Town of Dover, NJ Chapter 353 Telephones, Outdoor Public

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the Town of Dover 2-24-1993 as Ord. No. 6-1993. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 337.

§ 353-1 Permit required; sketch required; fees; rejection or revocation of permit; removal of telephones.

A. No person may place or maintain any outdoor public telephone on or above any public street or sidewalk without having first obtained a permit as required by this chapter. Permits shall be issued subject to the approval of the location and means of installation of the telephone by the Construction Official.

B. Prior to installation, a plan or sketch of the telephone shall be furnished to the Construction Official in sufficient detail to describe the size, location, equipment and means of installation and cabling. The Construction Official shall also receive no fewer than 60 days' prior written notice before the removal of any telephone.

C. Fees.

(1) The initial fee for a permit shall be $100 for each public telephone. The annual renewal fee shall be $50 for each public telephone.

(2) No fee shall be charged for telephones which are installed pursuant to a request by the Town of Dover as an accommodation to the public.

D. The Town of Dover may reject any application for a permit, revoke a permit or require the removal of an existing outdoor public telephone if it has reason to believe that such telephone has the potential to or has illustrated a propensity to create or contribute to illegal or illicit activities or otherwise infringes on the use and access to a public sidewalk.

§ 353-2 Standards for installation and maintenance; notice to repair; failure to comply; use restricted to outgoing calls.

A. Any public telephone which is subject to this chapter shall comply with the following standards:

(1) No booth surrounding a public telephone shall exceed eight feet in height, four feet in width or four feet in thickness.

(2) Each public telephone shall be equipped with a coin-return mechanism to permit a person using the telephone to secure an immediate refund if the call cannot be placed. The coin mechanism shall be maintained in good working order.

(3) Each public telephone shall have affixed to it, in a place visible to everyone using the telephone, the telephone name and complete address (no P.O. box) of the distributor and the telephone number of a working telephone service to report a malfunction, secure a refund or give the notices provided for in this chapter. These notices shall be displayed in English and Spanish.

(4) Telephones shall be maintained in a neat and clean condition and in good repair at all times. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all telephones shall be serviced and maintained according to standards, including but not limited to the following:

(a) Telephones shall be reasonably free of chipped, faded, peeling and cracked paint in the visible painted areas therefor and rust and corrosion in the visible metal areas thereon.

(b) Any clear plastic or glass parts or inserts shall be reasonably free from cracks, dents, graffiti, blemishes and discoloration.

(c) Any paper or cardboard parts or inserts shall be reasonably free of tears, peeling or fading.

(d) The structural parts shall not be broken or unduly misshapen.

(e) The telephone receiver shall be attached to the telephone.

B. Any person who fails to maintain a public telephone in working condition shall be given a ten-day written notice to repair the telephone by the Construction Official. If the telephone is not in working condition at the end of the ten-day period, the violator shall be subject to the provisions of § 353-7, Violations and penalties, set forth below.

C. Each public telephone shall be restricted so that service is limited to outgoing calls only. If the owner or distributor of any outdoor public telephone establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the health, safety or welfare of the community requires that such telephone be capable of receiving calls, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen may, after hearing such evidence, determine that the particular telephone not be limited to outgoing calls only.

§ 353-3 Emergency calls at no charge; availability of rates.

A. Public telephones shall permit the following calls to be placed without charge:

(1) Calls to the 911 emergency number.

(2) Emergency calls placed through operator assistance to the Police and Fire Departments.

B. Current public telephone rates for a local coin call shall be visibly posted on the public telephone.

C. Toll rate quotations must be available from the operator upon request.

§ 353-4 Location and placement of public telephones.

A. No public telephone shall be permitted to rest upon, in or over any public street or sidewalk when such installation, use or maintenance:

(1) Endangers the safety of persons or property.

(2) Unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrians or vehicular traffic, including any legally parked or stopped vehicles.

(3) Unreasonably interferes with the ingress or egress from any residence or place of business.

(4) Interferes with the use of traffic signs or signals, hydrants or mailboxes permitted at or near said location.

B. Public telephones shall be placed or otherwise secured so as to prevent their being blown down, onto or around a public street or sidewalk but shall not be chained or otherwise secured to any traffic or street sign, signal, hydrant, mailbox or any other government-owned property.

§ 353-5 Revocation of permit; hearing; removal of telephones; additional remedies.

Upon receipt of a complaint by a citizen or an authorized representative of the Police Department to the Construction Official that the location and use of a public telephone constitutes a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community, the Construction Official shall conduct a hearing after providing written notice of the same at least 10 days in advance thereof to all parties in interest to ascertain whether the location or use of the public telephone constitutes a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community. If the Construction Official determines by a preponderance of the evidence presented that the location and the use of the public telephone constitutes a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community, the Construction Official may revoke any permit issued for use of said public telephone immediately thereafter, or may order such other relief as he deems necessary under the circumstances, including but not limited to requiring the telephone to be restricted to outgoing calls only and removal or seizure of the public pay telephone equipment.

§ 353-6 Applicability of provisions to existing pay telephones.

The owners or lessees of all existing public telephones which are required to have a permit under the provisions of this chapter will have a period of 30 days to obtain the permit required by this chapter. The Town of Dover reserves the right to reject any and all locations submitted for approval if such location and installation is not in conformance with this chapter.

§ 353-7 Violations and penalties. [1]

Any violations of this chapter shall subject the violator to one or more of the following: a fine of not less than $100 and no more than $1,000, a term of imprisonment not exceeding 90 days, a period of community service not exceeding ninety days and/or the seizure of the telephone equipment. Each noncomplying public telephone violation will constitute a separate violation. Each day of said violation shall constitute a separate violation. Three consecutive violations of any one requirement in this chapter shall result in the revocation of the permit.

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code; see Chapter 1, General Provisions, Art. I.