There shall be a Board of Health in the Borough of Bloomsbury
which shall consist of the members of Council.
The provisions of this chapter are adopted pursuant to the authority
granted by N.J.S.A. 40:52-1 et seq. and shall be construed broadly
to the extent permitted by said statutes to give effect to the provisions
hereof.
No provision hereof shall be construed so as to impose an unlawful
burden upon interstate commerce or any activity of the government
of the United States nor of this state or any subdivision thereof.
The Council finds and determines as follows:
A. During the recent past, the food service industry has grown in size
and complexity, and there is every indication that the food service
patterns will continue to change and modify in the years to come.
B. These changing patterns make it more essential that all agencies
involved in the monitoring of the food service industry work together
to the fullest extent possible to assure compliance with accepted
minimum standards of food safety.
C. A retail food establishment licensing program is essential to an
effective program of public health surveillance pursuant to the Recognized
Public Health Activities and Minimum Standards of Performance for
Local Boards of Health in New Jersey.
D. A proper licensing system will enable the Board of Health to:
(1) Increase assurance of adherence to effective standards of safe food-handling
practice.
(2) Improve the ability of the Board of Health to react in a timely manner
to public health illnesses or other threats to the public health.
(3) Identify persistent Sanitary Code violators for corrective public
health action via education or other means.
(4) Provide complete rather than partial knowledge of the whereabouts
and nature of food-handling operations in the Borough.
(5) Enable the Borough to generate revenue sufficient to cover inspection
and administrative costs.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
FOOD
Any raw, cooked or processed edible substance, water, ice,
beverage or ingredient used or intended for use or for sale in whole
or in part for human consumption.
MOBILE RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISHMENT
Any movable restaurant, truck, trailer, van, cart or bicycle
or other movable unit, including hand-carried, portable containers,
in or on which food or beverage is transported, stored or prepared
for retail sale or given away at temporary locations.
NONPROFIT/COMMUNITY SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS
Those organizations which are exempt from tax by the United
States Internal Revenue Service and which present to the Board of
Health a tax exemption number which has been issued to them by that
federal agency.
PERSON
An organization, corporation, unincorporated association,
individual person, any group of two or more persons or any other entity,
excluding nonprofit/community service organizations.
RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISHMENT
Any fixed or mobile restaurant, coffee shop, short-order
café, luncheonette, grill, tearoom, sandwich shop, soda fountain,
tavern, bar, cocktail lounge, nightclub, roadside stand, industrial
eating establishment, private, public or nonprofit organization, institution
or group preparing, storing or serving food, catering kitchen, commissary,
box lunch establishment, retail bakery, meat market, delicatessen,
grocery store, or public food market, or any similar place in which
food or drink is prepared for retail sale or service on the premises
or elsewhere, and any other retail eating or drinking establishment
or operation where food is served, handled or provided for the public
with or without charge, except that agricultural markets and covered-dish
suppers or similar types of church or nonprofit type institution meal
services shall meet the special provisions of N.J.A.C. 8:24-8; provided,
further, that any food and beverage vending machine shall meet the
requirements of N.J.A.C. 8:24.
TEMPORARY RETAIL FOOD ESTABLISHMENT
Any retail food establishment which operates at a fixed location
for a temporary period of time in connection with a fair, carnival,
circus, public exhibition or similar transitory gathering, including
church suppers, picnics, or similar organizational meetings, and mobile
retail food establishments, as well as agricultural markets.
No temporary food stand, temporary food concession, permanent
food establishment, mobile retail food establishment, retail food
establishment or temporary retail food establishment shall be operated
by any person within the Borough of Bloomsbury unless the same shall
have first obtained a license therefor from the Clerk of the Board
of Health. A separate license shall be required for each separate
unit. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, mobile retail
food establishments are prohibited.
No person shall be granted a license for any activity set forth
in this chapter unless and until he shall present to the Clerk of
the Board of Health a fully completed application and an inspection
certificate issued by the Hunterdon County Department of Health which
is both current and indicates that the same has been inspected and
found to be satisfactory as provided in Chapter XII of the State Sanitary
Code of New Jersey, which is hereby adopted and incorporated herein
by reference as if set forth fully and at length herein.
Upon receipt of a completed application, together with all fees
and inspection reports, the Clerk of the Board shall issue the license
within 10 business days of the date of receipt, unless the Clerk has
ascertained from the information received that the license should
not be issued. In that event, the Clerk shall so advise the applicant
within the 10 business days of the fact and no license shall issue
thereafter unless the applicant shall satisfy the Clerk of the Board
or unless the Board of Health shall reverse the action of the Clerk
upon an appeal. If the Clerk shall determine that an application is
incomplete, he shall forthwith advise the applicant of the reason
for such determination, who may, without payment of an additional
fee, provide the required data.
Any retail food establishment licensed hereunder shall prominently
display the same, together with its inspection certificate, in or
upon the premises or upon the stand, concession or mobile establishment.
Any license issued under the terms and provisions of this chapter
may be suspended or revoked by the Board of Health of this municipality
for the violation by the licensee of any provision of this chapter
or Chapter XII of the State Sanitary Code of New Jersey or whenever
it shall appear that the business, trade, calling, profession or occupation
of the person, firm or corporation to whom or to which such license
was issued is conducted in a disorderly or improper manner or in violation
of any law of the United States or the State of New Jersey or any
ordinance of this municipality, that the person or persons conducting
the retail food establishment are of an unfit character to conduct
the same or that the purpose for which the license has been issued
is being abused to the detriment of the public or it is being used
for a purpose foreign to that for which the license was issued.
A license issued under the terms and provisions of this chapter
shall not be revoked, canceled, or suspended until a hearing thereon
shall have been had by the Board of Health. Written notice of the
time and place of such hearing shall be served upon the licensee at
least three days prior to the date set for such hearing. Such notice
shall also contain a brief statement of the grounds to be relied upon
for revoking, canceling or suspending such license. Notice may be
given either by personal delivery thereof to the person to be notified
or by deposit in the United States Post Office in a sealed envelope,
postage prepaid, addressed to such person to be notified at the business
address appearing upon said license. At the hearing before the Board
of Health, the person aggrieved shall have an opportunity to answer
and may thereafter be heard, and upon due consideration and deliberation
by the Board of Health, the complaint may be dismissed, or if the
Board concludes that the charges have been sustained and substantiated,
it may revoke, cancel or suspend the license held by the licensee.