[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
(now Board of Commissioners) of the Township of Haddon 5-23-1946 by
Ord. No. 181. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 9-27-2016 by Ord. No. 1362]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Includes any individual, copartnership, association or corporation
or joint-stock company, their lessees, trustees or receivers.
Includes any street, avenue, park, parkway, highway or other
public place.
Includes any automobile or motorcar, commonly called "taxi,"
engaged in the business of carrying passengers for hire, which is
held out, announced or advertised to operate or run, or which is operated
or run, over any of the streets within the Township of Haddon, and
particularly accepts and discharges such persons as may offer themselves
for transportation from points or places to points or places within
or without said Township, provided that nothing herein contained shall
be construed to affect any public conveyance which is by law subject
to state and/or federal regulation exclusively.
[Amended 9-12-1946 by Ord. No. 183]
From and after the effective date of this chapter,
no person shall pick up for hire any passengers for any taxicab within
the Township of Haddon unless both the taxicab and driver thereof
are licensed pursuant to the terms of this chapter and conform to
all the provisions hereof.
[Amended 9-12-1946 by Ord. No. 183; 12-26-2006 by Ord. No. 1170]
Every application for a taxicab license shall be made to the Board of Commissioners and shall set forth the full name and address of the owner, lessee or bailee of the taxicab to be licensed, the make and character of the taxicab, the length of time it has been in use, the number of persons said vehicle is suitable for carrying, the motor number and serial number of said vehicle, the then-present value of said vehicle and the place where it may be inspected by the members of the Board of Commissioners or their duly authorized representative. Each application shall be accompanied by the license fees provided in Chapter 111, Fees.
[Amended 9-27-2016 by Ord. No. 1362]
A.
No taxicab license or taxicab driver's license shall be issued:
(1)
To an individual who is not a citizen of the United States or who
has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.
(2)
To a copartnership unless all the members thereof are citizens of
the United States and none of whom has been convicted of a crime involving
moral turpitude.
(3)
To a corporation unless each of the officers, directors and stockholders
thereof is a citizen of the United States and none of whom has been
convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.
B.
Criminal history record background check.
(1)
Each operator or driver of a taxicab for which the owner thereof
is seeking the consent to operate in the Township of Haddon shall
submit to the performance of a criminal history record background
check. The cost for the criminal history record background check,
including all costs of administering and processing the check, shall
be borne by the operator or driver of the taxicab.
(2)
A person shall be disqualified from operating or driving a taxicab
if a criminal history record background check required pursuant to
this section reveals a record of conviction of any of the following
crimes:
(a)
In New Jersey or elsewhere any crime as follows: aggravated
assault, arson, burglary, escape, extortion, homicide, kidnapping,
robbery, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault or endangering
the welfare of a child pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4, whether or not
armed with or having in his possession any weapon enumerated in Subsection
r. of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-1, a crime pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A.
2C:39-3, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4, or N.J.S.A. 2C:39-9, or other than a disorderly
persons or petty disorderly persons offense for the unlawful use,
possession or sale of a controlled dangerous substance as defined
in N.J.S.A. 2C:35-2.
(b)
In any other state, territory, commonwealth, or other jurisdiction of the United States, or any country in the world, as a result of a conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction, a crime which in that other jurisdiction or country is comparable to one of the crimes enumerated in Subsection B(2)(a) above.
(3)
If a person who has been convicted of one of the crimes enumerated in Subsection B(2)(a) and/or B(2)(b) above can produce a certificate of rehabilitation issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:168A-8 or, if the criminal offense occurred outside New Jersey, an equivalent certificate from the jurisdiction where the criminal offense occurred, the criminal offense shall not disqualify the applicant from operating or driving an autocab.
C.
Insurance requirements.
(1)
No taxi owner's license shall be issued for any vehicle herein
required to be licensed until the owner thereof shall have filed an
application for the same, addressed to the governing body, setting
forth the character of the vehicle proposed to be licensed, the correct
name of the owner thereof, the residence or address of the principal
office of such owner, a complete schedule of the fares proposed to
be charged and such other facts as the governing body may require;
until the vehicle proposed to be licensed shall have been inspected
and approved, in writing, by the Chief of Police of the Township of
Haddon; until there shall have been paid to the Township Clerk the
license fee hereinafter provided; and until there shall have been
submitted to the Township Solicitor and approved by him as to both
form and sufficiency and filed with the Township Clerk a policy of
insurance, with the premium prepaid thereon, an insurance policy which
shall be issued by an admitted insurance company duly licensed to
transact business under the insurance laws of the State of New Jersey
or a company registered to do business in the state, the policy providing
for not less than $35,000 of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage
or the amount of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage required
pursuant to Section 1 of P.L.1972, c. 197 (N.J.S.A. 39:6B-1), whichever
is greater, to satisfy all claims for damages, by reason of bodily
injury to, or the death of, any person or persons, resulting from,
or on account of, an accident, by reason of the ownership, operation,
maintenance, or use of such autocab upon any public street; and to
satisfy any claim for damages to property of any person or persons,
resulting from, or on account of, an accident, by reason of the ownership,
operation, maintenance, or use of such autocab upon any public street.
