[HISTORY:[1] Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson 9-20-2004 by L.L. No.
5-2004. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 135.
Vehicless and traffic — See Ch. 155.
Abandoned, junkland or inoperative vehicles — See Ch. 160.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Ch. 148, Theaters, adopted 7-20-1964
and readopted 2-22-1967, was deleted 11-26-1963 pursuant to L.L. No.
4-1963.
The Village Board of Trustees hereby determines that providing
regulations for the prompt and safe removal of disabled and abandoned
vehicles from public roadways within the Village is necessary for
the public health, safety and general welfare of residents and traveling
public within the Village. This chapter will not supersede any specific
orders issued by police agencies addressing specific situations (such
as vehicles impounded for criminal investigative purposes).
Whenever used in this chapter, unless a different meaning clearly
appears from the context, the following terms will have the meanings
indicated:
Any incident or occurrence in which one or more vehicles
contact each other or other objects, thereby causing personal injury
or property damage.
Any person driving a tow truck for hire upon public roadways.
Any incident where a fee, charge or other consideration is
directly or indirectly imposed for towing, carrying or removing of
a vehicle, including any case where any person makes repairs on a
towed vehicle for compensation, even if no charge is expressly imposed
for towing such vehicle.
The control and direction of the use of vehicles for towing
for hire for places within the Village.
Owning, leasing, renting or controlling one or more tow trucks
for hire and driving or operating or causing any such vehicle to be
operated upon the public roadways.
Any individual, sole proprietorship, firm, partnership, association,
corporation or other organization, and the singular or plural, masculine,
feminine or neuter thereof, unless the contrary is clearly expressed.
The retrieval of a disabled or abandoned motor vehicle from
off the paved portion of a street by another vehicle for hire.
Any person who, for compensation, is wholly or partially
engaged in the business of repairing or diagnosing motor vehicle malfunctions
or repairing motor vehicle bodies, fenders or other components damaged
by accident or otherwise and currently registered with the Commissioner
of Motor Vehicles according to the Vehicle and Traffic Law of New
York State.
A request for assistance from a tow truck which does not
involve towing but is limited to rendering emergency assistance for
such categories as battery charges, flat tires, lockouts or gasoline
supply.
The moving or removing of disabled or abandoned motor vehicles
by another vehicle for hire. Towing includes recovery unless the context
indicates otherwise.
A motor vehicle for hire which is either equipped for carrying,
lifting and removing of any disabled motor vehicle or used in the
business of removing disabled motor vehicles.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business
of towing within the Village of Cornwall on Hudson unless a license
therefor shall first have been obtained from the Village Clerk as
hereinafter provided, except no license shall be required for persons
whose business consists solely of towing to and from registered motor
vehicle repair shops.
Except as herein otherwise provided, every person who wants
to operate a tow truck or otherwise engage in the business of towing
upon the public roadways within the Village shall apply to the Village
Board of Trustees on a form provided by the Village Clerk. The applicant
shall subscribe the application under an oath and provide the following
information thereon:
A.
The name and address of the applicant and the address of the place
in which tow trucks are proposed to be garaged and dispatched. For
an unincorporated association, the application shall include the names
and addresses of each member thereof. For a corporation, the application
shall contain the names and addresses of each officer, director and
shareholder.
B.
All crimes, if any, in which the applicant, member, officer, director
or shareholder has been convicted, stating the name and location of
the courts in which convicted and the dates on which such convictions
were had and the penalties imposed therefor.
C.
The experience of the applicant or, if an unincorporated association
or a corporation, of its members, officers, directors and shareholders
in the towing of vehicles for hire.
D.
The number of vehicles proposed to be operated by the applicant and
a description of each such vehicle, including the make, model, year
of manufacture, New York registration number and vehicle identification
number.
E.
The name, address and driver's license number of each driver
employed by the applicant.
F.
The location and description of any and all registered motor vehicle
repair shops proposed to be used by the applicant, with a photograph
of each.
G.
Whether the applicant wishes his name to appear in the towing roster
as detailed herein.
H.
Proof of insurance in a form approved by the Village Attorney and
in the minimum amount of $1,000,000 single limit general liability
coverage naming the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson as an additional
insured.
I.
Proof of valid registration and inspection of each tow truck to be
operated.
J.
Any other relevant information which the Village Board of Trustees
may require from time to time as it deems appropriate.
Within seven days after receipt of an application, the Village
Clerk shall refer the application to the Village of Cornwall on Hudson
Police Department for investigation. The Chief of Police shall cause
an investigation to be made of the applicant and of his proposed business
operation to be licensed. All applicants shall execute consents for
release of information as may be required. The Chief of Police may
delegate the inspection to an independent person, who may or who may
not be engaged in business in the Village, who shall be qualified
by experience and training to make such inspection and who shall report
to the Chief of Police. Within 14 days after referral, the Chief of
Police shall report to the Village Board of Trustees the results of
the investigation.
