[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Orange Township 3-7-1995 as Ord. No. 4-95.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance superseded former Ch. 148, Pay Telephones, adopted 11-4-1992 as Ord. No. 29-92.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DISTRIBUTOR
Any person responsible for placing and maintaining a pay telephone.
PAY TELEPHONE
Any self-service or coin- or credit-card-operated telephone or bank of such telephones placed adjacent to each other, located in or over a public sidewalk or street.
PERSON
An individual, business, firm, corporation, association, partnership or other organization or group of persons.
SIDEWALK
That area dedicated to public use for pedestrian traffic.
STREET
All that area dedicated to public use for public street purposes and shall include but not be limited to roadways, parkways, alleys and sidewalks.
A. 
No person, association, partnership or corporation may place or maintain any pay telephone on or above any public street or sidewalk without having first obtained a permit as provided in this chapter. Permits shall be issued by the Department of Public Works subject to approval of the location and means of installation of the pay telephone as set forth in this chapter. Permits or denial thereof, with reasons set forth in the event of denial, shall be issued within ten (10) working days of application for such permits.
B. 
Before installation, a plan or sketch of the pay telephone shall be prepared by the applicant and furnished to the Department of Public Works in sufficient detail to describe the size, location, equipment and means of installation.
C. 
Fee.
(1) 
For applicants which are members of an organization which has in effect an approved self-policing enforcement compliance program, the fee for a permit shall be fifty dollars ($50.) for the first year and twenty-five dollars ($25.) for each year thereafter.
(2) 
For all other applicants, the fee for a permit shall be one hundred fifty dollars ($150.) for the first year and seventy-five dollars ($75.) for each year thereafter.
(3) 
Notwithstanding the above, no fee shall be charged for permits pertaining to pay telephones furnished by the City of Orange Township as an accommodation to the public, nor for permits issued to any person or entity which pays a franchise fee or tax for the use of public facilities; provided, however, that any such person or entity shall not be exempt from all other provisions of this chapter.
D. 
Before receiving a permit, an applicant shall:
(1) 
Execute an indemnification agreement substantially as follows: The applicant and any other persons on whose behalf the application is made agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the City of Orange Township against liability for all claims for damage to property or injury to or death of persons arising out of or resulting from the issuance of the permit or the control, maintenance or ownership or use of each pay telephone.
(2) 
File with the Department of Public Works evidence of a general liability insurance policy of one million dollars ($1,000,000.) for bodily injury and fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.) for property damage, naming the City of Orange Township as additional insured against any injury, loss or damage that may result from placing or maintaining the pay telephone on or above the sidewalk.
A. 
Pay telephones shall permit the following calls to be placed without charge, except as may be otherwise provided by applicable tariffs filed with the New Jersey Board of Regulatory Commissioners:
(1) 
Calls to the 911 emergency number.
(2) 
Emergency calls placed through operator-assistance to the Police and Fire Departments.
(3) 
Calls for emergency purposes placed through operator-assistance to the Police and Fire Departments by members thereof.
B. 
Current local coin-call initial rates and the charge for additional minutes shall be posted on the pay telephone or on the pay telephone booth.
C. 
The identity of the long-distance carrier and the information about how to make calls using other carriers shall be posted on the pay telephone or on the pay telephone booth.
A. 
Pay telephones shall comply with the following standards:
(1) 
No booth surrounding a telephone shall exceed eight (8) feet in height, four (4) feet in width or four (4) feet in depth.
(2) 
Each coin-operated pay telephone shall be equipped with a coin-return mechanism to permit a person using the machine to secure an immediate refund when applicable. The coin-return mechanism shall be maintained in good working order.
(3) 
Each pay telephone shall have affixed to it, in a place visible to everyone using the pay telephone, the name and address of the distributor and the telephone number of a working telephone service to report a malfunction or secure a refund.
(4) 
Pay telephones shall be maintained in a neat and clean condition and in good repair at all times. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, a pay telephone shall be serviced and maintained so that:
(a) 
It is reasonably free of chipped, faded, peeling and cracked paint in the visible painted areas thereof.
(b) 
It is reasonably free of rust and corrosion in the visible unpainted metal areas thereon.
(c) 
Any clear plastic or glass parts are unbroken and reasonably free of cracks, dents, graffiti, blemishes and discolorations.
(d) 
Any paper or cardboard parts or inserts are reasonably free of tears, peeling or fading.
(e) 
The structural parts thereof are not broken or unduly misshapen.
(f) 
The telephone receiver is attached to the telephone.
B. 
Any distributor who fails to maintain its pay telephone in working condition may be given a ten-day written notice to repair the pay telephone by the Department of Public Works. If the pay telephone is not in working condition at the end of the ten-day period, fines may be assessed against the distributor, and the permit may be revoked.
C. 
Each pay telephone shall be capable of being restricted to outgoing calls only.
D. 