(2)
Nothing contained herein shall prohibit the owner of an autocab from
obtaining any additional amount of motor vehicle liability insurance
coverage from a company licensed outside the State of New Jersey.
(3)
A license issued under this chapter shall be effective and operation
thereunder shall be permitted only so long as the insurance policy
shall remain in force to the full and collectible amounts as aforesaid.
(4)
The insurance policy shall provide for the payment of any final judgment
recovered by any person on account of the ownership, maintenance,
or use of the autocab or any fault in respect thereto, and shall be
for the benefit of every person suffering loss, damage or injury as
aforesaid.
[Added 9-27-2016 by Ord.
No. 1362[1]]
A.
There shall be available for issuance 10 taxi licenses in the Township
of Haddon, which shall be issued to the highest qualified bidder therefor
at a sale for public auction for that purpose conducted or supervised
by the Township Clerk.
(1)
A minimum bid of $1,000 shall be required.
(2)
The Township reserves the right to reject all bids where the highest
bid is not accepted.
(3)
In addition to the fees provided for in § 214-3, the recipient of a license shall reimburse the Township for any costs incurred in connection with the public notice requirements established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:16-2.1. In the event more than one license is issued at the same public auction, the recipients thereof shall equally split the costs of such reimbursement.
B.
The licenses herein provided for shall be signed by the Township
Clerk and shall have the Township Seal affixed thereto. The Township
Clerk shall not issue any license until the application therefor has
been approved by the governing body and the conditions precedent,
including but not limited to compliance with all zoning regulations,
the payment of the license fees, the criminal history background check
and, in the case of a taxi owner's license, the filing of the
policy of insurance herein provided for, approved by the governing
body, together with the power of attorney, shall have been complied
with.
No taxicab license shall be issued until the applicant therefor shall have delivered to said Township Clerk, concurrently with the filing of the bond or insurance policy referred to in § 214-5 hereof, a power of attorney executed by said applicant wherein and whereby said applicant shall appoint the Treasurer of the Township of Haddon his, her or its 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, and any license for a taxicab issued upon any such application shall continue effective and the operation of any taxicab thereunder shall be permitted only so long as said power of attorney shall remain in effect and unrevoked.
[Amended 12-26-2006 by Ord. No. 1170; 9-27-2016 by Ord. No. 1362]
A.
No vehicle as provided for in this chapter shall hereafter be operated
in the Township of Haddon unless and until there is prominently displayed
in the interior thereof, within full view and access of any passengers
therein, a copy of the taxi owner's license and a complete list
of fares, charges or tariff rates charged for transportation of passengers,
which fares, charges or tariff rates so displayed, and no other, shall
be those charged any passenger so transported.
B.
Every owner of a taxicab shall cause to be displayed on the body
of the vehicle the taxi license number issued to that vehicle, which
shall be three inches in height and located in the center of the rear
quarter panels on both the driver and passenger sides and the rear
center line of the trunk of the vehicle.
C.
Each taxicab shall display on each rear door the name of the Township
of Haddon and any other municipality which has issued a taxi license
to the owner in letters three inches in height.
[Amended 8-6-1968 by Ord. No. 534; 12-26-2006 by Ord. No. 1170]
Every application for a taxicab driver’s license shall be made to the Township Clerk and shall set forth the full name and address of the applicant, his or her age, whether or not he or she is a citizen of the United States and whether or not he or she has ever been convicted of crime, and, if so, the crime of which he or she has been convicted, the place of conviction, the date thereof and the punishment therefor. Such applicant shall also furnish satisfactory evidence that he or she has received a driver’s license from the Motor Vehicle Department of the State of New Jersey. No taxicab driver’s license shall be issued to any person who shall be under 18 years of age. Each applicant for a taxicab driver’s license shall, at the time of filing his application, be fingerprinted by the Police Department of the Township of Haddon for securing from any agency any report or reports it may deem necessary with respect to said application. Said fingerprint impressions and any report received with respect thereto shall be affixed to the application before consideration thereof by the Township Clerk and Chief of Police. Each applicant for a taxicab driver’s license shall file with his or her application three photographs, approximately 1 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches, clearly depicting the facial features of the applicant, each of which photographs shall thereupon become the property of the Township and be retained with the application form unless the application shall be granted and the license issued, in which event one of such photographs shall be permanently affixed to the license card issued to said taxicab driver, one shall be retained by the Township Clerk and one shall be delivered to the Police Department. Each of said photographs shall be signed on the back thereof by the applicant and shall bear the date upon which they were taken, which shall be not more than 30 days prior to the date of application and a fee, as provided in Chapter 111, Fees, shall accompany each application for a taxicab driver’s license.
If the application for a taxicab driver's license
shall be granted, there shall be issued to the applicant a license
card in evidence thereof setting forth the number of the license,
the name and address of the licensee and his or her age. Said license
card shall be signed by the Township Clerk and shall at all times
be permanently displayed and adequately protected in the interior
of any taxicab operated by the licensee so that the fact thereof shall
be at all times in full view of and plainly legible to any passenger
seated on the rear seat of such taxicab.
Every application for a taxicab license or a
taxicab driver's license shall be verified by the oath or affirmation
of the applicant or applicants, if an individual or copartnership,
and, if a corporation, shall be verified by the oath or affirmation
of an officer thereof.
Every license issued pursuant to the terms of
this chapter shall expire at 12:00 midnight on the 31st day of December
of the year in which it is issued, unless sooner surrendered, suspended
or revoked; provided, however, that if an application for a renewal
shall have been filed on or before December 31, said taxicab may be
operated and said driver may operate a taxicab, pending the issuance
of a new license or licenses, until the 15th day of January next succeeding.
No license fee payable under this chapter shall be prorated nor shall
any part thereof be refunded for any reason unless a license shall
be refused.
Every taxicab so licensed shall have painted
on both sides thereof the word "Taxi" or "Cab" in letters at least
three inches high or the name of the operating owner containing the
word "Taxi" or "Cab" or "Taxicab."
Every application for a taxicab license shall,
in addition to all of the other requirements contained in this chapter,
contain a statement as to the hours when said taxicab will be in operation
for public use, and the failure of any licensee to provide taxi service
to the general public during the hours named in the application shall
be sufficient cause for revocation of any license.
[Added 9-27-2016 by Ord.
No. 1362[1]]
A.
No taxicab license shall be issued to, or renewed for, any taxicab
unless and until proof is given to the Township Chief of Police, or
his designee, that such taxicab has adequately provided for the safety
of children under the age of five years, who would be passengers in
that taxicab, by maintaining a federally approved car seat in the
passenger compartment or trunk of the licensed vehicle at all times
for use in accordance with this section.
B.
The holder of taxicab licenses prior to the effective date of this section shall have 30 days from the effective date of this section to comply with the requirements set forth in Subsection A above before any penalty may be imposed for violation thereof. The license of any taxicab owner or driver who has not complied with the requirements of this section after the time period indicated hereinabove has passed shall be subject to penalties as set forth in this chapter. The requirements of this section shall be strictly applied to any applicant for a license or renewal of a license after the effective date of this section.
[Added 8-3-1948 by Ord. No. 202]
A.
No person, partnership, association or corporation
to whom a taxicab license has been issued under this chapter as well
as any amendments or revisions thereof shall operate or maintain a
taxi stand on any of the public highways within the Township of Haddon
without express approval of the Board of Commissioners.
B.
The granting of a taxicab license or licenses under
this chapter or any amendments or revisions thereof shall not be construed
as permission to operate and maintain a taxi stand or place of business
within the Township of Haddon unless request therefor was contained
or shall hereafter be contained in the application for any taxicab
license or licenses, and no such taxi stand or place of business shall
be maintained without specific authority first being given by the
Board of Commissioners.
The Board of Commissioners, after notice and hearing, may revoke or suspend any license issued pursuant to this chapter if the licensee has been once convicted of a crime in this or any other jurisdiction or has been convicted of being a disorderly person or of a violation of Title 39, Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulation, of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey, or if the licensee violates any provision of this chapter or has any judgment unsatisfied against him, her or it arising out of an automobile accident, or if the licensee has made false answers in his, her or its application for such license or any renewal thereof or has failed or fails to render reasonably prompt, safe, proper and adequate taxicab service or has not complied fully with all the requirements of this chapter with respect to such license. Any taxicab driver's license may be revoked or suspended by the Board of Commissioners, after notice and hearing, if the licensee has in any degree contributed to any injury to person or damage to property arising out of the negligent operation of a motor vehicle or if said taxicab driver shall have any communicable or contagious disease. Any taxicab license may be revoked or suspended by the Board of Commissioners after notice and hearing, if the taxicab licensed is dangerous to the safety or health of the occupants or others by reason of unsafe or unsanitary conditions, or if the insurance policy required by § 214-5 hereof has once lapsed or if such insurance coverage is not maintained at all times, or if said licensed taxicab shall be used for any improper, immoral or illegal business or purpose.
[Amended 4-7-1987 by Ord. No. 819]
Any person, firm or corporation violating any
provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished
by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding
90 days, or both, in the discretion of the Judge.
