar structure or portion thereof.
NON-CONTRACT GUEST
Any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy
by reason of concession, permit, right to access, license or by other
payment of any money for the right to occupy the premises for a period
of up to 31 calendar days or less, counting portions of the calendar
days as full days. Any such person so occupying space in a motel shall
be deemed a "transient" up to and including the 31st day of occupancy.
In determining whether a person is a "transient," uninterrupted periods
of time extending both prior or subsequent to the effective date of
this chapter may be considered. “Non-contract guest” shall
not include the owner and his immediate family or one specifically
identified employee and his family occupying a living unit on-site
equipped with a full kitchen and separate living and sleeping quarters,
where same is available. Existing motel rooms shall not, however,
be converted to create such living space.
OCCUPANCY
The use or possession or the right to the use or possession
of any room(s) or portion thereof in any motel for sleeping purposes.
OPERATOR
Any person, as defined herein, and including agents, employees,
and independent contractors thereof, responsible for the day-to-day
management and performance of motel activities.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association,
social club, fraternal organization, joint-stock company, corporation,
estate, trust, business trust, receiver, trustee, syndicate or any
other group or combination acting as a unit
RENT
The consideration charged, whether or not received, for the
occupancy of space in the motel valued in money, whether to be received
in money, goods, labor or otherwise, including all receipts, cash,
credits and property and service of any kind or nature, without reduction
therefrom whatsoever.
TRANSIENT
One whose presence in Cinnaminson Township is temporary or
fleeting.
VISITOR
Any person, not employed by or a registered guest of a motel,
not including minors and dependents of registered guests.
When any person shall, by the use of signs,
circulars, business cards, newspapers, other publications, radio or
television stations, advertise or solicit patronage, actively or passively,
it shall be considered prima facie evidence of the operation of a
motel, and a license shall be required for the ownership and/or operation
of a motel.
All motels are required to meet the following
minimum security requirements:
A. Guest registration regulations.
(1) Every registering guest shall furnish to an operator
of a motel satisfactory identification as part of the registration
process for the hire of lodgings at that motel by the transient.
(2) No room shall be rented to any person who shall be
under 21 years of age at the time of the rental when not accompanied
by a parent or legal guardian or providing proof of emancipation.
Said age is set to deter security issues associated with underage
drinking.
(3) Satisfactory identification for legal residents of
the United States shall consist of one of the following: valid driver’s
license issued in the transient’s state; a federal, state or
county government photograph identification card; military identification
card; a passport; or any other form of valid government identification
on which the guest’s photograph appears. For persons legally
residing outside the United States, valid government identification
shall include an official passport, U.S. visa, INS alien registration
card or INS border crossing card.
(4) The operator of the motel shall maintain a record log and photocopy of the identification produced by the guest(s). The record log shall include the name of the transient, current address, ID number (i.e., motor vehicle license number) and state or country of issuance of identification, date of birth, date and time of check in and check out, method of payment and make, model and license plate number of guest vehicle, if guest intends to park vehicle at establishment. Irrespective of method of payment, the motel operator shall comply with Subsection
A(1) of this section.
(5) An operator shall notify any guest who fails or refuses
to provide proper identification or refuses to identify occupants
to any operator that a room will not be rented.
(6) The record log shall be made immediately available for inspection
by the Chief of Police, or his designee, who shall be a uniformed
police officer, and shall also be immediately available to any member
of the Cinnaminson Police Department or other law enforcement agency,
in the event of a police service incident at the motel. Said log shall
be kept by the motel owner for a period of no less than three years.
[Amended 9-21-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-15; 11-15-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-13]
(a)
The officer shall request to inspect the record log by asking
the operator, or the operator's designee who is "on duty" and/or working
at the time, to inspect the record. If inspection is refused, the
operator or the operator's employee/designee must secure the record
in the presence of the officer or an authorized representative of
the Police Department or other law enforcement agency, in a manner
directed by the officer or authorized representative, to ensure that
no one can tamper with the record and so that the record can be maintained
securely in the presence of the officer or authorized representative
until such time as an administrative subpoena, an administrative search
warrant, or other court order has been issued or denied. If the operator
or the operator's designee cannot be located, or if inspection is
refused, the police officer or an authorized representative may seek
entry by serving the issuance of the administrative subpoena, an administrative
search warrant, or other court order authorizing the inspection of
the record log.
(b)
Whenever possible, the inspection shall be conducted at a time
and in a manner that minimizes any interference with the operation
of the business.
(c)
No person shall alter, deface or erase the record so as to make
the information recorded in it illegible or unintelligible or hinder,
obstruct, or interfere with any inspection of the record under this
section.
(d)
If, upon refusal to allow the officer to inspect the record,
and the officer requires the record to be secured, the officer or
authorized representative must apply for the administrative subpoena,
administrative search warrant, or such other court order in an expeditious
fashion, but within no less than 48 hours following said refusal.
(e)
Administrative subpoena/administrative search warrant.
[1]
In the event that the law enforcement officer or authorized
representative seeks an administrative search warrant, same shall
be sought and processed and the conduct of same shall be in accordance
with applicable New Jersey Court Rules and/or other statutes.
[2]
In the event that the law enforcement officer or authorized
representative seeks an administrative subpoena, then same may only
be sought if the Township's governing body has established an Investigative
Committee under the New Jersey Municipal Investigations Act, N.J.S.A.
40:48-25 et seq. Should the governing body form such an Investigative
Committee, it shall be entitled to exercise all powers delegated to
it under said statutory provisions, including the authority to issue
subpoenas such as those contemplated herein.
