Any person who desires to operate a taxicab along any street
in this municipality shall obtain the consent of the Township Committee
prior to operating any vehicle upon the streets in this municipality.
A.
Owners' licenses. The Township Committee is hereby authorized
to issue licenses to owners of taxicabs who are of good moral character
and who otherwise qualify according to the provisions of this chapter.
Such license shall hereinafter be referred to as an owner's license.
B.
Operators' licenses. The Township Committee is hereby authorized
to issue licenses to operators of taxicabs, whether or not they are
owners, who are capable and of good moral character and who otherwise
qualify according to the provisions of this chapter. Such license
shall hereinafter be referred to as an operator's license.
A.
The Township shall issue no more than four owners' licenses
per year.
B.
Owners' and operators' licenses shall be numbered consecutively
in their own respective classifications. Owners' and operators'
licenses shall expire on December 31 of the year of issuance. Licenses
not suspended or revoked may be renewed annually, subject to all of
the same conditions, provisions and charges as required for the original
license.
D.
Every owner's license shall also include the character and description
of the vehicle.
E.
The Township Clerk shall keep a register of all licenses granted,
which register shall contain the details required by this section.
License fees, to cover the administrative costs associated with processing the application, are nonrefundable. Fees for the following, as set forth in Chapter 135, Fees, shall be paid to the Township Clerk at the time that application is made, who shall deliver same to the Chief Financial Officer:
A.
Prior to the Township Committee giving its consent, the owner shall
file with the Township Clerk an insurance policy, which shall be issued
by an admitted insurance company duly licensed to transact business
under the insurance laws of this state or a company registered to
do business in the state, the policy providing for not less than $50,000
of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage or the amount of motor
vehicle liability insurance coverage required pursuant to N.J.S.A.
39:6B-1, whichever is greater, to satisfy all claims for damages,
by reason of bodily injury to, or the death of, any person or persons
resulting from or on account of an accident by reason of the ownership,
operation, maintenance or use of such taxicab upon any public street;
and not less than $35,000 of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage
or the amount of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage required
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:6B-1, whichever is greater, to satisfy any
claim for damages to property of any person or persons resulting from
or on account of an accident by reason of the ownership, operation,
maintenance or use of such taxicab upon any public street.
B.
Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the owner of a taxicab
from obtaining any additional amount of motor vehicle liability insurance
coverage from a company licensed outside the State of New Jersey.
C.
The consent shall be effective and operation thereunder shall be
permitted only so long as the insurance policy shall remain in force
to the full and collectible amounts as aforesaid.
D.
The insurance policy shall provide for the payment of any final judgment
recovered by any person on account of the ownership, maintenance or
use of the taxicab or any fault in respect thereto and shall be for
the benefit of every person suffering loss, damage or injury as aforesaid.
The owner of a taxicab shall execute and deliver to the Township Clerk a power of attorney appointing the Chief Financial Officer of this municipality as true and lawful attorney for the purpose of acknowledging service of process out of a court of competent jurisdiction to be served against the insured by virtue of the indemnity granted under the insurance policy required by § 251-7.
B.
Each applicant for an operator's license shall submit the following
to the Township Committee at the time of application for its review
and action thereon:
C.
Applicants shall be disqualified from operating or driving a taxicab
if the criminal history record background check reveals a record of
conviction of any of the following crimes:
(1)
In New Jersey or elsewhere, any crime as follows: aggravated assault,
arson, burglary, escape, extortion, homicide, kidnapping, robbery,
aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault or endangering the welfare
of a child pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4, whether or not armed with
or having in his possession any weapon enumerated in subsection r.
of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-1, a crime pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A.
2C:39-3, 2C:39-4 or 2C:39-9, or other than a disorderly persons or
petty disorderly persons offense for the unlawful use, possession
or sale of a controlled dangerous substance as defined in N.J.S.A.
2C:35-2.
(2)
In any other state, territory, commonwealth or other jurisdiction of the United States, or any country in the world, as a result of a conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction, a crime which in that other jurisdiction or country is comparable to one of the crimes enumerated in Subsection C(1) of this section.
(3)
However, if a person who has been convicted of one of the crimes enumerated in Subsection C(1) and (2) of this section can produce a certificate of rehabilitation issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:168A-8 or, if the criminal offense occurred outside New Jersey, an equivalent certificate from the jurisdiction where the criminal offense occurred, the criminal offense shall not disqualify the applicant from operating or driving a taxicab, limousine or livery service.
(4)
In the event of denial, the Township Committee shall instruct the
Township Clerk to notify the applicant, by certified mail, setting
forth the reasons for denial.
(5)
Within five days thereafter, the applicant may file with the Township
Committee a written request for a hearing on said application, together
with written exceptions to the information found in the criminal history
record background check and/or the motor vehicle abstract. Upon the
filing of such a request, the Township Committee shall fix the time
and place for a hearing and shall notify the applicant thereof, which
hearing shall be held within 10 days after the request is filed. Within
10 days after the conclusion of the hearing, the Township Committee
shall make its final decision whether to issue the license or sustain
the denial of said application.
A.
Upon the said completion of the foregoing requirements, the Township
Clerk shall issue a certificate of compliance in duplicate, showing
that the owner of the taxicab has complied with the terms and provisions
of the sections hereinbefore set forth.
B.
The certificate shall recite the name of the insurance company, the
number and date of expiration of the policy, a description of the
taxicab insured thereunder and the registration number of same.
C.
The duplicate certificate shall be filed with the Department of Motor
Vehicles before any such vehicle is licensed as a taxicab.
D.
The original certificate shall be posted in a conspicuous place within
the taxicab.
A.
No owner's license shall be issued unless the licensed vehicle
shall be in such a condition, mechanical and otherwise, as to render
it fit, safe and appropriate for the comfortable and decent transportation
of passengers.
B.
The owner shall submit, at the time of application, an affidavit
attesting that the vehicles of his or her fleet comply with the requirements
of this section.
A.
Every operator, whether owner or otherwise, shall be supplied a badge
containing the number of the license, which he shall wear in a conspicuous
place upon his person while operating such licensed vehicle.
B.
Every owner shall display the taxi license number issued to the vehicle
on the body of that vehicle. The number shall be three inches in height
and located in the center of the rear quarter panels on the driver
and passenger sides and the rear center line of the trunk of the vehicle.
C.
Each taxicab shall display the name of the Township, "Township of
Eagleswood," in letters three inches in height on each rear door of
the vehicle.
Nothing contained in this article shall exempt any person owning
or operating any taxicab from complying with the law relating to the
ownership, registration and operation of automobiles in this state.
A.
Any person violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions
of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine
of not more than $1,000, by imprisonment for a term not to exceed
90 days or by community service of not more than 90 days, or any combination
of fine, imprisonment and community service, as determined by the
Municipal Court Judge. The continuation of such violation for each
successive day shall constitute a separate offense, and the person
or persons allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation
may be punished as provided above for each separate offense.
B.
The violation of any provision of this chapter shall be subject to
abatement summarily by a restraining order or injunction issued by
a court of competent jurisdiction.
