As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
DIRECTOR
The Director of Public Safety of the City.
LICENSE
The license issued to a licensee pursuant to this chapter.
LICENSE INSPECTOR
An individual in the office of the City Clerk who shall process
the license.
LICENSEE
The individual or entity obtaining a license pursuant to
this chapter.
OWNER
An individual or entity who or which owns or leases and/or
operates, parks or abandons a vehicle within the City.
POLICE
Officers of the Union City Police Department.
TOWING OPERATOR
An individual or entity engaged in the business of providing
towing services and storage services.
TOWING SERVICE
The towing service rendered by a towing operator to a motor
vehicle, including, but not limited to, an automobile, truck, motorcycle,
van, scooter, tractor trailer or bus, together with any other heavy
equipment, at the request of the City which is not regulated by N.J.A.C.
11:3-38.1 et seq.
VEHICLE
Any powered or nonpowered object operated or intended to
be operated in a City street.
WRECKER
A motor vehicle equipped and employed for the purpose of
towing, transporting, conveying or removing any other vehicle which
is abandoned, disabled and/or in violation of any state or local laws,
for which a service fee or charges are exacted.
[Amended 5-21-2013]
A license shall be issued for one calendar year commencing January
1, or for any shorter period when the license is issued after January
1, and shall expire on December 31 of the year issued. Licenses not
renewed by January 1 shall be deemed expired. There are no "hold over"
licenses.
Applications received by the License Inspector shall be referred
within 10 business days to the Director of his/her designee for review.
The schedule of nonrefundable fees for the obtaining of a license is set forth in Chapter
155, Fees.
[Amended 10-21-2003]
The Director shall have the right to suspend any license issued
under this chapter upon determination that there is probable cause
for revocation or suspension based upon any violation of this chapter.
Written notice of the basis of the violation shall be issued to the
licensee, and the licensee shall be entitled to a hearing before the
Director or his or her designee within two weeks of receipt of that
notice. In the event that the Director determines that a violation
has occurred, he or she may:
B. Continue the suspension until compliance by the licensee;
C. Reinstate the license if the licensee has complied with the requirements
of this chapter and of the license; or
D. Suspend the license for a period of time, to be determined by the
Director.
Towing and storage services shall be governed by the following
provisions:
A. There shall be two rotating lists of licensed towers. The first list
is for light-duty tows, including, but not limited to, cars or motorcycles.
The second list shall be for heavy-duty tows, including, but not limited
to, buses or heavy trucks. Every licensee who applied to the City
shall request to be placed on either or both of the light- and/or
heavy-duty tow list. If the licensee wants to be on both lists, it
must maintain all of the equipment as set forth for both lists. The
police shall determine if a light- or heavy-duty tow service is required.
Once the determination has been made, the police shall call the next
licensee on the rotating list to provide service.
B. Licensees, in the order on the rotating list, shall be called by
the police desk officer or other officer expressly authorized to communicate
such request to dispatch one or more tow trucks to arrive at the scene
to which dispatched within a reasonable time. For normal circumstances
such reasonable time shall be deemed to be within 15 minutes. If the
licensee cannot arrive at the scene within 15 minutes, the police
shall call the next licensee on the list until it can find one capable
of responding in a timely fashion. If the police desk officer shall
not find any tower on the appropriate list to provide the required
service, the police shall contact any other tower to perform this
service for this instance.
C. A licensee shall immediately notify the police it is wholly or partially
not operational due to failure of any equipment or any personnel insufficiency,
and shall furnish such details thereof as may be required by the police.
D. The tow trucks of a licensee will not cruise and will not respond
to any scene where towing may be required except upon police request
or as permitted herein.
E. No flashing lights or sirens shall be used on a tow truck except
as permitted by the Police Department under applicable law.
F. All tow trucks shall be operated in accordance with all existing
traffic regulations and in a safe and prudent manner. Tow truck drivers
will request police assistance during the course of services when
they find it necessary to turn around and back up, tow in a direction
opposite to normal traffic, to cross a median or other required help.
G. Each licensee will be responsible for all vehicles, and the visible
contents in their custody, that are towed off the roads under direction
of the police.
