[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough of Rutherford Council 9-21-1948
by Ord. No. 1531, effective 9-23-1948. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The owner or person in charge of any place of public amusement shall
provide such means of protecting all lights used therein and of communicating
alarms of fire, accident or danger to the Fire and Police Departments, respectively,
and such means of preventing and extinguishing fires as the Mayor and Council
shall prescribe.
The Chief Inspector of the Bureau of Fire Prevention of the Rutherford
Fire Department may detail as many members of the Fire Prevention Bureau as
may be necessary at each place of public amusement where machinery and scenery
are used, while such place is open to the public. The persons so detailed
shall inspect every portion of said place for the purpose of guarding the
occupants against fire and panic, and shall have charge of the means provided
for extinguishing fires, and control of the employees of such place for that
purpose when a fire occurs therein.
No obstruction or thing shall be placed nor shall any person stand in
any aisle or passageway in any such place of public amusement.
The smoking or carrying of lighted cigarettes, cigars or pipes in the
auditorium of a place of public amusement, theater or moving-picture theater
is hereby prohibited.
The proprietor of every place of public amusement, theater and moving-picture
theater wherein printed programs of the performance are either furnished or
sold shall have conspicuously printed thereon, prior in position to the program
of each performance, a diagram of the seating arrangement, showing plainly
the location of each fire escape and other exit. Underneath each diagram,
there shall be printed the following statement: "The laws of New Jersey require
that this diagram be printed in every program of all theaters and other places
of public amusement. Penalty for nonobservance, $100."
The proprietor of every moving-picture house must show on the screen
at least once during each performance, and for at least 1/2 minute each time,
a diagram of the seating arrangement, showing plainly the location of each
exit. Every such diagram shall have the following statement printed underneath
in letters sufficiently large that they may be easily read from any portion
of the auditorium: "The laws of New Jersey require that this diagram be shown
in all moving-picture houses at least once every performance and kept on the
screen for at least 1/2 minute. Penalty for nonobservance, $100."
No machine or apparatus for exhibiting moving pictures shall be used
or set up for use in any place of public amusement, theater or moving-picture
theater when such machine or apparatus uses films of a combustible material
more than 10 inches in length, unless such machine or apparatus be enclosed
in a booth of the following description.
A.
The booth shall be at least seven feet in height, inside
dimensions. If the booth is for the use of one such machine or apparatus,
the area occupied by such booth shall be not less than 48 square feet. If
more than one such machine or apparatus is to be operated therein, an additional
24 square feet shall be provided.
B.
Such booth shall be constructed with a framework of iron
angles not less than 1 1/4 by 1 1/4 inches by 3/16
of an inch thick. The adjacent iron members shall be firmly joined with angle
plates of iron, and the iron members of the framework shall be spaced not
more than four feet apart.
C.
Such booth shall be covered or lined with asbestos or
other strong and fire-resisting material that will withstand, on a twelve-inch-square
sample, a center load of at least 250 pounds and which shall be sufficient
to resist a temperature of at least 1,500º F. for at least 30 minutes,
and after which, being immersed in water, will not lose more than 50% of its
initial strength. Such material shall completely cover the sides and top of
the booth, shall be at least 1/4 inch in thickness and shall be securely attached
to the iron framework by means of iron bolts and rivets. The floor shall be
covered with such fire-resisting material not less than 3/8 inch in thickness.
D.
All joints of any such booth and its framework shall
be pointed up with asbestos retort cement.
E.
Every such booth shall have a door not less than two
feet in width and six feet in height, consisting of an angle iron frame, covered
with sheets of the aforesaid fire-resisting material and attached to the framework
of such booth by hinges in such manner that the door shall be kept closed
automatically at all times when not used for ingress or egress.
F.
