This chapter is created pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:16-1 et seq. and shall
be known as the "Town of Clinton Taxicab Ordinance."
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
CRUISING
The practice of driving about the streets of the town within a taxicab
so as to solicit passengers or to bring the presence of the taxicab to the
attention of prospective passengers. A taxicab driving along the streets of
this town for any purpose other than while transporting a passenger, going
to a definite designation by the most direct route in response to a call for
a taxicab by a prospective passenger, or returning by the most direct route
to the taxicab's home terminus after discharging a passenger, or going to
or from the said terminus to the driver's home by the most direct route, shall
be prima facie evidence of cruising.
DRIVER
Any person who drives a taxicab within this town.
HANDBAG
Not to be construed as a woman's purse, a cosmetic bag, a shopping
bag or the like.
LICENSED
Licensed in accordance with the appropriate sections of this chapter.
OPERATION OF A TAXICAB
Transporting in such taxicab one or more persons for hire along any
of the streets in this town, accepting a passenger to be transported for hire
within this town or from a point within the town to a point outside of the
town limits, or discharging a passenger transported for hire from a point
outside of the town limits to a point within the town limits, shall be deemed
to be the operation of a taxicab within the meaning thereof. The operation
of a taxicab in any of the above-described manners by anyone other than the
owner shall be deemed operation by the owner thereof as well as by the person
actually driving. The transportation of any person other than the owner or
driver in any motor vehicle bearing a sign therein or thereon using the word
"taxi," "taxicab" or "cab" shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
OWNER
Any person, corporation or association whose name or title to any
taxicab is registered with the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles or
which appears in such records to be the conditional vendee or lessee thereof.
PERSON
Any individual, copartnership, association or corporation or joint-stock
company, their lessees, trustees or receivers.
STREET
Any street, avenue, park, parkway, highway or other public roadway.
TAXICAB
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 Town of Clinton, and which accepts passengers for transportation
from points or places to points or places within or without the said town;
provided that nothing herein contained shall include autobuses, public liveries,
jitneys and other such vehicles which are hired by charter or for a particular
contract agreed upon in advance, or such public conveyances as are by law
subject to state and/or federal regulation exclusively.
TAXICAB STAND
A section of a public street or public place set apart for the exclusive
use of a limited number of taxicabs when such section is distinctly marked
as such by a metal sign attached to a stanchion on the curb or other conspicuous
place or by clearly visible marks upon the surface of the street or public
place.
TOWN
The Town of Clinton in the County of Hunterdon and State of New Jersey.
The licensing of taxicabs shall be by the town, and such licenses when
granted by the Town Council shall be countersigned by the Town Clerk. All
fees shall be paid to the Town Clerk. The regulating and inspection of taxicabs,
the application for license to own and operate taxicabs, the licensing of
drivers as provided for in this chapter and the enforcing of the provisions
of this chapter shall be under the control of the Town Council. The Town Council
is authorized and empowered to establish reasonable rules and regulations
for the inspection of taxicabs and requirements of construction and condition
of fitness for the safe and adequate transportation of passengers and the
general cleanliness of such taxicabs.
From and after the effective date of this chapter, no person shall pick
up for hire any persons in any taxicab in the Town of Clinton unless both
the taxicab and driver thereof are licensed pursuant to the terms of this
chapter and conform to all provisions thereof, provided that taxicabs and
drivers licensed by other municipalities may operate in the Town of Clinton
without securing a Clinton license but subject to all other requirements of
this chapter.
There are hereby established two classes of taxicab licenses, to be
known as "taxicab drivers' licenses" and "taxicab owners' licenses" respectively.
A taxicab owner' license shall entitle the taxicab therein described
to be operated in this town by a driver duly licensed hereunder until the
said license either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked, and shall
not be transferable.
A taxicab driver's license shall entitle the person named therein to
operate within this town any taxicab duly licensed hereunder until the said
license either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked, and shall
not be transferable.
The number of any licenses of either class at any one time issued and
outstanding shall not exceed such number as the Mayor and Council shall, in
its discretion, from time to time deem sufficient to adequately serve public
necessity and convenience.
[Amended 12-27-1988 by Ord.
