It is the purpose of this chapter:
A. To establish criteria and procedures for the licensing of tow operators
providing municipal towing services.
B. To establish, in the interest of public safety a uniform policy for
the towing and storage of motor vehicles by tow operators on the official
tow list (OTL) pursuant to requests of the Township Police Department.
C. To establish uniform fees for the towing and storage of vehicles.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
AUTOMOBILE
A private passenger motor vehicle or any vehicle included
in the definition of "automobile" under N.J.A.C. 11:3-2.2.
BASIC TOWING SERVICE
The removal and transportation of an automobile from a highway,
street or other public or private road or a parking area or from a
storage facility, and other services normally incident thereto, but
does not include recovery of an automobile from a position beyond
the right-of-way or berm or from being impaled upon any other object
within the right-of-way or berm.
HEAVY-DUTY TOW
A tow which, based the weight of the vehicle being over 30,000
pounds gross vehicle weight, or the vehicle's size or special
characteristics, requires the use of special equipment greater than
that used by a basic towing service.
LICENSEE
A tow operator licensed hereunder.
MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT
An occurrence in which a private passenger automobile comes
in contact with any other object, including pedestrians, for which
the private passenger automobile must be towed or removed from the
scene thereof.
POLICE
The Maple Shade Township Police Department State Police,
or Sheriff's Departments or such other law enforcement unit that
may have jurisdiction upon the roadways within the Township.
STORAGE FACILITY
An automobile storage facility, including an office staffed
during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with on-call access 24
hours per day, that is secured by a fence, wall or other man-made
barrier that is at least six feet high, with a locked entrance. The
facility is to be lighted at night. The Police Department shall have
twenty-four-hour access to the facility.
TOW OPERATOR
A person, corporation or other form of business entity engaged
in the business of providing basic or heavy-duty tow service to the
public and providing storage facilities for vehicles towed.
TOW TRUCK
Those vehicles equipped with a boom or booms, winches, slings,
tilt beds, wheel lifts or under-reach equipment specifically designed
by their manufacturer for the removal or transport of motor vehicles
and any other vehicle, including flatbed vehicles, employed for the
purpose of removing and/or transporting motor vehicles which are unable
to be operated under their own power.
TOWNSHIP MANAGER
The Township Manager of the Township of Maple Shade, or his
or her designee.
WINCHING SERVICES
The act of a tow operator utilizing heavy-duty cables or
chains to return a vehicle from a berm, ditch or other location off
of the right-of-way so that the vehicle may be properly towed. The
term shall not include the pulling of a vehicle onto a tilt bed carrier
or lifting a motor vehicle with a conventional tow sling.
No person shall engage in the business of towing and storage
of vehicles at the direction of the police without first obtaining
a tow operator's license. Nothing herein shall require licensing
for the rendering of road service or for the provision of towing and
storage services within the Township other than at the request of
the police.
This chapter shall not prevent the occasional operation at the
scene of an accident, upon the request of an owner or driver of a
vehicle, of a tow truck which is owned by a person not a licensee
hereunder. If a tow operator is called to a scene and subsequently
recalled because of this situation, the tow operator will return to
the rotational list for the next police-dispatched tow call. Neither
the vehicle owner nor the Township shall be charged for such an event.
Upon the adoption of this chapter, the Township Clerk shall
give 30 days' public notice by newspaper publication of the necessity
of making application for a license to engage in the business of basic
towing service as a licensee of the Township. In addition, the Chief
of Police shall give notice to all towing operators known to have
engaged in basic towing service in the Township for the year last
passed. In the year of adoption of this chapter, the Township Clerk
shall identify the date applications are due and the expected date
of award. The initial contracts shall expire on May 31, 2019, regardless
of the date of implementation of this chapter.
The Chief of Police may promulgate such rules, regulations and
procedures, not inconsistent with this chapter, as may be reasonable
and necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. Copies
thereof shall be provided to all licensed tow operators and shall
be made available to the public, along with copies of current fee
schedules, during normal business hours. Failure to comply with applicable
rules, regulations and procedures may be the cause of suspension or
revocation of a tow operator's license. The Township Committee
may amend fees from time to time by adoption of a resolution.
The Chief of Police is hereby designated to enforce the provisions
of this chapter and any applicable rules and regulations.
In addition to the suspension and revocation provisions established
herein, any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of
this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine
of not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for not more than 90 days
or a period of community service not to exceed 90 days, or any combination
thereof, and each day any such violation shall continue shall be deemed
to be a separate and distinct offense.