H. No vehicle will be removed from City streets or highways traversing
the City without the proper authorization from the police at the scene
or owner, as the case may be.
I. The police officer investigating the incident is in complete charge
of the incident scene, excluding actual towing operations, and all
drivers shall comply with the officer's instructions.
J. Each licensee, prior to departure from the scene of towing services,
shall clean and clear the streets of any debris resulting from any
accidents at such scene, and at all times carry the necessary equipment
to perform such cleaning services.
K. In the event a licensee refuses to tow at the scene of the incident
or refuses to tow when requested by the owner, the police officer
assigned to the incident shall report the refusal to his/her superior
with all pertinent details. The report of the refusal shall be furnished
to the Director as soon as practicable for evaluation of the licensee's
performance of its obligation under the license. No licensee shall
be required to tow any vehicle in an unsafe manner or in such a way
as to cause further damage to the vehicle towed or the towing vehicle.
L. At 12:00 noon every Friday each licensee shall provide the Police
Department with a list of unclaimed vehicles in its custody. In addition,
a copy of every bill issued for a tow along with the method of payment
shall be provided to the police once a week.
M. Vehicles impounded or confiscated by the police and stored by the
licensee shall not be released by the licensee without written authorization
by the police.
N. The licensee shall make the necessary provisions to release a vehicle
to the owner between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 midnight every
day.
[Amended 5-21-2013]
O. The licensee must post, in a conspicuous place, fees set by the City
for tow and other services as set forth by this chapter or by the
State of New Jersey.
P. The licensee shall not interrupt the police radio transmission with
regard to the towing services.
The Director may issue rules and regulations from time to time
on the operation of towing services and storage facilities to implement,
but not exceed, the purpose of this chapter. Such rules and regulations
shall be issued by publication in a newspaper in the City. Copies
shall be maintained in the office of the City Clerk and mailed to
each licensee by the City.
The licensee must handle the removal of all abandoned vehicles
without expense to the City. The Director, or his/her designee, reserves
the right to assign City-wide removal of abandoned vehicles to a single
licensee.
All proceeds received from an auction or sale of vehicles in
storage, pursuant to this chapter, shall be deposited with the City
Treasurer. In the event the proceeds from such auction or sale shall
be insufficient to pay the accrued towing and storage charges, the
City shall not be liable. The licensee shall accept such limited proceeds
as full payment.
The City and its police shall not be liable to a licensee with
respect to service rendered to any owner pursuant to the license or
otherwise. The licensee shall look only to the owner of such vehicle
for payment of service charges or any other compensation.
The application of any towing operator for a license pursuant
to this chapter shall include an agreement by the towing operator
that, upon the issuance of a license, the licensee shall indemnify
the City against all claims of third parties relating to towing services
and storage service.
The Police Department shall provide, when requested, licensees
with Department of Motor Vehicles information regarding registered
owners and lien holders. The information requested and given shall
be in conformance with N.J.S.A. 39:10A-1 et seq., and shall not in
any way violate the confidentiality that is reposed in the Police
Department.
The license shall not be transferred or assigned, nor shall
the domicile of any licensee licensed hereunder be changed without
the prior written consent of the Director.
The regulations and fee schedule for licenses established herein
shall be made available to the public during the normal business hours
of the City in the office of the City Clerk. The regulations and fee
schedules shall be posted in a conspicuous place at the licensee's
place of business.
Any towing operator responding to a request for towing or storage services by a private party shall not exceed the maximum rates listed in §
397-23.
The towing operator shall be available to communicate with the
necessary police or other City personnel by telephone or beeper number.
No communication shall be permitted via the police radios.
[Added 10-21-2003]
The Director, Licensing Inspector, Code Enforcement Official,
or any private person is hereby authorized to file a complaint with
the Director and/or Municipal Court to enforce the provisions of this
chapter.
[Amended 10-21-2003]
Violation of this chapter shall be subject to a minimum fine
of $250 per violation with the maximum penalty not exceeding $1,250
and/or imprisonment of 90 days and/or community service of 90 days.
Any additional fine imposed by the court for a repeat violation of
this chapter shall not be less than the minimum or exceed the maximum
penalty fixed for such violation.