The windows in such booth used in connection with the
machines and apparatus and by the operators thereof shall not be larger than
is reasonably necessary to secure the desired service. The said fire-resisting
material shall be provided for each window and shall be so suspended and arranged
that it will automatically close the window upon the operation of either a
fusable or mechanical releasing device with a fusable link attached.
G.
Each booth shall have an opening for ventilation. This
opening shall have an automatically closing door or a riveted conductor pipe
to the outside of the building or into a chimney.
H.
All shelves, furniture and fixtures within the booth
shall be constructed of incombustible material, and no combustible material
of any sort whatever shall be permitted or allowed to be within such booth,
except the films used in the operation of the machine and film cement.
I.
Film cabinets of capacity equal to the normal daily use
of film shall be provided in projection booths. All film not in a projection
machine or being rewound shall be kept in the cabinet, provided that film
in transit and film for only one day's showing and not exceeding 200 pounds
total may be kept in Interstate Commerce Commission shipping containers, but
not more than one such container may be open at any time.
No booth shall be constructed until plans and specifications therefor have been submitted to and approved by the Building Inspector. No plans or specifications shall be approved which do not conform to the minimum requirements set forth in § 78-7 hereof.
Every certificate of approval issued under § 78-8 hereof shall expire in 60 days after its date, and thereafter no booth shall be erected under such certificate.
Within five days after the completion of the construction of any such
booth, the owner or the lessee of the premises wherein it is to be located
or the person for whom such booth is being constructed shall notify the Building
Inspector of such completion. Thereupon such officer shall cause such booth
to be inspected. If it is found to have been constructed in accordance with
the plans and specifications and with the requirements of this chapter and
in such manner as to render safe the operation of the apparatus or machines
intended to be used therein for the purpose of projecting moving pictures,
such officer shall issue to the owner, lessee or other person above mentioned
a certificate to that effect. This certificate shall be posted in a public
part of said booth so as to enable it to be distinctly seen from any place
in said building at five feet distant from said booth.
Sections 78-7 through 78-10 of this chapter shall not apply to moving-picture machines using only cellulose acetate films not more than 100 feet in length nor more than one inch in width and not requiring more than 500 watts of electric current to operate the arc, except when such machines are used or exhibited in theaters or public place of entertainment, regularly used as such, to which admission fees are charged.
[Amended 5-7-1968 by Ord.
No. 2003-68]
There shall be charged an annual license fee of $50 for places of public
amusement, theaters and moving-picture theaters with a seating capacity of
less than 500; and for a seating capacity over 500 and not exceeding 750,
the fee shall be $75; and for a seating capacity over 750, the fee shall be
$350. Application for said license shall be made to the Mayor and Council,
in writing, stating the name and address of the applicant, the building or
premises to be occupied and such other information as will indicate compliance
with the provisions of this chapter. The license herein provided for shall
be apart from and in addition to the certificate of approval required by § 78-10
hereof; provided, however, that the fees herein established shall include
both the said license and the said certificate of approval. The said license
shall be for a period of one year from the date of the issuance thereof, subject
to the right of the Mayor and Council to revoke the same for failure to comply
with any of the provisions of this chapter.
Any person or persons, firm, partnership or corporation violating the following sections of this chapter shall be subject to the following fines: §§ 78-1, 78-2, 78-3, 78-4 and 78-12, not exceeding $200; §§ 78-5 and 78-6, not exceeding $100, which said fine shall be paid into the treasury of the Firemen's Relief Fund of the Borough of Rutherford; and §§ 78-7, 78-8, 78-9, 78-10 and 78-11, not exceeding $50, which such penalty shall be inflicted for each day such violation thereafter continues, and such penalties may be exacted against the owner or lessee of the premises wherein such violation occurs, or both; or in default of payment thereof may be committed to the county jail for a term not exceeding 30 days.
An ordinance entitled "An Ordinance Regulating Theatres and Moving Picture
Shows," No. 729, shall be and it hereby is repealed.
This chapter shall take effect immediately upon publication according
to law.
