[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Deerfield as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Curfew — See Ch. 151.
Games of chance — See Ch.
227.
Loitering; peace and good order — See Ch.
259.
[Adopted 5-2-1974 by Ord. No. 137 (Ch. 35, Art. I, of the
1977 Township Code)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
PERSON
Includes a firm, corporation or any other applicant.
No person shall conduct a circus, carnival, traveling carnival,
fair, rodeo or similar public exhibition within the Township of Upper
Deerfield without first obtaining a license and paying a license fee
therefor.
[Amended 6-2-1977 by Ord. No. 168]
No person owning, occupying or having possession or control
of any lot or tract of land in the Township of Upper Deerfield shall
suffer or permit the same to be used for the purpose of holding any
such circus, carnival, traveling carnival, fair, rodeo or similar
public exhibition unless a license therefor has first been obtained
pursuant to this article.
A written application for a license as required by this article
shall be made to the Township Clerk, which application shall contain
the following information:
A. Name and address of the applicant, who shall be the licensee.
B. The date or dates and hours during which the exhibit or other activity
will be held or conducted.
C. A description of the exhibition to be licensed.
D. The location of the land upon which the exhibition is to be held
or conducted.
E. The names and addresses of all concessionaires, if any.
F. A description of off-street parking and sanitary facilities which
will be available for use on the licensed premises at the time such
exhibition or other activity is to be conducted.
G. A certification, accompanied by appropriate evidence, that the applicant
has made provision for adequate public liability insurance and also
for workmen's compensation insurance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:52-1.1,
and any supplements or amendments thereof, and any other applicable
statutes of the State of New Jersey.
The Township Clerk shall cause to be made an investigation of
each application to determine the business responsibility and moral
character of the applicant and his employees and concessionaires,
if any, and to determine the ability of the applicant to properly
conduct the licensed activity in a safe manner with due regard for
protection of the public. The investigation shall also determine if
there is adequate off-street parking and sanitary facilities for use
and whether the activity to be licensed can be conducted without undue
interference of vehicular or pedestrian traffic and without endangering
public health or safety.
The report of the investigation required under this article
shall be forthwith made to the Township Committee, which shall thereafter
approve or disapprove the application within a reasonable time. Upon
approval of the application by the Township Committee and the payment
of the required license fee, the Township Clerk shall thereupon issue
the license, which shall be valid only on the date or dates and during
the hours set forth in the application.
The fee for any license issued under this article shall be $25
for each day that the activity is to be conducted. Religious, charitable,
fraternal and similar nonprofit organizations conducting activities
licensed under this article in order to raise money for charity or
some other public purpose or for the entertainment or recreation of
the residents of this Township shall not be required to pay any fee,
but such organizations shall comply with all other provisions of this
article.
No exhibition or activity requiring a license under the terms
of this article, except an activity of a strictly religious nature,
shall be held or conducted on Sunday.
Any license issued hereunder shall not be transferable to any
other person or from place to place.
Any license issued hereunder may be revoked by the Township
Committee after reasonable notice and hearing for any fraud, misrepresentation
or dishonesty in the application or in the conduct of the licensed
activity, or for a violation of any of the provisions of this article,
or for the conduct by the licensee or his agents, employees and concessionaires
in an unlawful manner or in any manner that constitutes a breach of
the peace or a menace to public health, safety or general welfare.
The duties and responsibilities of the Township Clerk under
the terms of this article may be delegated to any other person or
Township official designated by resolution of the Township Committee.
Any person violating any of the provisions hereof shall, upon
conviction, be subject to a penalty either by imprisonment for not
more than 90 days or by a fine not exceeding $500, or both, in the
discretion of the court. Each and every day any violation continues
shall be considered a separate offense, punishable by a like fine
or penalty.
[Adopted 11-4-1976 by Ord. No. 156 (Ch. 35, Art. II, of the
1977 Township Code)]
[Amended 11-5-1981 by Ord. No. 237]
No person, partnership or corporation shall use any building
or premises or part thereof wherein are located any mechanical or
electronic amusement devices or machines commonly known as "pinball
or baseball games," "bowling alleys," "shooting galleries," "mechanical
grabbing machines," "billiard or pool tables," "video machines" or
any device or game similar thereto, whether operated by the insertion
of a coin or slug or otherwise, whether or not a prize is offered
and whether or not operated by mechanical, electrical or electro-mechanical
means, without first obtaining a license for each such building or
premises, as hereinafter provided. The term "mechanical amusement
device" shall not include mechanical devices commonly known as "jukeboxes"
and shall not include mechanical riding machines intended for the
use and entertainment of children.
A written application for a license as required by this article
shall be made to the Township Clerk on forms to be supplied by the
municipality, and each application shall contain the following information:
A. Name and address of the applicant.
B. Legal identity of applicant, indicating whether applicant is a person,
partnership, corporation or other legal entity.
C. If applicant is a person, the age, date of birth, place of birth
and citizenship of applicant.
D. If applicant is a partnership, the name, address, date and place
of birth, age and citizenship of each of the partners.
E. If applicant is a corporation, the names, addresses and citizenship,
ages, dates and places of birth of all officers of the corporation.
F. If applicant is an agent in charge of the premises where any mechanical
amusement device is located, the name, address, age, date and place
of birth and citizenship of such agent.
G. Whether or not the applicant or any person named in the application
as a partner, corporate officer or agent has previously been convicted
of violation of any law or ordinance and, if so, the date and nature
of such conviction shall be stated.
H. The place or location to be licensed and a description of the machines
or device to be displayed or operated therein.