[3] In the event that the law enforcement officer or authorized representative
seeks an administrative search warrant or administrative subpoena,
the operator of the motel may obtain a precompliance review by a Township-approved
neutral third-party decision maker who shall review the Police Department’s
demand to review the motel records to determine if the administrative
search warrant or administrative subpoena would be enforceable.
(7) The duties imposed on an operator by this chapter
shall not be interpreted or applied so as to violate or cause the
violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-336).
(8) In
lieu of inspection by the Police Department, an applicant may request
that review under this section be performed by a neutral third-party
inspector, subject to the Township’s approval of the proposed
inspector and with the costs of the inspection to be paid for by the
applicant. The third-party inspector shall coordinate with and provide
its findings to the Township Police Department.
[Added 11-15-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-13]
B. Parking requirement regulations.
(1) The operator shall inform each guest that vehicles
must be parked nose in to the parking space. For security reasons,
back-in parking will not be permitted. In addition to informing the
guest at check in that nose-in parking is required, the operator shall
conspicuously post the property with permanent signs no less than
10 inches in height by eight inches in length which state "Nose-in
Parking Required - $100 fine – Ord. 356-10."
[Amended 7-16-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-16]
(2) The operator shall inform the guest that failure to
abide by this request may result in Police Department action.
(3) All persons utilizing parking spaces on a motel property shall park
their vehicles nose in to the parking space. For security reasons,
back-in parking will not be permitted.
[Added 7-16-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-16]
C. Frequency of rental. The operator shall not rent any
room more than two times during any twenty-four-hour period, beginning
at 12:00 noon and ending at 12:00 noon the following day.
D. Occupancy. The sleeping accommodations of a motel
shall be rented only for the use of contract and non-contract guests
as transient occupants and shall not be used or occupied on any permanent
basis, and no such occupant shall be deemed to be a resident therein.
Every licensed premises shall maintain at all times a complete register
of all rentals therein and the true identification and correct dates
of occupancy of each person using any room on the licensed premises.
(1) Contract guests. No contract guest shall use or occupy
any room or a portion of any room in any motel for more than a calendar
month or more than one month during any three calendar months.
(2) Non-contract guests.
(a)
No non-contract guest shall use or occupy any
room or a portion of any room in any motel for a period of more than
31 consecutive days or more than 31 days during any ninety-day period.
A portion of a calendar day shall constitute a full day.
(b)
A minimum of seven days prior to the expiration of the thirty-one-day limit, it shall be an affirmative duty of the operator to petition the Chief of Police in writing to permit a non-contract guest to avail himself of the use of the motel for a period longer than 31 days when such non-contract guest provides (i) proof of current, valid residency more than 30 miles from Cinnaminson Township and is utilizing the motel while performing a temporary function or service in Cinnaminson Township such as employment on a construction project or (ii) where the non-contract guest is in need of temporary quarters while improvements are being performed on the non-contract guest’s primary residence making it temporarily uninhabitable, where such time frame remains limited to a definite timeline and where vacancy of the motel premises will occur at the conclusion of the construction project or the primary residents becomes habitable. The decision to permit any stay longer than 31 days remains at the sole discretion of the Chief of Police and may be appealed to the Township Committee in the same manner as provided for denial of license as provided in §
356-7 of this chapter.
E. Identification of renters; renting for improper purposes
prohibited. In addition to the other rules and regulations proposed
hereunder, no licensee shall knowingly rent, allow or permit any room
on the licensed premises to be used for any illegal or immoral purpose.
The licensee's failure to set forth the true identity and correct
hours shall serve as prima facie evidence of violation of this provision.
F. Restriction on ownership and management. The operation,
conduct and management of a motel shall not be under the management
of, control or supervision of any person convicted of a felony or
any conviction involving the sale of drugs and/or narcotics, prostitution
or underage drinking. No person shall own, directly or indirectly,
more than 10% of stock or be an officer or director of any corporation
or participate in any way in the management of any licensed premises
if he or she has been convicted of a crime as described in this subsection.
G. Maintenance and enforcement of no rent/no trespass
list.
(1) The Township shall maintain and provide a no rent/no
trespass list of persons convicted of any crime while on a Cinnaminson
motel property or while registered as a guest at a motel in the Township.
(2) The operator shall refuse to further rent any room
on the premises to said guest on the list or allow the individuals
on said list to remain on the property. At no time shall the operator
allow the person on the list or members of the person’s party
to visit other properly registered guests or visitors.
(3) Names shall remain on the no rent/no trespass list
for the remainder of the current calendar year and the next immediate
calendar year (i.e., up to one year and 364 days).
H. Notification to police of suspicious guests. The motel
operator shall make reasonable effort to notify the Cinnaminson Township
Police Department of the names and permanent addresses of guests that
behave suspiciously after check-in. Suspicious activity shall include
an act or event which causes an ordinarily prudent person to believe
that unlawful behavior is in process or imminent.
I. Requirement of on-site manager 24 hours a day. The
operator shall cause the motel to maintain twenty-four-hour supervision
by an on-site manager. Said manager(s) will have supervisory responsibilities
over all other employees on site and shall serve as the first point
of contact for the Cinnaminson Police Department.
The proper enforcement of the provisions of
this chapter dealing with licenses shall be within the jurisdiction
of the Township of Cinnaminson Police Department and within the jurisdiction
of those officers at the state, county and local levels of government
charged with providing the necessary inspections, regulations and
enforcement of the law.