[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Garfield 2-27-2001 by Ord. No. 2302 (Ch. 165 of the 1979 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Taxicabs — See Ch. 301.
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 325.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CITY
The City of Garfield.
COUNCIL
The Mayor and Council of the City of Garfield.
DRIVER
Any person who drives a limousine within the City.
LICENSED
Licensed in accordance with the appropriate sections of this chapter, unless otherwise stated.
LIMOUSINE
Includes any automobile or motor car used in the business of carrying passengers for hire to provide prearranged passenger transportation at a premium fare on a dedicated, nonscheduled, charter basis that is not conducted on a regular route and with seating capacity in no event of more than 14 passengers, not including the driver, provided that such vehicle shall not have a seating capacity of four passengers, not including the driver, beyond the maximum seating capacity of the vehicle, not including the driver, at the time of manufacture. The term limousine shall not include taxicabs, hotel buses or buses employed solely in transporting school children or teachers or auto buses which are subject to the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation. Furthermore, limousine shall not be deemed to include a vehicle utilized in connection with conducting a funeral home or church or a vehicle used for the pickup and discharge of passengers within the City of Garfield.
OPERATION OF A LIMOUSINE
Consists of accepting and transporting in such limousine one or more persons for hire from a point within the City. The operation of a limousine by one other than the owner shall be deemed operation by the owner thereof as well as by the person actually driving the same. Operation shall also be deemed to include parking, storing or otherwise maintaining said vehicle within the borders of the City of Garfield.
OWNER
Any person, corporation or association in whose name title to any limousine is registered with the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles or who appears in such records to be the conditional vendee or lessee thereof.
No limousine shall be operated within the City unless both the limousine and the driver thereof are licensed pursuant to this chapter and conform to all of the provisions hereof.
A limousine owner's license shall entitle the limousine therein described to be operated in this City until the license either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked, and shall not be transferable.
Any license issued pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall expire at midnight on December 31 of the year in which it was issued unless sooner surrendered, suspended or revoked.
A. 
All applications for the issuance or the renewal of any license shall be made to the Council on forms to be obtained from the City Clerk and designed to elicit information respecting the identification, responsibility and law-abiding habits of the applicant.
B. 
Each applicant for a license shall supply the information requested on the application in full and verify the correctness thereof by his oath or affirmation and thereafter file the completed application with the City Clerk, together with the full amount of the proper fee hereinafter fixed therefor.
A. 
All applications for the issuance or renewal of a limousine owner's license shall be made in writing, in duplicate, and shall contain the full name and address of the owner, the serial number, type, color, year and make of the limousine or limousines, the number of persons it is to carry and a detailed description of the manner in which all vehicles shall be parked or otherwise stored in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Any and every change of address of the owner shall be reported to the City Clerk within three days after such change.
B. 
Every person obtaining a limousine owner's license shall be at least 18 years of age and, if operating more than one vehicle with the owner's license, shall have a regularly registered business office located within the City of Garfield in compliance with all local building and zoning ordinances and shall therein have a telephone operating. Said registered business location within the City of Garfield shall also comply with all other local regulations, including off-street parking sufficient to accommodate all vehicles to be licensed hereunder. The applicant shall provide, with his or her application, a letter from the Building Department, confirming such compliance.
C. 
No limousine owner's license shall be issued until the limousine has been thoroughly inspected by the Police Department and found to be in a safe, clean and sanitary condition for the transportation of passengers.
D. 
No limousine licensed under this section shall be maintained or operated on the streets of the City unless licensed in accordance with the provisions of this section.
E. 
No limousine owner's license shall be issued without satisfactory proof of the availability of off-street parking for all vehicles. Said proofs must be approved, in writing, by the Building Inspector.
F. 
No limousine owner's license shall be issued unless the applicant shall possess a valid New Jersey driver's license.
G. 
The application shall state, with specificity, the exact off-street parking location where the vehicle or vehicles shall be parked and/or stored.
A. 
Every applicant for a limousine owner's license shall submit the insurance policy or bond required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-14 covering the limousine or limousines to be licensed and shall execute and deliver to the City Clerk concurrently with the filing of the policy or bond aforesaid, a power of attorney, wherein and whereby the owner shall appoint the City Clerk his 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 insured by virtue of the indemnity granted under the insurance policy or bond filed in accordance with N.J.S.A. 48:16-16. [1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
B. 
The City Clerk, upon filing of the required insurance policy or bond, shall issue a certificate in duplicate showing the owner of the limousine has complied with the terms of the New Jersey statutes, aforementioned, which certificate shall recite the name of the insurance company, the number and date of expiration of the policy or bond, a description of the limousine insured thereunder and the registration number of the same. The duplicate certificate shall be filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles before any such car is licensed as a limousine. The original certificate shall be posted in a conspicuous place with the limousine.
The annual fee for each limousine owner's license hereafter issued or any renewal thereof shall be $150, plus $30 for each limousine for each year or portion of a year for which the license is issued or renewed, and all such licenses shall be under the charge and control of the person applying therefor and he shall be responsible for the operation of all cars so licensed to him.
The Council may, in its discretion, refuse to issue or renew or may, after notice and hearing, revoke or suspended any license:
A. 
If the applicant or licensee has been once convicted of a crime in this or any other jurisdiction or convicted of being a disorderly person or of a violation of Title 39, Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulations, of the Statutes of New Jersey, or has been dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States of America, or who violates any provisions of this chapter, or has any unsatisfied judgment of record against him arising out of an automobile accident, or who has made false answers in his application for such license or any renewal thereof, or who has failed or fails to render reasonably prompt, safe and adequate limousine service, or who has not complied fully with all requirements of this chapter for such class of license.
B. 
If the licensee or the applicant has in any degree contributed to any injury to persons or damage to property arising out of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, or has any communicable or contagious disease.
C. 
If the motor vehicle licensed or to be licensed, by reason of unsafe or unsanitary conditions, is dangerous or unsafe to the occupants or others, or if the policy of insurance or bond or power of attorney required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-14 and 48:16-16 as aforementioned has not been furnished or kept in force, or if the owner fails to comply with any terms or conditions imposed by the Council, or any law of this state.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
A. 
Drivers of limousines shall not receive or discharge passengers in the roadway, but shall pull up to the right-hand sidewalk or as nearly as possible thereto or, in the absence of a sidewalk, to the extreme right-hand side of the road, and there receive or discharge passengers, except on one-way streets where passengers may be discharged on either the right- or left-hand sidewalk or at the side of a roadway in the absence of a sidewalk.
B. 
No limousine shall be operated about the streets of the City so as to solicit passengers or to bring the presence of the limousine to the attention of prospective passengers.
A. 
All vehicles herein required to be licensed, or used or operated for the carrying of passengers within the scope of this chapter shall be automobile sedans with a minimum of three doors, at least two of which doors shall be for the exclusive use of the passengers. These automobiles shall at all times be clean and in good repair.
B. 
No person other than the driver of the limousine shall ride or sit in the compartment of the limousine reserved for the driver.
No limousine shall be licensed until an insurance policy or certificate in lieu thereof shall have been filed with the City Clerk with liability limits as required by law.
[Amended 4-25-2006 by Ord. No. 2457]
A violation of any provision of this chapter shall be punished, upon conviction, by one or more of the following: a fine not exceeding $2,000; imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days; and/or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days.