[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and the Council of the Borough
of Wharton 9-25-2017 by Ord. No.
O-13-17. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Borough of Wharton.
Any person who drives a taxi/autocab within this Borough.
Shall consist of transporting in such taxi/autocab of one
or more persons for hire. A taxi/autocab which is operated or run
over any street within the Borough to seek or accept passengers for
transportation from points or places to points or places within or
outside the Borough shall be deemed to be operation of a taxi/autocab
within the Borough. A taxi/autocab parked or idling on a Borough street
or accepting a passenger for hire from a point of departure within
the Borough shall be deemed to be operation. Operation of a taxi/autocab
by one other than the owner shall be deemed operation by the owner,
as well as operation by the person actually driving the taxi/autocab.
The transportation in or through the Borough of any person other than
the owner or driver of any motor vehicle bearing signs therein or
thereon using the word "taxi," "cab," "autocab," "car service," "hack,"
"dial a ride," "call a ride," "transport," "transport vehicle," "car
service" or "transportation" shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
Any person, corporation, business entity or association in
whose name title to any taxi/autocab is registered with the New Jersey
Motor Vehicle Commission, or who appears in any governmental records
to be the conditional vendee or licensee thereof.
Includes any individual, co-partnership, association, corporation
or joint stock company, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed
by any court whatsoever.
Includes any automobile commonly called taxi, engaged in
the business of carrying passengers for hire which is held out, announced
or advertised to operate or run, or which is operated or run over
any of the streets within the Borough and which accepts or discharges
passengers for transportation from points or places to points or places
within or outside the Borough. "Taxi/Autocab" shall not include a
limousine as defined by N.J.S.A. 48:16-3.
A.
No person shall operate any taxi/autocab within the Borough unless
the company, taxi and driver are currently licensed in good standing
in a municipality which shares any part of a common border with the
Borough and has received an intra-municipal taxi/autocab license in
accordance with this chapter and said person or corporation conforms
to all of the laws and regulations of the State of New Jersey.
A.
All taxi/autocab owners and operators operating within the Borough
shall be licensed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
A.
Application form.
(1)
Each applicant for the issuance or renewal of a license shall supply,
in full, the information requested on the application forms approved
by the Chief of Police and obtained from the Borough Clerk, and shall
verify the correctness thereof by certification. The completed application
must be filed with the Borough Clerk, together with the fee hereinafter
fixed.
B.
Applications for intra-municipal taxi/autocab licenses shall be filed
with the Borough Clerk at any time, but no taxi/autocab shall be operated
in the Borough until the intra-municipal taxi/autocab is licensed
in accordance with this section each year.
C.
There shall be a maximum of 60 intra-municipal taxi/autocab licenses
available for issuance. Said number may be increased (or decreased)
subject to the discretion of the Borough in accordance with N.J.S.A.
§ 48:16-2.1 et seq.
D.
Requirements for intra-municipal taxi/autocab licenses. Each applicant
for an intra-municipal taxi/autocab license must meet all requirements
of the original licensing municipality and be in good standing to
be considered for issuance of a license.
(1)
Be of the age of 21 years, or over.
(2)
Fully complete an application form provided by the Borough Clerk,
which shall be signed and sworn to or certified by the applicant and
filed with the Borough Clerk as a permanent record.
(3)
Insurance.
(a)
Each applicant for an intra-municipal taxi/autocab license shall,
together with the application, submit the insurance policy required
by N.J.S.A. 48:16-3 et seq., covering the taxi/autocab sought to be
licensed; and each applicant shall then and thereafter comply with
all of the provisions of N.J.S.A. 48:16-1 et seq., as well as the
acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto.
(b)
The minimum acceptable insurance liability limit is as follows:
Combined single limit coverage, $100,000.
A.
Upon notification by the Borough Clerk of satisfactory fulfillment
of the foregoing requirements, the Chief of Police or his/her designee
shall either grant or deny the license application.
B.
Any license issued pursuant to this section shall expire at midnight
of the 31st day of December of the year in which it was issued except
for the initial 2017 license, which will expire at midnight of the
31st day of December, 2018.
C.
Licenses shall not be transferable.
A.
The annual fee for each intra-municipal taxi/autocab license hereafter
issued, or any renewal thereof, shall be $50. The license is not transferable
and is granted to a specific vehicle.
A.
The Chief of Police or his/her designee may, in his/her discretion,
refuse to issue or renew, or may revoke or suspend, any owner's
license issued hereunder if the applicant or licensee:
(1)
Has been convicted of a crime in this or any other jurisdiction.
(2)
Violates any provision of this chapter.
(3)
Has not complied fully with all of the requirements of this chapter.
(4)
If the motor vehicle licensed, or to be licensed, has unsafe or unsanitary
conditions, or is otherwise dangerous to the safety or health of the
occupants or others.
(6)
Has in any degree contributed to any injury to any person, or damage
to property, arising out of reckless operation of a motor vehicle
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:4-96.
(7)
Uses the vehicle's audible device improperly.
B.
The licensee may appeal a refusal to renew, revocation, or suspension
of his/her license to the Mayor and Council.
A.
No taxi/autocab shall be operated in the Borough unless the taxi/autocab
driver's license (including photographic identification) of the
person operating the taxi/autocab is prominently displayed and open
to view of passengers in accordance with reasonable procedures of
the issuing municipality which shares any part of a common border
with the Borough.
B.
The certificate of insurance required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-6 shall likewise
be prominently displayed in accordance with reasonable procedures
of the Borough provided by way of written notice to the licensee.
A.
The owner of a taxi/autocab shall cause to be displayed on the body
of the vehicle the taxi license number issued to 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. Each taxi/autocab shall
display on each rear door of the taxi/autocab the name of the municipality
or municipalities which has issued the taxi/autocab a taxi license
in letters three inches in height.
B.
Every taxi/autocab or other vehicle required to be licensed under
this chapter operating within the Borough shall display a visual identification
symbol the design, specification and contents of same, to be determined
in the sole discretion of the Borough, by way of a decal or other
method which will identify the vehicle as properly and currently licensed.
The method of display shall be as determined by the Borough Police
Department and communicated in writing to the intra-municipal taxi/autocab
license holder which shall be required to adhere to the contents of
said notice within seven calendar days of the date of the notice.
The Borough may elect to require that the visual identification symbol
be made and then affixed to the licensed vehicle by a vendor or vendors
of the Borough's designation, all such costs for such production
and affixing to the licensed vehicle to be paid by the licensee.
A.
No cruising. No person shall cruise any street of the Borough in
any vehicle, including but not limited to taxi/autocabs, at any time
for the purpose of soliciting for one or more persons for transportation
for a fee or fare.
B.
Prearranged pickup. Any taxi/autocab may pick up passengers if the
taxi/autocab owner or the owner's agent has been specifically
arranged beforehand by the person seeking transportation or someone
acting on said person's behalf or such person has otherwise arranged
in advance for pick-up at a specific time and place. The taxi/autocab
driver must have proof of such prearrangement including at a minimum
the full name of the person to be picked up, the full name of the
person making the arrangement and a contact phone number for said
person.
C.
All persons shall be picked up or discharged at the curb, or in off-street
areas designated by a business establishment for the use of its patrons,
and the taxi/autocab shall at no time interfere with traffic on any
street.
A.
Should any section or provision of this chapter be held invalid in
any proceedings, the same shall not affect any other section or provision
of this chapter, except insofar as the section or provisions so held
invalid shall be inseparable from the remainder of any such section
or provision.
B.
Should any portion of the Borough of Wharton Code, any ordinance,
or any part of an ordinance be inconsistent with this chapter, same
are hereby repealed.
