[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Franklin 7-6-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-4. Amendments noted where applicable.]
No person shall place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin,
for solicitation purposes, within the Township of Franklin, unless
all of the following requirements are met:
A.
The person has obtained a permit, valid for three years, from the
Franklin Township Clerk in accordance with the following:
(1)
In applying for such a permit, the person shall include:
(a)
The location where the bin would be situated, as precisely as
possible;
(b)
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;
(c)
The name, and telephone number of the bona fide office required pursuant to Subsection B of this section of any entity which may share or profit from any clothing or other donations collected via the bin; and
(d)
Written consent from the property owner to place the bin on
his property.
(2)
The Franklin Township Clerk shall not grant an application for a
permit to place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin if the Clerk
determines that the placement of the bin could constitute a safety
hazard. Such hazards shall include, but not be limited to, the placement
of a donation clothing bin within 100 yards of any place which stores
large amounts of, or sells, fuel or other flammable liquids or gases.
(3)
The fee for such application shall be $75 for three years to be paid
in the first year ($25 per year). The fee is nonrefundable if an applicant
violates the chapter.
(4)
An expiring permit for a donation clothing bin may be renewed for
an additional three-year period upon application for renewal and payment
of $75 to the Township Clerk for all three years. Such application
shall include:
(a)
The location where the bin is situated, as precisely as possible
and, if the person intends to move it, 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;
(b)
The 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 he or she may make in
these processes during the period covered by the renewal; 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.
C.
The following information is clearly and conspicuously displayed
on the exterior of the donation clothing bin:
(1)
The name and address of the registered person who owns the bin, and
of any other entity which may share or profit from any clothing or
other donations collected via the bin;
(2)
The 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, by 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 appropriate municipal agency in the most recent permit or renewal application pursuant to Subsection A(1)(b) and A(4)(b) of this section, 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 Franklin Township Zoning Officer shall receive and investigate,
within 30 days, any complaints from the public about the bin. Whenever
it appears to the appropriate municipal agency 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 Zoning
Officer 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 who placed the bin does not rectify
the violation or request a hearing within 45 days of the posting of
the warning, the Township of Franklin 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 Franklin
Township Chief Financial Officer.
In addition to any other penalties or remedies authorized by
the laws of this state, 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 Township
of Franklin 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 paid to the Franklin Township Chief Financial
Officer; and
B.
Deemed ineligible to place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin
for solicitation purposes pursuant to Section 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
P.L.2007, c.209 (N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.60 et seq.) may apply to the Franklin
Township Clerk to have that person's eligibility restored. The
appropriate municipal agency may restore the eligibility of a person
who:
