[R.O. 1995 § 620.010; Ord. No. 453 § 1, 6-28-1980]
A.
PERSON
STREET
TAXICAB
Unless it appears that a different meaning is intended, the following
words shall have the meaning given them by this Chapter:
Includes any individual, partnership or corporation.
Includes any street, alley, avenue, boulevard, court, lane
or public place in the City of Bel-Ridge.
Includes any motor vehicle performing a bona fide for hire
taxicab service having a capacity of not more than five (5) passengers,
exclusive of the driver, and not operated on a regular route or between
fixed termini.
B.
This Chapter shall not apply to any motor vehicle used as a sight-seeing
car, a "sight-seeing car" being defined as a motor vehicle having
a seating capacity in excess of ten (10) persons and which is used
for the purpose of conveying passengers on sight-seeing tours as the
term is generally understood, and where the basis for charge is the
time or circuit route traveled by such cars in regular trips. Nor
shall it apply to "service cars" or "buses," as those terms are generally
understood.
[R.O. 1995 § 620.020; Ord. No. 453 § 2, 6-28-1980]
A.
No person shall engage in the business of operating a taxicab or
taxicabs upon the streets of the City of Bel-Ridge without first obtaining
a license to do so. Such license shall be issued by the City Clerk
after the application therefor has been approved and the requisite
fee paid, as hereinafter prescribed, and after all other provisions
of this Chapter pertaining to the obtaining or issuing of said license
have been complied with.
B.
Application for a license to engage in the business of operating
a taxicab or taxicabs shall be filed with the City Clerk and referred
to the Board of Aldermen for consideration and action. The application
shall be in writing, verified by the affidavit of the applicant, or
if the applicant be a corporation or a partnership, by its duly authorized
officer or agent, and shall state the following facts:
1.
The full name and address of the applicant; if a partnership,
the names and addresses of all the partners; if a corporation, the
names and addresses of all the officers and directors thereof.
2.
The name and addresses of the owner or owners of the vehicles
proposed to be operated.
3.
A statement of the previous experience the applicant has had,
or if the applicant be a partnership, the partners thereof have had,
or if the applicant be a corporation, the officers and directors have
had, in the taxicab business.
4.
The number of taxicabs the applicant desires to operate within
the City.
5.
The seating capacity of each vehicle proposed to be used as
a taxicab according to the manufacturer's rating for the back
seat.
6.
The type of motor car to be used, horsepower, name of manufacturer,
the length of time such vehicle has been in use, the insurance proposed
to be carried, the amount of same and the name of the company issuing
the policy. (A certified copy of such insurance policy shall be filed
along with the application.)
7.
The color scheme of the taxicab or taxicabs proposed to be used.
8.
The rate of fare to be charged and the manner in which such
schedule shall be displayed to the public.
C.
The application shall be accompanied by a Certificate of Inspection
from the Police Department, certifying to the inspection of all taxicabs
as hereinafter provided.
[R.O. 1995 § 620.030; Ord. No. 453 § 3, 6-28-1980]
The Board of Aldermen shall have power to approve any such application
and order a license issued or refuse to do so, as it may deem proper.
In determining whether such application shall be approved and the
license issued, or otherwise, the Board shall take into consideration
whether the demands of the public require such proposed or additional
taxicab service within the City of Bel-Ridge, the financial responsibility
of the applicant, the number, kind and type of equipment, and the
color scheme proposed to be used, the increased traffic congestion,
and the demand for increased parking space upon the streets of the
City which may result, and whether the safe use of the streets of
the City which will be used by the public, both vehicular and pedestrian,
will be preserved by the granting of such license, and such other
relevant facts as the Board may deem advisable or necessary.
[R.O. 1995 § 620.040; Ord. No. 453 § 4, 6-28-1980]
If the Board shall approve the application and authorize the
issuance of the license applied for, the City Clerk shall, after payment
by the applicant of the fee prescribed therefor, issue such license
and deliver the same to the applicant. If the Board shall refuse to
approve the application, the City Clerk shall make a memorandum to
that effect thereupon and notify the applicant that his/her application
has been disapproved. After the application has been approved, the
City Clerk shall issue a suitable license plate or tag for each taxicab
which shall show that the cab is licensed to operate and that the
fee has been paid in accordance with this Chapter. Such license plate
or sticker shall be displayed in a prominent place on the windshield
of the taxicab so as to be visible from the exterior.