Upon receipt of an application and payment of the prescribed
license fee, the Township Committee shall cause to be made an investigation
as to the correctness of the statements contained in the application
and as to other relevant matters to determine the effect of the operation
of the licensed premises upon the peace, health, safety and general
welfare of the inhabitants of the municipality, and a report thereon
shall be made to the Township Committee within 45 days after such
application is made.
When an application has been made and fee paid as aforesaid
and a report made thereon to the Township Committee, as provided herein,
the Township Committee shall consider said report and make such further
investigation as it may deem advisable and may grant said application
or deny the same if the Committee concludes that the granting thereof
would have an adverse effect upon the health, safety, peace and general
welfare of the inhabitants of the municipality.
Unless the applicant consents to a longer period of time, the
Township Committee shall act upon each application within 75 days
after such application is made to the Township Clerk, and if no action
is taken within such time, the application shall be deemed to be denied.
Any license issued under this article may be approved with conditions
limiting the number of devices or restricting or prohibiting devices
of a certain type or requiring or disapproving certain lighting systems
or sound-amplifying systems, and the Township Committee may impose
further conditions of like nature, and violation of any such conditions
shall subject the licensee to the penalties provided in this article.
The Township Committee, in its discretion, may require the applicant
for a license under this article to obtain public liability and property
damage insurance in such reasonable amount as shall be approved by
the Township Committee when it is deemed necessary or advisable for
the protection of the general public and to save harmless the municipality
for injury to persons or property resulting from the use of the licensed
premises or any default by the licensee. Such policy of insurance
shall be approved as to form by the Township Attorney and shall be
filed with the Township Clerk before the license is issued.
The number of devices used in or upon the licensed premises
shall not be increased beyond the number specified under the terms
of the license granted, and no new device may be substituted or exchanged
for a different type of device, provided that a licensee without limitation
may substitute a newer device for an older device of the same type
or design.
[Amended 12-7-2000 by Ord. No. 506]
All licenses granted under this article shall expire on December
31 of the calendar year for which such license was issued. Each such
license shall be renewed the subsequent year beginning January 1 and
in no case later than January 31. After January 31 a late fee of $25
shall be assessed in addition to the renewal fee.
No license issued under this article may be transferred from
one applicant to another person, partnership or corporation, and no
license shall be transferred from one premises to another.
[Amended 12-7-2000 by Ord. No. 506]
A license fee of $100 per year for up to 10 devices, and an
additional fee of $25 for the 11th device and each one thereafter,
will be assessed and shall be paid at the time the application is
made for each license or annual renewal thereof under this article,
provided that nonprofit organizations shall be exempt from payment
of license fees.
[Amended 12-29-1977 by Ord. No. 183; 6-3-1982 by Ord. No. 241]
The following rules of conduct shall be observed by each licensee
and the owner of any licensed premises and shall apply to the use
of all premises licensed under the terms of this article:
A. Gambling on any licensed premises is prohibited unless permitted
by statute.
B. No person under 18 years of age shall be permitted by any licensee
or the owner of any licensed premises to play or operate any device
described in this article unless an adult person responsible to said
licensee or owner of the licensed premises is present on the premises
at all times for the purpose of supervising the use and operation
of all such devices to ensure that such use is conducted in an orderly
manner, provided that this rule shall not apply to licensed premises
where supervised bona fide athletic or recreational activities are
conducted and a reasonable admission fee is charged to all participants,
in which event the Township Committee may impose alternate regulations
of like nature as a condition of the license created hereunder.
C. No licensee or the owner of any licensed premises shall suffer or
permit any person under 18 years of age to be or remain in the licensed
premises for the purpose of playing or operating any device described
in this article after the hour of 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday of each week or the hour of 12:00 midnight
on Friday and Saturday of each week unless accompanied by a parent
or guardian, provided that this rule shall not apply to licensed premises
where supervised bona fide athletic or recreational activities are
conducted and a reasonable fee is charged to all participants, in
which event the Township Committee may impose alternate regulations
of like nature as a condition of the license created hereunder.
D. No licensee shall permit any disorderly, lewd, dissolute, drunken
or boisterous person or any person under the influence of intoxicating
liquor or controlled dangerous substance to be admitted to or to remain
in and about the licensed premises.
Each license issued under this article shall be posted in a
conspicuous place in or upon the licensed premises and shall remain
posted during its term.
In the event that a license issued under the terms of this article
is procured by fraud or false representation of facts, or if the licensee
or any servant, agent or employee of the licensee shall violate any
of the terms of this article or any of the conditions upon which the
license is granted, or shall be convicted of any crime or offense
involving moral turpitude, the Township Committee may suspend or revoke
such license after public hearing upon five days' written notice
given to the licensee and served personally or by certified mail,
addressed to the licensee at the licensed premises, or posted on the
licensed premises, which notice shall state the time, place and purpose
of the hearing, and notice given by certified mail shall be complete
upon mailing. At such hearing, the licensee shall be entitled to be
heard and to introduce the testimony of witnesses and to be represented
by counsel.
In the event that a license is suspended, revoked, surrendered
or abandoned, there shall be no refund of the license fee or any part
thereof.
Any licensee or other person who violates or fails or neglects
to comply with any of the provisions of this article, or fails to
abide by the conditions upon which a license has been issued under
the terms of this article, shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject
to a fine or penalty of not more than $500 or imprisonment for a term
not to exceed 90 days, or both, in the discretion of the court. Each
and every day a violation is committed or permitted to continue shall
constitute a separate offense, punishable by a like fine or penalty.