No. 88-21]
No taxicab license shall be issued until the applicant therefor shall have delivered to the Chief Financial Officer, concurrently with the filing of the insurance policy referred to in §
126-12 hereof, a power of attorney executed by said applicant wherein and whereby said applicant shall appoint the Chief Financial Officer of the Town of Clinton 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 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.
Upon satisfactory fulfillment of the foregoing requirements, the Town
Clerk, after the approval of the Town Council, shall issue to the applicant
a driver's license card which shall contain the photograph and town license
number of the licensee and the decal.
The Mayor and Council may, in its discretion, refuse to issue or renew,
or may, after notice and hearing, revoke or suspend:
A. Any license of either class if the applicant or licensee
has been once convicted of a crime in this or any other jurisdiction, or convicted
of being a disorderly person or of a violation of Title 30, Motor Vehicle
and Traffic Regulations, of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey, or violates
any provisions of this chapter or has any judgment of record unsatisfied against
him arising out of an automobile accident, or has failed or fails to render
reasonably prompt, safe and adequate taxicab service, or has not complied
fully with all requirements of this chapter for such class of license; or,
B. Any taxicab driver's license if the licensee or applicant
has in any degree contributed to any injury to person or damage to property
arising out of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, or has any communicable
or contagious disease; or
C. The license of any taxicab driver whose taxicab shall
loiter within any space prohibited by law or ordinance, or who shall personally
stand or park his taxicab in such prohibitive place soliciting or waiting
for new passengers, or who shall violate any of the provisions of the motor
vehicle laws of the state or this chapter or any of the rules and regulations
made by the Town Council; or
D. Any taxicab owner's license if the motor vehicle licensed
or to be licensed, by reason of unsafe or unsanitary conditions, is dangerous
to the safety or health of the occupants or others, or if the policy of insurance
required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-3 has once lapsed or such coverage is not maintained
at all times.
Every person or persons, firm or corporation found guilty of violating
any of the provisions of this chapter shall be liable to a fine of not more
than $250 or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days. Each
succeeding day of violation may be construed to be a new violation.
Should a taxicab be withdrawn from service for necessary repairs or
for replacement, the Town Clerk shall issue a transfer of license thereof
to substitute another vehicle in place of the one withdrawn, provided that
all sections of this chapter are complied with in respect to the proposed
substitution. There shall be a fee as listed in the fee schedule section for
the issuance of said transfer.
Drivers of taxicabs shall not receive or discharge passengers in the
roadway but shall pull up to the right-hand sidewalk as nearly as possible,
or, in the absence of a sidewalk, to the extreme right-hand side of the road
and there receive or discharge passengers, except upon one-way streets, where
passengers may be discharged on either the right- or left-hand sidewalk, or
side of the roadway in the absence of a sidewalk.
Any violation of this chapter by any driver shall constitute a violation
on the part of the owner of such taxicab.
[Added 7-9-1985 by Ord. No.
85-14]
A. License required. No person shall hire, keep or use for
hire or pay, or cause to be kept or used for hire or pay, any limousine utilizing
the Town of Clinton as a principal place of business as expressed in N.J.S.A.
48:16-18 without having first obtained a license for that purpose from the
Town Clerk for such limousine, which license shall be known as a "limousine
license." Such license shall be for a term of one year from the date of issuance
and shall be renewable annually and shall be nontransferable.
B. Fee. The fee for the issuance of such license shall be in accordance with Chapter
73, Fees. Each such vehicle used as a limousine shall be licensed separately.
C. Qualifications. The Town Clerk shall issue such license
after satisfactory compliance by the applicant with the provisions of N.J.S.A.
48:16-13 to 48:16-22 and approval by the Chief of Police or Director of Law
and Public Safety and the payment of the aforesaid fee.
D. Form and content of license, There shall be a separate
license issued for each limousine to be licensed. The license shall be in
writing, numbered, signed by the Police Chief or Director of Law and Public
Safety on a form provided by the town and shall contain the following information:
the name, business address and business telephone number of the owner; the
number of the license; the make, model, year, serial number and license plate
number of the vehicle; and the name of the company supplying insurance coverage,
the policy number and the name, address and telephone number of the insurance
agent.
E. By whom issued. Limousine licenses shall be initially
issued by the Town Council. Any renewals thereof shall be issued by the Town
Clerk upon the approval of the Chief of Police or Director of Law and Public
Safety.