[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Franklin 6-23-2009 by Ord. No. 3832. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
For the purposes of this chapter, relative to charitable clothing
bins, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The request, directly or indirectly, for money, credit, property,
financial assistance, or other thing of any kind of value. Solicitation
shall include, but not be limited to, the use or employment of canisters,
cards, receptacles or similar devices for the collection of money
or other thing of value. A solicitation shall take place whether or
not the person making the solicitation receives any contribution.
[Amended 3-8-2016 by Ord.
No. 4136-16]
It shall be unlawful for any person firm, or corporation to
erect, place, maintain or operate in the Township of Franklin any
charitable clothing bin without first submitting a completed application
to the Township Clerk; receiving approval from the Franklin Township
Police Department and Zoning Officer; and obtaining a decal from the
Township Clerk and affixing that decal to the charitable clothing
bin.
The application for a charitable clothing bin permit shall require
the following information from the applicant:
A.
Name, address, telephone number, name of contact person of the organization
that is in charge of the charitable clothing bin;
B.
Location where the bin would be situated, as precisely as possible,
including but not limited to block and lot of property, street address,
description of exact location of bin and written consent from the
property owner to place the bin on his property;
C.
Manner in which the person anticipates any clothing or other donations
collected via the bin would be used, sold, or dispersed, and the method
by which the proceeds of collected donations would be allocated or
spent;
A.
Updated name, address, telephone number, name of contact person of
the organization that is in charge of the charitable clothing bin;
B.
Location where the bin is situated, as precisely as possible, including
but not limited to block and lot of property, street address, description
of exact location of bin, and if the applicant intends to move said
bin, the new location where the bin would be situated after the renewal
is granted and written consent from the property owner to place the
bin on his property;
C.
Manner in which the person has used, sold, or dispersed any clothing
or other donations collected via the bin, the method by which the
proceeds of collected donations have been allocated or spent, and
any changes the person anticipates it may make in these processes
during the period covered by the renewal;
The Township shall not grant an application for a permit to
place, use, or employ a charitable clothing bin if it determines that
the placement of the bin could constitute a safety hazard. Such hazards
include, but shall not be limited to, the placement of a charitable
clothing bin within 100 yards of any place which stores large amounts
of, or sells, fuel or other flammable liquids or gases.
A.
The permit number and its date of expiration shall be clearly and
conspicuously displayed on the exterior of the donation clothing bin,
in addition to the information required pursuant to the subsections
of this section; and
B.
The person, and any other entity which may share or profit from any
clothing or other donations collected via the bin, maintains a bona
fide office where a representative of the person or other entity,
respectively, can be reached at a telephone information line during
normal business hours for the purpose of offering information concerning
the person or other entity. For the purposes of this subsection, an
answering machine or service unrelated to the person does not constitute
a bona fide office; and
C.
The following information is clearly and conspicuously displayed
on the exterior of the donation clothing bin:
(1)
Name and address of the registered person that owns the bin, and
of any other entity which may share or profit from any clothing or
other donations collected via the bin;
(2)
Telephone number of the person's bona fide office and, if applicable,
the telephone number of the bona fide office of any other entity which
may share or profit from any clothing or other donations collected
via the bin;
(3)
In cases when any entity other than the person who owns the bin may
share or profit from any clothing or other donations collected via
the bin, a notice, written in a clear and easily understandable manner,
indicating that clothing or other donations collected via the bin,
their proceeds, or both, may be shared, or given entirely to, an entity
other than the person who owns the bin, and identifying all such entities
which may share or profit from such donations; and
(4)
A statement, consistent with the information provided to the Township
Clerk's Office in the most recent permit or renewal application
pursuant to this chapter, indicating the manner in which the person
anticipates any clothing or other donations collected via the bin
would be used, sold or dispersed, and the method by which the proceeds
of collected donations would be allocated or spent.
A.
The appropriate municipal office, Police, Health, Zoning, and/or
Fire Prevention, within the Township where the donation clothing bin
has been placed shall receive and investigate, within 30 days, any
complaints from the public about the bin. Whenever it appears to the
appropriate municipal officer that a person has engaged in, or is
engaging in any act or practice in violation of this chapter, the
person who placed the bin shall be issued a warning, stating that
if the violation is not rectified or a hearing with the Township Council
is not requested within 45 days, the bin will be seized or removed
at the expense of the person who placed the bin, and any clothing
or other donations collected via the bin will be sold at public auction
or otherwise disposed of. In addition to any other means used to notify
the person who placed the bin, such warning shall be affixed to the
exterior of the bin itself.
B.
In the event that the person does not rectify the violation or request
a hearing within 45 days of the posting of the warning, the appropriate
municipal office may seize the bin, remove it, or have it removed,
at the expense of the person who placed the bin, and sell at public
auction or otherwise dispose of any clothing or other donations collected
via the bin. Any proceeds from the sale of the donations collected
via the bin shall be paid to the Chief Financial Officer of the Township.
In addition to any other penalties or remedies authorized by
the laws of this state, county or municipality, any person who violates
any provision of this chapter which results in seizure of the donation
clothing bin shall be:
A.
Subject to a penalty of up to $20,000 for each violation. The appropriate
municipal office may bring this action in the municipal court or Superior
Court as a summary proceeding under the Penalty Enforcement Law of
1999, P.L. 1999, c. 274 (N.J.S.A. 2A:58-10 et seq.), and any penalty
monies collected shall be payable to the Chief Financial Officer of
the Township.
B.
Deemed ineligible to place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin
for solicitation purposes pursuant to § 2 of P.L. 2007,
c. 209 (N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.61). A person disqualified from placing,
using, or employing a donation clothing bin by violating the provisions
of § 2 of P.L. 2007, c. 209 (N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.60 et seq.),
may apply to the appropriate municipal office to have that person's
eligibility restored. The appropriate municipal office may restore
the eligibility of a person who:
