[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
(now Township Council) of the Township of Greenwich 2-5-1940. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
No person or persons, partnerships, voluntary
associations, incorporated companies or other organizations shall
have, keep, own, maintain or use, in any building or other place used
for any commercial purposes or commonly used as a place of assemblage
for purposes of amusement, entertainment or sociality within the Township
of Greenwich, any billiard table, pool table or bagatelle table without
first having obtained a license therefor from the Township of Greenwich.
The Township Council of the Township of Greenwich,
in the County of Gloucester, shall constitute the authority for the
issuance of licenses hereunder and shall be the agency responsible
for the proper administration of this chapter; provided, however,
that no license shall be granted unless it shall appear that a majority
of the whole Council shall vote to issue the same.
A. Applicants for licenses shall answer such questions
and make such declarations in their applications as the Township Council
may prescribe and require. No license shall be issued to any natural
person unless he is a citizen of the United States and has been a
resident of the State of New Jersey for at least five years continuously
immediately prior to the submission of the application. No license
shall be issued to any individual who is an alien, to any person under
legal age, nor to any person who has been convicted of a crime involving
moral turpitude or who has committed two or more violations of any
law or statute of the State of New Jersey.
B. In the case of applications by associations or corporations,
the names and addresses of all officers, trustees, directors or other
governing officials must be stated in the application. In the case
of application by partnerships, the application shall contain the
names and addresses of the partners. No license shall be issued unless
all of the members of the partnership, corporation or other organization
qualify as individual applicants.
C. Every applicant for a license shall cause a notice
of intention to make such application to be published, in a form prescribed
by the Township Clerk, once a week for two weeks successively in a
newspaper printed in the English language, published in the County
of Gloucester and circulated in the Township of Greenwich. All applications
shall be duly sworn to by each of the applicants except in the case
of applications by corporations, which shall be duly sworn to by the
president or vice president. All statements in said application shall
be deemed material, and any person who shall knowingly misstate any
material fact, whether under oath or not, in said application shall
be guilty of a violation of this chapter.
D. All applications shall be in writing and shall be
filed with the Township Clerk subsequent to the publication required
herein at least three days before the regular meeting of the Township
Council at which it is desired that the Township Council should act
upon same.
It shall be the duty of the Township Clerk to
keep a record of all licenses issued and to make a report thereof
and of the fees collected therefor, semiannually, to the Township
Council.
All licenses issued hereunder shall be issued
for a term of one year from the first day of January in each year,
except licenses which are issued subsequent to January 1 in any year,
which shall bear the date of issue and expire on December 31 in the
year of issue. The fees payable for licenses issued under this chapter
shall be at the rate of $3 per table and shall be payable on a yearly
basis, regardless of the date of issue. All license fees shall be
payable to the Township Clerk and shall be paid at the time of the
filing of the application.
All licenses issued hereunder shall be displayed
in a prominent and conspicuous place upon the premises where the devices
hereinbefore mentioned are operated.
The place or places where said devices are kept,
maintained or operated shall at all times be open to inspection and
shall be under the control and supervision of the Chief of Police
of the Township of Greenwich. The Chief of Police is hereby authorized
and empowered, subject to the approval of the Township Council, to
make, promulgate and enforce such rules and regulations consistent
with the provisions of this chapter, with respect to such devices,
as he shall deem necessary to safeguard the peace and good morals
of the community against abuses in the operation of the devices aforesaid.
The entire interior of the premises upon which
any billiard table, pool table or bagatelle table licensed hereunder
is kept, maintained or operated shall be visible from the street,
and no screens, curtains, blinds or other obstructions shall be permitted
in any window or windows facing said street; nor shall any partitions
be upon any such premises which shall obstruct any portion thereof
from a clear view from said street. In the event such premises should
be on the second floor or other floor of any building other than the
ground floor, said premises shall contain no partitions and the entire
view thereof shall be had from the top of the stairs whereunder ingress
and egress is obtained or from the entrance door of said premises.
No license shall be issued hereunder to operate any billiard table,
pool table or bagatelle table which is kept, maintained or operated
in a building, structure or other place below the level of the surface
of the adjoining street or streets.
Every property in which any of the devices licensed
under this chapter are kept, maintained or operated shall close at
12:00 midnight.
No licensee hereunder shall suffer or permit
any person to play any game of billiards, pool or bagatelle upon any
device licensed hereunder on the first day of the week, commonly called
Sunday, nor upon any weekday except between the hours of 8:00 a.m.
and 12:00 midnight.
No game of chance, gaming, gambling, playing
for money among contestants or any other such practices shall be permitted
in any place where any of the devices licensed hereunder shall be
kept, maintained or operated.
No license granted in accordance with this chapter
shall be transferable.
No person under the age of 18 years shall be
permitted to play upon any billiard table, pool table or bagatelle
table licensed hereunder, nor to patronize or frequent any establishment
which enjoys the privilege of a license under the provisions hereof.
Licenses issued hereunder may be revoked by
the Township Council for any violation of any of the provisions of
this chapter or for any violation of any other ordinance, state or
federal statute or falsification in applying for a license. In the
event of any revocation proceeding hereunder, the licensed person
shall be granted a hearing by the Township Council upon written request
filed with the Township Clerk within five days after notice that revocation
proceedings shall be taken hereunder.
The purpose of this chapter is to regulate,
in the interests of public morals, health and safety, the operation
of poolrooms or places where billiards, pool or bagatelle are played,
and to provide a reasonable revenue by the imposition of license fees
upon all devices for playing such games.
[Amended 10-4-1976]
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, forfeit and pay a
fine not to exceed $500 or suffer imprisonment for a period not exceeding
90 days, or shall be subject to both such fine and imprisonment, in
the discretion of the court imposing the same.