No person, firm or corporation shall manage, conduct or operate the
business of keeping a rooming house, boardinghouse or nursing home, referred
to hereinafter as "establishments subject to licensing," without first securing
a license therefor within the time and in the manner herein provided, nor
shall any owner permit on premises owned by him the operation of such an establishment
without a license.
Except as otherwise provided herein, the term of the license shall be
for one year from June 1 to May 31 of the next succeeding year, and such license
shall be renewable annually.
The license fee shall be due and payable as of June 1 of each year. Where licenses are issued after December 1, the licensee shall pay 1/2 of the license fee. The license fee shall be as set forth in Chapter
107, Licenses and Permits.
Upon the filing of an application, the Building, Housing and Land Use
Department shall transmit one copy to the Building Inspector, one copy to
the Fire Chief and one copy to the Health Officer. The original shall be kept
on file at all times in the Building, Housing and Land Use Department office.
Inspection of the premises for compliance with this chapter, other ordinances
of the City of Hackensack or laws of the State of New Jersey shall be conducted
in accordance with the regulations of the Building, Housing and Land Use Department.
Upon completion of inspections, if the Building, Housing and Land Use Department
shall determine and certify that the premises are in compliance, then the
license shall be issued forthwith; provided, however, that if action of the
Board of Adjustment is required under the Zoning Ordinance, no license shall
be issued except in accordance with the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance.
Notwithstanding the provisions of §
66-5, the Building, Housing and Land Use Department may refuse to certify the said application for a license where the operator or any person or persons who shall be in active management of the premises shall be unfit to perform the duties thereof by reason of a record of conviction of a crime or offense involving moral turpitude, gambling or prostitution, alcoholism, illegal possession or use of drugs or narcotics, be a known carrier of a communicable disease or otherwise physically or mentally unfit or unsuited by similar or equivalent circumstance for active management of the premises.
If the Building, Housing and Land Use Department shall determine that the applicant has failed to meet the requirements of this chapter, the requirements of the Health Department, the Building, Housing and Land Use Department and the Fire Department or of any other ordinance of the City of Hackensack or laws of the State of New Jersey, or that the applicant is unqualified pursuant to §
66-6, or upon any suspension or revocation of or failure to renew a license, the Building, Housing and Land Use Department shall send a written notice to the applicant setting forth its reasons therefor. The applicant may thereupon correct any violation and apply for reinspection upon the payment of $10 as a reinspection fee or submit a written request for a hearing to the Building, Housing and Land Use Department, in which request the applicant shall state the facts on which he will base his contention that the Department's determination was in error. The Building, Housing and Land Use Department shall, within 30 days from the receipt thereof, provide a minimum of five days' notice to the applicant of a hearing and render a decision thereon within 10 days thereafter. Where the violation is of a regulation of the Health Department, the hearing shall be before the Health Officer. The Building, Housing and Land Use Department (or, where applicable, the Health Officer) may in such decision affirm or reverse its previous determination or modify its determination and agree to approve the said application or terminate the suspension or revocation upon compliance with specified conditions.
Any license issued hereunder shall cover only the number of occupants
and that part of the premises described in the application therefor. Any increase
in rooming units or in the number of roomers to be accommodated or in the
part of the premises utilized as a rooming house or other structural changes
affecting the data contained in the application, or change in the person or
persons actually in charge of operating or maintaining the premises, shall
require the submission and filing of an amended application containing the
additional information as required by the Building, Housing and Land Use Department.
The license issued hereunder shall be nontransferable, and no person
other than the licensee shall operate or be permitted by the owner to operate
the licensed premises. Where there is to be a change of ownership or operation,
application shall be made for a new license.
The applicant shall not be entitled to any refunds of any fees paid
hereunder by reason of the rejection of any application, the suspension or
revocation of any license or the transfer of ownership or operation of the
premises prior to the termination of the license period.
The licensee shall display the license in the vestibule, front hallway
or other prominent and public place at or near the front entrance of the building
during the entire period for which the license is issued.
The issuance of a license shall constitute a certification that the
premises as of the date of issuance comply with this chapter, but shall not
be construed to constitute a certification that the premises comply with any
other city ordinance or any state law, nor shall it relieve any other official
or public agency from enforcing any applicable ordinance or law.
[Amended 4-15-1974 by Ord. No. 1-74]
All such establishments subject to licensing shall keep a register in
which there shall be set forth in ink the name and last permanent address
and signatures of each occupant, the number of the room to be occupied by
each occupant and the name and address of any person or persons to be notified
in case of emergency. Said register shall be available at all times to the
authorized representative of the Building, Housing and Land Use Department
and the Police Chief and Fire Chief of the city. Registration in a false name
is prohibited. Beside each registration a notation shall be made to indicate
which occupant is a disabled person or person requiring special care.
[Amended 4-15-1974 by Ord. No. 1-74]
A. Rooming houses and boardinghouses. Occupancy by disabled
persons or by persons requiring special care in rooming houses and boardinghouses
is hereby prohibited.
B. Right of Building, Housing and Land Use Department or
Health Officer to ascertain physical or mental limitations of occupants. Where
the Building, Housing and Land Use Department or the Health Officer has reason
to believe that an occupant of an establishment subject to licensing either
requires special care or is disabled, the Officer or Department may require
that the person produce, within 48 hours, a physician's certificate attesting
to the mental or physical condition of said person as it relates to the category
in which the occupant is classified, and if the Officer or Department shall
determine that said person requires special care and is thereby prohibited
from residing in a rooming house or boardinghouse or is disabled, then said
person shall vacate the premises and relocate in a suitable and appropriate
establishment no later than five days after the issuance of an order directed
to the owner or operator and the occupant therefor, and if the condition of
the person or circumstances under which he or she resides requires immediate
attention, the order shall so specify and a period of less than five days
may be prescribed therefor.
C. Occupancy by minors prohibited. In order to promote the
health, safety, welfare and morals of the citizens of the City of Hackensack,
the occupancy by a minor, whether emancipated or unemancipated, of any rooming
unit in an establishment subject to licensing under this chapter is prohibited.
The operator and occupant of the premises in which such occupancy occurs shall
be liable hereunder.
[Amended 2-21-1978 by Ord. No. 2-78]
D. Overcrowding prohibited. Occupancy in excess of the maximum
occupancy permitted under Sections H-422.0 and H-423.0 of the BOCA Basic Housing-Property
Maintenance Code or the occupancy data set forth in the application under §
66-2 is prohibited.
Night lights shall be provided in all common areaways leading to bathrooms
as well as in hallways in compliance with Section H-433 of the BOCA Basic
Housing-Property Maintenance Code.
There shall be central heating in all establishments subject to licensing, which shall supply adequate heat, as required under Chapter
98, Heating and Hot Water, to all occupied rooming units and to all bathrooms.
Where food is served in any establishment subject to licensing, the
license therefor and the maintenance of the establishment pursuant to the
license shall be subject to the regulations and requirements of the Sanitary
Code as well as this chapter, and shall be supervised by the Health
Officer. The Building, Housing and Land Use Department is authorized to enforce
any violation determined by the Health Officer to be a violation of this chapter
after a notice and hearing.