[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Hanover 2-9-1967 by Ord. No. 5-67. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
No person or persons, partnerships, voluntary
associations or incorporated companies, unless duly licensed in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter, shall have, keep, own or maintain
or use within the Township of Hanover any public dance hall where
dances are conducted as a business unless a license therefor is obtained
as herein set forth.
An applicant for a license to conduct a public
dance hall shall furnish the following information to the Township
Clerk:
A.
The name of the applicant or, if a company, the name
of its officers and, if a partnership, the names of the partners.
B.
The applicant's address or, if a corporation or partnership,
its main office.
C.
A description of the business to be licensed.
D.
A description of the building or grounds where the
business is to be conducted.
E.
A resume of the business experience of the applicant
for the past five years.
F.
Complete information as to any arrests or convictions
within the past 10 years.
A.
Upon receiving such application, the Township Clerk
shall submit the application to the Chief of Police, the Building
Official, the Health Officer and the Chief of the Fire Prevention
Bureau. Such officials shall satisfy themselves, respectively, as
to the moral and public safety hazards involved, the fire hazards,
the safety of the structures and the health hazards. Site plan approval
shall be obtained from the Planning Board before submitting the application
to the Township Committee.
B.
Any of said officers may make recommendations for
reasonable structural changes or alterations of the building where
said business is to be conducted, and regulations governing the conduct
of business therein, if, in his opinion, the same are necessary for
the public health, safety and welfare.
C.
The Township Clerk shall promptly notify the applicant
of any requirements or conditions recommended by any such official,
and, upon the applicant's compliance therewith, the Clerk shall forward
the application, along with his recommendations, to the Township Committee,
who shall then have the power, in the exercise of a reasonable discretion,
to issue a license to the applicant upon payment of the fee hereinafter
prescribed.
D.
The applicant, upon request, shall be given a hearing
by the Township Committee.
Licenses may be issued for a period of one year,
and, before renewal thereof, a further inspection and recommendation
shall be made by the public officials hereinabove stated.
Said license shall be displayed by the applicant
in a conspicuous place at his or its place of business.
The place where said business is conducted shall
at all times be open to inspection by the public officials hereinabove
stated and shall be under the continuing control and supervision of
the Police Department of the Township of Hanover. The orderly operation
of any dance hall shall be the responsibility of the licensee.
This chapter shall not affect any church, fraternal
order or other private nonprofit association which conducts a dance
or dances solely for the benefit of its members. Such organization
may also permit the use of or rent premises owned or controlled by
it to like organizations for dances for which an admission fee is
charged, provided that such charges or fees are for the sole benefit
of such organization operating or renting said premises.
[Amended 7-11-1991 by Ord. No. 16-91]
The license fee shall be as provided in Chapter 125, Fees, of the Code of the Township of Hanover.
No license shall be issued to conduct any such
business where the place in which it is intended to conduct the same
shall be below the surface of an adjoining street.
No person under the age of 16 years shall be
permitted to use any facilities licensed pursuant to this chapter.
No games of chance, gaming, gambling, playing
for money among contestants or any such practices shall be permitted
in any place where said business shall be conducted pursuant to this
chapter.
A licensee under this chapter may conduct business
only on weekdays between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 12:00 midnight.
No business may be conducted on Sunday.
No license issued in accordance with this chapter
shall be transferred.
Any such license may be revoked or suspended
by the Township Committee of the Township of Hanover for the violation
of any provision of the license or this chapter, for the violation
of any other municipal ordinance or state or federal statute, for
the falsification of any facts in the application for a license or
for conduct constituting a public nuisance. Before the revocation
or suspension of any such license, the licensee shall, upon request,
be given a hearing.
[Amended 7-11-1991 by Ord. No. 16-91]
Any person or persons, firm, partnership, corporation
or association violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall,
in addition to the revocation of his or its license, upon conviction,
be subject to a penalty not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment not
exceeding 90 days, or both, at the discretion of the Judge before
whom the conviction is had.
