[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of
Middleton 9-10-2013. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
Private livery service shall be defined as the carriage of groups
of persons for hire, who pursuant to a common purpose and under a
single contract, and at a fixed charge for the vehicle, have acquired
the exclusive use of a vehicle for the duration of a particular trip;
or the carriage of persons for hire for any special purpose, an event
or occasion or series of events or occasions, of a number of passengers
to whom the carrier itself, or some person in its behalf, has sold
or intends to sell tickets for transportation service, whether such
tickets are for transportation alone or are in the form of combination
tickets. Funeral directors shall be exempt under this section.
The Board of Selectmen may, from time to time, grant licenses
for private livery service upon such terms and to such persons, corporations,
partnerships and other business entities (hereinafter referred to
as "persons"), as they deem expedient for a period of not less than
one year next following their application to operate, set up, use
or drive motor vehicles in private livery service. No person shall
operate, set up, use or drive motor vehicles in private livery service
without such a license. A notice of hearing under this section shall
be published in a local newspaper at least seven days before the public
hearing.
No person licensed under these rules and orders shall behave
in a rude or disorderly manner, or use any indecent, profane or insulting
language toward any passenger or other person.
A list of all vehicles to be operated in private livery service
by a person licensed under these rules and orders shall be provided
to the Selectmen and kept on file as a public record in the office
of the Town Clerk. Said list shall contain a description of the vehicle
or vehicles by make, year of manufacture, color, identification number,
and department or motor vehicles registration number. The applicant/licensee
will notify the Town Clerk when any of the items required to be listed
shall change.
For every license granted pursuant to these rules and orders for the conduct of private livery service within the Town of Middleton, there shall be paid to the Board of Selectmen the sum of $100 for the livery license. For the first vehicle to be used in private livery service there will be a fee of $50 for the first vehicle and $25 for each additional vehicle as required to be listed as in § 380-4 with the Town Clerk.
No vehicle to be used in private livery service shall be operated
by a person under 18 years of age.
Any license granted under the provisions of these rules and
orders may be revoked by the Board of Selectmen for cause, after notice
and reasonable opportunity to be heard. Any person who violates these
rules and orders or the terms of a license to operate vehicles in
private livery service shall be fined $100 for each offense, each
day of violation to be considered a separate offense.
Each person operating vehicles in private livery service shall
file a certificate of insurance covering all vehicles to be operated
in private livery service with the annual application on or before
January 2 of each year. In the event of cancellation, a ten-day notice
must be given to the Board of Selectmen.
All motor vehicles to be operated in private livery service and listed with the Town Clerk as provided in § 380-4 shall be provided with an identification number by the Town Clerk. Said identification number shall be conspicuously posted on a printed card in every vehicle.
The Selectmen of the Town of Middleton may, as they deem necessary,
restrict a licensee/applicant licensed under these rules and orders
to the use of specified routes or public ways within the Town of Middleton.
No person shall operate any vehicle in private livery service,
as that term is defined herein, while carrying 10 or more people,
including the driver.
No person operating motor vehicles in private livery service
under a license granted pursuant to these rules and orders shall operate
a vehicle in such a manner as to provide a service similar to a taxi
service, by indiscriminately receiving and discharging passengers
along the route on which the vehicle is operated or may be running.
The applicant/licensee shall provide the Board of Selectmen
with all reasonable information, which the Board may request relative
to safety features of the vehicle or vehicles proposed to be used
in private livery service. The Selectmen shall have the discretion,
if they deem it of the passengers or public, to disapprove a vehicle
or vehicles necessary to protect the safety for use in private livery
service.
Any person operating a motor vehicle or vehicles in private
livery service, as defined herein, prior to the adoption of these
rules and orders, may continue to so operate, but must apply for licensing
from the Board of Selectmen within two months after the adoption of
these rules and orders.