[R.O. 1995 § 620.050; Ord. No. 453 § 6, 6-28-1980]
Every applicant for a license to operate a taxicab as herein
defined and the owner of said taxicab, in addition to the requirements
herein mentioned, shall maintain and carry for each taxicab licensed
to be operated liability insurance in the sum of fifty thousand dollars
($50,000.00) for any one (1) person, and the sum of one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000.00) for any two (2) or more persons who may be injured
in any one (1) accident, and twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00)
for any property damage. Said insurance shall be carried with a firm
or corporation which has been duly licensed or permitted to carry
on such business in the State of Missouri, and shall be kept and maintained
continually in force and effect so long as such applicant and owner
of such taxicab shall be licensed to operate the same on the streets
of this City.
[R.O. 1995 § 620.060; Ord. No. 453 § 7, 6-28-1980]
Every licensee hereunder shall, on or before the fifth (5th)
day of each month, file with the City Clerk a report showing the number
of accidents in which any taxicab owned or operated by him/her was
involved during the preceding month, the nature of the damage, if
any, to person or property resulting therefrom, the names and addresses
of all persons claiming damage arising from any taxicab accident and
the amount so claimed, and the amount, if any, paid during the preceding
month in settlement of such claims, including those in suit; also
a list of all pending suits on claims arising out of accidents, with
amounts sued for and the status of said suits. The failure to file
such report within the time herein provided for, or the filing or
causing or intentionally permitting the filing of a false report,
shall be a violation of this Chapter and shall also be grounds for
forfeiting any license issued by the City. It shall be unlawful for
any person, firm or corporation, to operate or drive, or cause to
be operated or driven, any taxicab along or upon any public street,
highway, or other public place in the City of Bel-Ridge, unless the
policy of insurance required by this Chapter for such taxicab shall
have been filed with the City Clerk, and be in full force and effect.
If the policy of insurance or bond required by this Chapter and covering
any or all of the taxicabs authorized to be operated under any City
license be canceled, or for any reason including the expiration of
its term be permitted to lapse and the holder of such license fail
to replace same immediately with another policy of insurance fully
complying with the provisions of this Chapter such license issued
thereunder shall be automatically suspended.
[R.O. 1995 § 620.070; Ord. No. 453 § 8, 6-28-1980]
No person shall drive a taxicab licensed under the provisions
of this Chapter who is not a duly licensed chauffeur as required by
the law of the State of Missouri and who has not submitted and given
his/her fingerprints to the Police Department of the City of Bel-Ridge.
Each person, before so operating a taxicab, shall be fingerprinted
and shall submit to the Police Department for inspection his/her chauffeur's
license and shall have said chauffeur's license at all times
available for the inspection and examination of the Police Department
at any time. No person who operates a taxicab shall be under the age
of twenty-one (21) years, and no person shall operate a taxicab who
does not have full use of all faculties normally required in the operation
of a motor vehicle.
[R.O. 1995 § 620.080; Ord. No. 453 § 9, 6-28-1980]
The Police Department shall maintain constant vigilance over
all taxicabs, and shall inspect all such vehicles to ascertain that
they are in a thoroughly safe condition for the transportation of
passengers, clean, fit, of good appearance, and well painted. Such
inspection shall be made annually before the issuance of any license
therefor, and shall be made thereafter from time to time, or at the
complaint of any person, as often as may be necessary to ascertain
that such taxicabs are kept in a condition of continued fitness for
public use, and the use of any vehicle found to be unfit or unsuited
for public patronage shall be forbidden. An examination shall be made
of the taximeter, speedometer, or any other measuring device attached
to any taxicab to see that the same is at all times accurate.
[R.O. 1995 § 620.090; Ord. No. 453 § 11, 6-28-1980]
The Board of Aldermen shall have authority at any time to revoke
any and all licenses granted under this Chapter, after first having
granted the owner or operator of said taxicab or cabs a hearing on
the question of whether or not said license should be revoked. Upon
revocation of any license, no portion of the license fee shall be
refunded.