Upon written request by an authorized representative of the Orange Police Department, setting forth the reasons for the request, the distributor shall disable each pay telephone requested from receiving incoming calls and shall restrict the capability of those pay telephones so that only outgoing calls can be made from them. Those restrictions shall be implemented by the distributor forthwith and no later than ten (10) calendar days after receiving the written request. Those restrictions shall continue indefinitely until the Orange Police Department authorizes their termination in writing. The distributor shall promptly post, on the pay telephone or the telephone booth, a written notice advising the public of that pay telephone's inability to receive incoming calls.
A. 
No pay telephone shall be permitted to rest upon, in or over any street or sidewalk when such installation, use or maintenance:
(1) 
Unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrians or vehicular traffic, including any legally parked or stopped vehicles; or
(2) 
Unreasonably interferes with the ingress or egress from any residence or place of business; or
(3) 
Interferes with the use of traffic signs or signals, hydrants or mailboxes permitted at or near said location.
B. 
Pay telephones shall be placed, or otherwise secured, so as to prevent their being blown down or around the street or sidewalk, but shall not be chained or otherwise secured to any traffic or street signs, signals, hydrants or mailboxes.
C. 
No pay telephones shall be placed, installed, used or maintained:
(1) 
Within any marked crosswalk.
(2) 
Within three (3) feet of a curb return of any unmarked crosswalks.
(3) 
Within fifteen (15) feet of any fire hydrant, fire call box, police call box or other emergency facility.
(4) 
Within five (5) feet of any driveway.
(5) 
Within three (3) feet of any public area improved with a lawn, flowers, shrubs, trees or other landscaping.
(6) 
At any location whereby the clear space for the passage way of pedestrians is reduced to less than six (6) feet.
(7) 
Within three (3) feet of any building, unless written permission is secured from the property owner and filed with the application.
D. 
In the event that a particular pay telephone does not meet the requirements set forth in Subsection C of this section, an applicant may request an exemption from the requirement(s) not met, and the Department of Public Works may grant the applicant an exemption upon making the determination that the issuance of such a permit is reasonable under the circumstances present.
E. 
Pay telephones shall not be placed on or above sidewalks in front of street addresses where there appears to be continuous criminal activity involving the use of the pay telephone. "Continuous criminal activity" means reports to the police of more than three (3) criminal incidents at an address in a month prior to the date of the application or more than nine (9) reported criminal incidents in a year prior to the date of the application.
F. 
No pay telephone shall be installed on the street or sidewalk without the permission of the abutting land owner.
G. 
Except for subsequent application by the same distributor for the placement of an additional pay telephone adjacent to said distributor's existing pay telephone:
(1) 
No pay telephone shall be placed within six hundred (600) feet of any other pay telephone on the same side of the street and within line of sight of such other pay telephone on a sidewalk in an AA, A-1, A-2, B-1 or B-2 District, as described in the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Orange Township.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 210, Zoning and Land Development.
(2) 
No pay telephone shall be placed within three hundred (300) feet of any other pay telephone on the same side of the street and within line of sight of such other pay telephone on a sidewalk in a C-1, C-2, C-3 or D-1 District, as described in the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Orange Township.
(3) 
All pay telephones must be placed at least one-fourth (1/4) mile from all other pay telephones within line of sight on the same side of the street on a county or state highway in the City of Orange Township.
A. 
No person shall remove a pay telephone without having first notified the Director of the Department of Public Works.
B. 
Pay telephones for which permits have been revoked pursuant to § 148-7 herein shall be removed by the distributor within twenty (20) days of receipt of written notice of revocation.
A. 
Upon the receipt of a written complaint by a citizen or an authorized representative of the Police Department that the location or use of a pay telephone constitutes a threat to the health, safety or welfare of the community, the Director of the Department of Public Works shall conduct a hearing, after providing written notice of same at least ten (10) days in advance thereof to the distributor of that pay telephone, to the Orange Police Department and to any other complainant, to ascertain whether the location or use of the pay telephone constitutes a threat to the health, safety or welfare of the community. If the Director finds by clear and convincing evidence presented that the location or use of the pay telephone constitutes such a threat, he or she shall revoke the permit issued by the Department of Public Works for the use of that pay telephone and shall cause written notice of such revocation to be delivered to the distributor within ten (10) days of making such decision. Such other relief, including requiring the pay telephone to be restricted to outgoing calls only, shall be ordered by the Director as he or she deems appropriate under the circumstances and based on the evidence presented at the hearing, providing like notice to the distributor.
All existing pay telephones located on or above sidewalks and streets within the City of Orange Township shall be deemed "grandfathered" and are excused from paying the initial permit fees and will not be removed due solely to any violations of the distance requirements set forth in § 148-5 herein; provided, however, that any distributor desiring that its pay telephones be grandfathered must notify the Department of Public Works, in writing, within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this chapter, of the locations of all of said distributor's pay telephones existing in the City of Orange Township at that time, and shall otherwise bring such pay telephones into compliance with all of the other requirements of this chapter within sixty (60) days of its effective date. Any pay telephone not included in a distributor's notice to the Department of Public Works as provided for in this section shall not be grandfathered and must comply with all of the provisions of this chapter.
Any violation of this chapter shall subject the violator to a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.). Each noncomplying pay telephone will constitute a separate violation, as will each day for which said telephone is in violation.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III.