A.
Applicants for a license will be required to pay a nonrefundable
fee in the amount established by resolution of the Village Board of
Trustees. A schedule of such fees shall be on file with the Village
Clerk. All fees shall be payable to the Village Clerk.
B.
As a minimum, all applicants must be able to demonstrate, before
issuance of a license, that they meet the following qualifications
as a prerequisite to obtaining a license:
(1)
The applicant owns, leases, operates or maintains, or has a contract
with, a bona fide registered motor vehicle repair shop, as those terms
are defined herein, within the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson or within
a ten-mile distance of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson Village line.
If the applicant does not own the premises on which the motor vehicle
repair shop is situated, a written lease for use of the premises,
or for service from the motor vehicle repair shop covering the term
of the towing license, must be provided.
(2)
The applicant maintains twenty-four-hour capability to answer emergency
calls regarding motor vehicles. The applicant or one of its employees
shall be reachable by phone at all times at a designated phone number
or numbers. Applicants must respond to all calls for towing on a twenty-four-hour-per-day
seven-day-per-week basis, without exception, and be on the scene within
20 minutes of being requested.
(3)
Equipment. The applicant must have a minimum of one or more suitable towing vehicles, reasonably equipped as required by § 148-13 hereof to furnish emergency towing services. Towing vehicle(s), if not owned by the applicant, shall be under sole lease by the applicant for the term of the towing license.
(4)
An applicant must own or lease, for the term of the license, a secure
storage lot for a minimum of five cars. Such storage lot shall be
within 1/2 mile from the applicant's repair facility.
(5)
An applicant shall demonstrate the equipment in use at the time of
inspection is capable of two-way communication between the point of
incoming calls for assistance and the farthest point in the zone.
Either radio or mobile telephone shall be considered adequate for
this purpose.
(6)
The applicant demonstrates an ability to meet all other conditions
of this chapter.
Upon the adoption of a resolution by the Village Board of Trustees
approving the application, the Village Clerk shall issue a license
to the applicant, a copy of which must be kept in all towing vehicles
at all times while conducting operations under the license. All licenses
issued hereunder shall expire on the 31st day of December next succeeding
the date of issuance, unless sooner suspended or revoked by the Cornwall
on Hudson Village Board of Trustees as hereinafter provided. Licenses
are not transferable, delegable or assignable.
No license shall be issued or renewed which shall permit the
use of any vehicle as a tow truck unless or until the Chief of Police
has inspected and certified it as conforming to the requirements of
this chapter and having been duly inspected as required by the Vehicle
and Traffic Law of New York State.
On each side of every truck, the owner shall display, by painting,
magnetic sign or other similar means, the name, address and telephone
number of the licensee by letters and numbers of not less than three
inches high. Leased trucks must also have the licensee's name,
address and telephone number similarly affixed to each side of the
truck.
Any license issued hereunder may be renewed annually for an
additional one-year period upon filing of an application containing
all the information required by the provisions of this chapter for
original applications, upon payment of the required fee, and upon
satisfactory completion of the required inspections and investigations.
No person shall drive a tow truck who is under the age of 18
years and who has not in his possession a CDL A, B, C or Non-CDL C
class driver's license with a tow truck endorsement duly issued
to him to operate a tow truck vehicle in the State of New York.
A tow truck license hereunder shall be issued subject to the
following conditions:
A.
Licensees, their agents and servants shall keep and maintain towing
equipment which is adequate to perform such towing in a reasonably
competent manner.
B.
Each licensee hereunder shall record the details of each disabled
vehicle towed, serviced or transported by him or his agents or servants
or employees, with full information concerning the details surrounding
the hire, the name of the owner of the towed vehicle and the name
of the patron engaging him, which records shall be kept open for inspection
at all times to a duly authorized representative of the Police Department
of the Village or of the Village Board of Trustees.
C.
Insurance and indemnification. The licensee shall assume all responsibility
and liability for damages to persons or property that may accrue during
the operation of any of the licensee's vehicles through the negligence
of itself, its agents or employees, or from any other cause, and agrees
to hold harmless the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson. For such purposes,
the licensee shall obtain and maintain, at the licensee's own
cost and expense, for the term of the tow license, protective liability
insurance in accordance with the minimum requirements. This insurance
is to protect the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson and all employees
of the named insured. There shall be no coinsured parties covered
by this policy. The policy shall cover liability of the named insured
for damages for any actions resulting from the use of the license,
including omissions and supervisory actions of the Village. The subscribing
company shall agree that no policy insured shall be changed or canceled
until 30 days' notice has been given to the Village. Failure
to maintain proper insurance on file with the Village will result
in immediate suspension or termination.
D.
The licensee must furnish and use an invoice in a format approved
by the Village, which shall include a rate schedule.
The tow trucks of licensees shall be equipped at all times with
the equipment required by the Department of Transportation (DOT),
including but not limited to emergency flashing amber lights, fire
extinguishers, a winch with steel cable, DOT triangular road reflectors,
red railroad-type flares, a broom, a shovel and an approved first-aid
kit. All equipment shall be maintained in good condition and in satisfactory
working order.
Every licensee who wants to add to the number of tow trucks
he is duly licensed to operate shall pay to the Village Clerk the
required fee established by the Village Board of Trustees and file
a written application, under an oath, with the Village Clerk, stating:
A.
The Village Board of Trustees of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson
hereby authorizes the establishment of towing rosters to coordinate
service calls and the towing of disabled and/or abandoned motor vehicles
from the streets and highways of the Village.
B.
The Village Board of Trustees hereby authorizes and designates the
Chief of Police of the Cornwall-on-Hudson Police Department to control
and administer the towing roster. The roster shall be operated on
a per-day rotational basis furnished to the Town of Cornwall dispatchers
for police calls. The rosters shall be posted in the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson
Police Department and Town of Cornwall Communications Center.
A.
Any licensee, upon request, shall be placed on the towing roster
to be called in rotation to remove vehicles from scenes of accidents,
disabled vehicles or vehicles otherwise left in violation of law,
if he complies with the following requirements:
(1)
The licensee swears under an oath that he has a contract with or
owns, rents, operates or maintains a bona fide, legally permitted
registered motor vehicle repair shop within a twenty-minute daytime
and nighttime response time to all parts of the Village.
(2)
The licensee agrees to submit to the Village Board of Trustees for
its approval a statement of charges which may be imposed for towing
services, and those charges for towing services will not exceed the
approved posted charges for such services. No licensee or his agents
or servants shall solicit or demand from any person any pay, commission
or emolument whatever, except the proper fee authorized for transporting
the disabled vehicle in accordance with the schedule of service rates
as established by resolution of the Village Board of Trustees and
filed with the Village Clerk. The schedule of service rates may exclude
regulation of fees which may be charged for service calls and discretionary,
voluntary towing services.
B.
If more than one licensee is needed at the scene of an accident,
the dispatcher shall call the next licensee in rotation. Each licensee
at the scene shall assist the police in clearing the motor vehicles
from the public highways toward the shoulder of the highways.
C.
A duly qualified licensee shall have but one place on the towing
roster although he maintains several licensed tow trucks in the Village
of Cornwall-on-Hudson.
A licensee who does not answer a call for assistance or who
fails to arrive at the designated location where assistance is requested
within the required twenty-minute daytime and nighttime response time,
or who is otherwise unavailable when called, shall lose his turn on
the towing roster and must wait for the roster to be called in its
entirety before he is eligible to be called again.
It shall be unlawful for any person who is not designated from
the towing roster, or who does not have the prior consent and direction
of a police officer at the scene or the owner of the vehicle, to tow
away any motor vehicle which has been involved in an accident. The
police officer at the scene of an accident will determine when a vehicle
shall be removed. If no police officer is present at the scene of
an accident, no vehicle shall be towed unless a police officer has
been notified or has been at the scene.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit towing or body work
at the scene of any motor vehicle accident on a public street or highway
or on private property within the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson.
B.
It shall be unlawful for any person to drive along any public street
or highway within the Village for the purposes of soliciting towing
work.
C.
The stopping of any tow truck within 500 feet of the scene of any
accident or disabled vehicle on any public street or highway in the
Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson without the prior authorization of the
operator or owner of the vehicle, an officer of the Village Police
Department or member of the New York State Police shall be presumptive
evidence of the intent of the operator of the tow truck to solicit
towing.
Each towing firm responding to a call for service must supply
the owner/operator of the vehicle who is at the scene with a card
containing the towing firm's business name, address, phone number,
hours of operation and a written summary of the expected charges.
Nothing within this chapter shall prevent a vehicle owner from
choosing to call a tower who is not on the Village towing roster;
provided, however, that should that tower be unable to respond in
what the police officer at the scene feels is a reasonable period
of time, and the police officer at the scene has safety concerns regarding
the vehicle's location, the officer may supersede the desires
of the owner and call a tower based upon the roster.
A.
The owner or driver of any disabled vehicle shall have the right
to require the services of any available tow truck, and it shall be
unlawful for any owner or driver of any licensed tow truck to refuse
to render such services.
B.
Licensed tow truck owners and drivers, when required, will answer
all communications received from the Village Board of Trustees or
the Chief of Police.
C.
It shall be unlawful for any owner or driver to refuse to surrender
a license or licenses to the Village Clerk, upon demand, after such
license or licenses have been suspended, revoked or expired.
