[Adopted 4-24-1979 (Ch. 74, Art. II, of the 1985 Code)]
This article is enacted for the purpose of raising
revenue and for the regulation and control of automatic amusement
games of the type commonly known and designated as "bagatelle," "baseball
or pin amusement games" or similar machines or devices.
[Amended 3-26-1985 by Ord. No. 6-85]
All automatic amusement games of the type commonly
known and designated as "bagatelle," "baseball or pin amusement games"
or similar machines or devices operated, maintained or used in any
public or quasi-public place or in any building, store or other place
wherein the public is invited or wherein the public may enter, and
particularly, but not by way of limitation, all coin-operated automatic
amusement devices of the type commonly known as "bagatelle games,"
"baseball games" or "pin amusement games" or similar machines or devices,
including electronic amusement devices, operated, maintained or used
as aforesaid, may be licensed at the discretion of the Board of Commissioners
and shall not be placed, operated, maintained or used within the Village
without a license for that purpose first having been obtained.
A.
A separate application for a license required by this
article shall be filed for each machine on a form to be furnished
by the Board of Commissioners, which form shall show the name of the
applicant, his post office address, whether or not the person making
the application has ever been convicted of a crime or a violation
of any provision of this article or other Village ordinance involving
gambling, and such other information as the Board of Commissioners
shall deem necessary or proper. The license fee shall be payable with
the filing of the application. Upon completion of an investigation
by the proper authorities, if the applicant is rejected, 90% of the
fee paid by the applicant shall be returned to the applicant.
B.
In the event a license shall be revoked or terminated
voluntarily by the applicant, there shall be no refund of any portion
of the license fee.
No license required by this article shall be
issued to any person who shall have been convicted of a crime or a
violation of any provision of this article or other Village ordinance
involving gambling, or any statute relating to gambling, or crime
involving moral turpitude, or a misdemeanor. An applicant may be disqualified
from holding a license under this article where he is convicted of
a disorderly person offense or offenses and after an appropriate hearing
is held by the governing body and it is determined that the licensing
of said applicant under this particular article will be detrimental
to the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Village
of Ridgefield Park.
Licenses for amusement devices or machines regulated
by this article shall be issued to and in the name of the proprietor
of the premises where the machine is to be installed. Such licenses
shall be issued for the calendar year commencing January 1 and expiring
the following December 31 at 12:00 midnight.
[Amended 12-22-1981 by Ord. No. 18-81; 7-11-2006 by Ord. No.
06-10]
The fee for each license required by this article
shall be as follows for each calendar year or any part thereof:
No device or machine regulated by this article
shall be placed, operated, maintained or used until the license issued
by the Board of Commissioners shall be affixed thereto in a conspicuous
place so that the same shall be easily and quickly identified. Such
license shall, on its face, disclose the manufacturer's serial number,
the name and post office address of the licensee, and the amount of
money required to operate the machine or device, and shall briefly
state that the machine or device to which the same is affixed is licensed
for operation by the Village.
The holder of a license issued pursuant to this
article shall be permitted to transfer the license within the calendar
year for which it is issued to any other like machine operated in
the same premises in place of the machine from which the license is
transferred. The licensee, however, shall immediately notify the Board
of Commissioners of such transfer and communicate to the Board the
manufacturer's serial number and the type of machine.
[Amended 11-22-1988 by Ord. No. 24-88]
B.
For each particular location sought to be licensed
in the OP-1 and PD-1 Zones, one machine shall be permitted for each
100 square feet of usable floor area on a particular floor. No more
than 20 machines shall be allowed on any particular premises.
[Amended 10-25-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-12]
C.
Usable floor area shall not include bathrooms, utility
rooms, corridors, hallways, exit/access, exitway and exit discharge
areas; foyers and waiting space. Such areas, in addition to not being
counted toward the 100 square feet of usable floor area, shall not
be occupied by any machine nor shall any machine block such areas.
All machines must have at least 44 inches of clear width on three
sides of each machine, unless the machines are continuous. At the
end of a continuous row of machines, however, 44 inches shall separate
the machines from other machines.
D.
Prior to any machine being licensed under the terms
of this article, a plan showing the location of the machine shall
be submitted, together with information regarding the proposed electrical
connections. The material shall be submitted to the Building Department
at least seven working days prior to the application being acted upon
by the Building Department.
E.
All fees in connection with an application shall be
directly submitted to the Building Department, which shall turn the
fees over to the Village Clerk's office within 24 hours after an application
is acted upon.
F.
All machines shall be considered an incidental use.
No person shall use or permit to be used any
machine or device licensed under this article for the purposes of
gambling.
No machines or device licensed under this article
shall be used, placed, maintained or operated on any premises within
200 feet of any school unless a license for such machine or device
had been issued to a premises prior to the location of a school within
200 feet of the premises.
[Amended 3-26-1985 by Ord. No. 6-85; 10-27-2009 by Ord. No.
09-11]
Any person, firm or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with, or who resists the enforcement of, the provisions of this article or any order, decision or determination by the Board of Commissioners shall have appropriate action taken against him and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty. Each and every day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
