[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Tuckerton12-4-1967 by Ord. No. 6-1967. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any automobile or motorcar engaged in the business of carrying
persons for hire upon the streets of this Borough to any place within
or without the Borough whether hired or engaged from a garage or from
any taxi stand or other place in the Borough.
A.
Any person who desires to operate a taxicab along
any street in this municipality shall obtain the consent of the Borough
Council prior to operating any vehicle upon the streets in this municipality.
B.
Prior to the Borough Council giving its consent, the
owner shall file with the Clerk of the municipality an insurance policy
which shall be issued by an admitted insurance company duly licensed
to transact business under the insurance laws of this state or a company
registered to do business in this 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 taxicab 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 taxicab upon any public street.
Nothing contained in this subsection shall prohibit the owner of a
taxicab from obtaining any additional amount of motor vehicle liability
insurance from a company licensed outside the State of New Jersey.
The consent shall be effective and operation thereunder shall be permitted
only so long as the insurance policy shall remain in force to the
full and collectable amounts as aforesaid. 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 taxicab or
any fault in respect thereto, and shall be for the benefit of every
person suffering loss, damage or injury as aforesaid.
[Amended 10-3-2005 by Ord. No. 19-2005; 2-1-2021 by Ord. No. 1-2021]
C.
The owner of the taxicab shall execute and deliver to the Clerk of this municipality a power of attorney appointing the corporate fiscal officer of this municipality as 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 required by Subsection B.
Upon the said completion of the foregoing requirements,
the Clerk of the municipality shall issue a certificate, in duplicate,
showing that the owner of the taxicab has complied with the terms
and provisions of the sections hereinbefore set forth.
[Amended 10-3-2005 by Ord. No. 19-2005]
From and after the effective date of this chapter,
no person shall operate any taxicab within this Borough unless both
the taxicab and the driver thereof are licensed pursuant to this chapter
and conform to all the provisions hereof, provided that such taxicab
licenses as are now issued and outstanding shall remain effective
until their respective expiration dates and the taxicabs thereby licensed
shall be deemed to be licensed pursuant to the terms of this chapter,
until such licenses are surrendered, suspended or revoked or have
expired; provided, however, that in all other particulars said taxicabs
and their owners shall be subject to all the provisions hereof.
A.
Owners' licenses. The Borough Council is hereby authorized
to issue licenses to owners of taxicabs who are of good moral character
and who otherwise qualify according to the provisions of this chapter.
Such license shall hereinafter be referred to as the "owner's license."
The maximum number of owners' licenses to be issued shall be three.
B.
Operators' licenses. The Borough Council is hereby
authorized to issue licenses to operators of taxicabs, whether or
not they are owners, who are capable and of good moral character,
and who otherwise qualify according to the provisions of this chapter.
Such license shall hereafter be referred to as the "operator's license."
[Amended 2-1-2021 by Ord. No. 1-2021]
A.
Each operator or driver of the taxicab for which the owner thereof
is seeking the consent to operate in the Borough of Tuckerton must
submit to the performance of a criminal history record background
check. The cost for the criminal history record background check,
including all costs for administering and processing of the check,
shall be borne by the operator or driver of the taxicab. A person
shall be disqualified from operating or driving a taxicab if a criminal
history record background check required pursuant to this paragraph
reveals a record of conviction of any of the following crimes:
(1)
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 or her 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.
(2)
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 A(1) of this section.
B.
If a person who has been convicted of one of the crimes enumerated in Subsection A(1) and (2) of this subsection 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 a taxicab. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to an operator or driver of a taxicab who has received the consent to operate in a municipality prior to the effective date of P.L. 2011, c. 135 (N.J.S.A. 48:16-2.1 et seq.).
A.
Owners' and operators' licenses shall be numbered
consecutively in their own respective classifications and shall expire
on December 31 of the year of issuance. Licenses not suspended or
revoked may be renewed annually, subject to all of the same conditions,
provisions and charges as required for the original license. Every
license shall contain the following:
B.
The Borough Clerk shall keep a register of all licenses
granted, which register shall contain the details required by this
section.
[Amended 2-1-2021 by Ord. No. 1-2021]
License fees in the following amounts shall
be paid to the Clerk, who shall deliver the same over to the Treasurer:
A.
No owner's license shall be issued, unless the taxicab
shall be in such a condition, mechanical and otherwise, as to render
it fit, safe and appropriate for the comfortable and decent transportation
of passengers.
B.
The Chief of Police shall cause an inspection be made
of the taxicab prior to the issuance of the license to determine whether
it conforms with the requirements set forth in this section and he
shall report his findings to the Borough Council.
A.
Every operator, whether owner or otherwise, shall
be supplied a badge containing the number of the license, which he
shall wear in a conspicuous place upon his person while operating
such taxicab.
B.
Every owner, in addition, shall display the owner's
license in a conspicuous place in the taxicab licensed.
No owner or operator of any taxicab, while waiting
for employment at any place other than the garage or residence of
the owner thereof, shall refuse conveyance to any person without just
cause.
The Borough Council shall, by resolution, designate
public stands for taxicabs licensed under this chapter. The Chief
of Police, or such other police officer as may be designated for that
purpose, shall regulate and preserve order at the public stands. Any
owner or operator who shall fail, neglect or refuse to obey the directions
of such police officer shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.
[Added 10-3-2005 by Ord.
No. 19-2005; amended 2-1-2021 by Ord. No. 1-2021]
No taxicab shall hereafter be operated in this
Borough unless and until there is prominently displayed in the interior
thereof, within the full view and access of any passengers therein,
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.
[Amended 2-1-2021 by Ord. No. 1-2021]
Each passenger shall be entitled to have carried
and conveyed upon any licensed taxicab, without charge, his ordinary
travelling baggage.
Every owner's or operator's license granted hereunder may be suspended or revoked by the Borough Council, after notice and hearing, for the violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or for other good and sufficient cause. During said suspension and after revocation, the license shall be inoperative and of no effect and shall be surrendered to the Borough forthwith, along with the badge supplied pursuant to § 237-9.
[Amended 10-3-2005 by Ord. No. 19-2005]
Any person violating or failing to comply with
any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof,
be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or by imprisonment for
a term not to exceed 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment,
in the discretion of the Judge. The continuation of such violation
for each successive day shall constitute a separate offense, and the
person or persons allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation
may be punished as provided above for each separate offense.