D.
Any complaint about the application or enforcement of this chapter
by any owner or driver of a tow truck directed at the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson
Police Department shall be made in writing, stating the particulars
thereto, and presented to the Chief of Police. It shall be the Chief
of Police's responsibility to notify the Village Board of Trustees
of all such complaints.
A.
No licensee on the towing roster may charge for towing (excluding
recovery) services, cleanup or storage covered by these regulations
more than the schedule of charges established and/or approved by the
Village Board of Trustees.
B.
A licensee shall not require that a vehicle be towed to any particular
shop for repairs but shall tow the vehicle to any location designated
by the operator of the towed vehicle.
C.
A licensee shall bill the operator of the disabled vehicle using an invoice approved in format by the Village according to § 148-12D hereof. No other invoice may be used.
D.
No licensee shall induce or require any operator of a motor vehicle
being charged for towing or other services to execute a waiver of
liability for damages to his vehicle caused by the licensee, and no
such waiver of liability shall be legally enforced. This shall not
apply in cases of off-road recovery or lockouts.
E.
No yard charges will be assessed for moving of vehicles while in
the licensee's possession. Vehicles must be available for release
at the rates approved by the Village Board of Trustees Monday through
Saturday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Extra charges
may be imposed for release of a vehicle after those hours as well
as Sundays and the following holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial
Day, Independence Day (Fourth of July), Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day
and Christmas Day.
It is hereby found that the presence of abandoned motor vehicles
on roadways within the Village is a public nuisance and danger and
a potential traffic hazard. All licensees shall be obligated, at the
direction of the police, to remove any and all abandoned vehicles
and secure the vehicle in its impound lot until disposition is made
pursuant to law. The Village shall not be liable to the licensee for
the cost of such towing, storage or impounding. The licensee agrees
to accept, as total compensation for any and all obligations resulting
from towing, storage and impounding such vehicles, the rights granted
to the licensee under the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Disposition of
all impounded vehicles shall be according to the Vehicle and Traffic
Law. Any vehicle impounded by order of the police shall not be released
to the owner without written or verbal authorization from the Police
Department.
The Police Department shall have the power to require tow trucks
to remove vehicles where:
A.
There is obstruction of a public right-of-way or private property.
B.
A vehicle has been vandalized or presents a fire or safety hazard.
C.
An abandoned vehicle bears no discernible registration or identification
data.
D.
An abandoned vehicle is not licensed or operable.
E.
A vehicle is violating any emergency no-parking provisions as set
forth in the Village Code.
F.
Any other condition where permitted or required by law.
A licensee called to the scene of an accident must, if deemed
necessary by the police officer on duty at the scene, sweep away or
clean up any debris, provided that he is furnished with police protection
against moving vehicles at the scene. A licensee may recoup any expenses
incurred in connection with the disposal of hazardous wastes and the
reasonable labor costs for cleanup of the site, provided that such
labor charges are not more than the schedule of charges established
and/or approved by the Village Board of Trustees.
A.
Any license issued hereunder may be suspended by the Village Board
of Trustees if the licensee thereof shall violate any provision of
this chapter, any rule or regulation adopted hereunder or any local
law of the Village or if the Licensee is convicted of the violation
of any traffic law, ordinance or regulation of the State of New York
or of any municipality of the State of New York or of any crime or
is guilty of making a false statement or misrepresentation in his
application. Any license issued hereunder may be suspended, pending
a hearing for revocation, by the Village Board of Trustees if the
holder thereof shall be convicted of the commission of any crime or
offense.
B.
No license shall be revoked by the Village Board of Trustees hereunder
without a hearing thereon.
A.
Notice. The Village Clerk shall give notice thereof, stating the
name and address of the applicant or licensee concerned, the subject
matter of the hearing and the date, place and hour designated therefor,
by mailing a copy of the notice of hearing to the applicant or licensee
concerned at the address shown upon the most recent application of
such applicant or licensee at least 20 days before such hearing, by
certified mail.
B.
Rights of parties. Upon any hearing, the applicant or licensee involved
shall be entitled to be represented by legal counsel and to present
such competent and material testimony or other evidence in his own
behalf as may be relevant to the subject matter of the hearing.
C.
Examination of witnesses. All witnesses shall be sworn and examined
under oath.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter
shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not to exceed $250 or
by imprisonment for a period not to exceed 30 days, or by both such
fine and imprisonment. Each violation of any of the provisions of
this chapter and each day there is a violation thereof shall be deemed
and taken to be a separate and distinct offense. In addition, the
Village Board of Trustees, after a hearing, may revoke or suspend
any license issued hereunder or may refuse to renew any license previously
issued hereunder for violation of any of the provisions of this chapter.
