[MC 1998-20, July 6, 1998]
As used in this article, the terms below shall have the following
meanings:
(a) City means City of Plainfield.
(b) Distributor means any person responsible for placing and/or maintaining
a pay telephone in a public way.
(c) Illegal or illicit activity means activity which is proscribed by
Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes Annotated or any City ordinance
or any Federal law or regulation. A presumption of illegal or illicit
activity will be created if on at least four (4) occasions within
any thirty (30) day period the police have responded to the locations
of a pay telephone due to allegations of criminal activity in connection
with that pay telephone.
(d) Corner means that full width of sidewalk area beginning at the point
at which the extended curb lines form an intersection and running
therefrom a distance of twenty-five (25) feet along such curb in either
direction.
(e) Pay telephone means any self-service, credit card or coin-operated
telephone or bank of such telephones placed adjacent to each other
located in or over a public sidewalk or street.
(f) Person means an individual, business firm, corporation, association,
partnership or other organization or group of persons.
(g) Sidewalk means any surface provided for the use of pedestrians.
(h) Street means all that area dedicated to public use for public street
purposes and shall include but not be limited to roadways, parkways,
alleys, sidewalks and air space above such surfaces.
[MC 1998-20, July 6, 1998]
(a) All telephones on or above any public street right-of-way or sidewalk
in the City of Plainfield must be licensed in accordance with this
article.
(b) Application for licenses shall be made to the City Clerk of the City
of Plainfield and shall be accompanied by a non-refundable application
fee.
(c) Prior to installation, a plan or sketch of the telephone shall be
furnished to the City Clerk in sufficient detail to describe the size,
location, equipment and means of installation and cabling. No telephone
shall be transferred from the location for which the license is granted
except upon a new application for license to operate the telephone
at the other location.
Licenses shall be issued subject to the approval of the location
and means of installation of the telephone by the Construction Official.
All applications for license shall be reviewed by the Director of
Public Affairs and Safety.
(d) A copy of the license number shall be affixed to the telephone.
[MC 1998-20, July 6, 1998]
(a) Fees:
(1)
Initial fee shall be Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per
year or any part of a year for each unit with a separate telephone
number.
(2)
Renewal fee shall be One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) per
year for each unit with a separate telephone number.
(3)
Exemption. The license fees set forth herein shall not apply
to any public telephone installation subject to an agreement with
the City of Plainfield providing for the payment of any annual commission
and/or franchise tax.
(b) Renewal. All licenses shall be renewed annually before January 31
for the calendar year beginning January 1.
(c) Requirements for license.
(1)
Indemnification. All applicants shall execute an indemnification
agreement as follows:
"The applicant and any other persons on whose behalf the application
is made agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless all claims for
damages to property, or injury to or death of persons arising out
of or resulting from the issuance of the license or the control, maintenance
or ownership or use of each pay telephone."
(2)
Insurance. All applicants shall file with the City Clerk a general
liability insurance policy of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00)
for bodily injury and Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) for property
damage naming the City as additional insured against any injury, loss
or damage that may result from placing or maintaining the telephone
or telephone equipment.
[MC 1998-20, July 6, 1998]
(a) Notice of appeal for denial of license must be made in writing by
the applicant to the City Administrator within ten (10) days of notification
of denial by filing such notice with the City Clerk.
(b) Every applicant who is denied such license has a right to a hearing
with the City Administrator or designee. Prior to the hearing, the
applicant shall submit to the City Administrator a written notice
of appeal setting forth the basis for such request.
[MC 1998-20, July 6, 1998]
(a) Pay telephones shall permit the following calls to be placed without
charge:
(1)
Calls to 911 emergency number;
(2)
Emergency calls placed through operator assistance to the Police
and Fire Department;
(3)
Calls placed through operator assistance to the Police and Fire
Department by anyone identified as a member of either Department.
(b) Current telephone rates shall be posted on telephone equipment or
on the telephone booth containing the telephone equipment.
[MC 1998-20, July 6, 1998]
(a) Pay telephones shall be located in or on structures and in the manner
meeting the standards for pay telephones set forth in the Uniform
Construction Code N.J.S.A. 52:27D-119 et seq.
(b) 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 telephone shall be equipped with a coin return mechanism
to permit a person using the machine to secure an immediate refund
if a call cannot be placed. The coin mechanism shall be maintained
in good working order.
(3)
Each telephone shall have affixed to it, in a place visible
to everyone using the telephone, the name and address of the distributor
and the telephone number of a working telephone service to report
a malfunction, secure a refund, or give the notices provided for in
this article.
(4)
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 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 fixed telephone equipment.
(5)
Any person who fails to maintain a telephone in working condition
may be given a ten (10) day notice to repair the telephone. If the
telephone is not in working condition at the end of the ten (10) day
period, the City Clerk shall issue a written notice of violation describing
the reasons for violations; unless the licensee provides adequate
assurance that the telephone shall be repaired or replaced.
(6)
Each telephone shall either contain a telephone book serving
Union County secured to the telephone or provide local directory or
information assistance without charge.
(7)
Each telephone shall, upon written request of Police Chief,
be restricted to outgoing calls within ten (10) days of request.
(8)
No telephone shall be removed unless the City Clerk has received
notice of the intent to remove the telephone.
[MC 1998-20, July 6, 1998]
(a) No pay telephone shall be permitted in any R-1 or R-2 Residential
District.
(b) No pay telephone shall be permitted to rest upon, in or over any
public street or sidewalk when such installation, use or maintenance:
(1)
Endangers the safety of persons or property; or
(2)
Unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrians
or vehicular traffic, including any legally parked or stopped vehicles;
or
(3)
Unreasonably interferes with the ingress or egress from any
residence or place of business; or
(4)
Interferes with the use of traffic signs or signals, hydrants
or mailboxes permitted at or near said location; or
(5)
Will, in the opinion of the Police Department or based upon
reasonable grounds, facilitate illegal or illicit activity or unreasonably
interferes with the quiet enjoyment of the area.
(c) Pay telephones shall be placed, or otherwise secured, so as to prevent
their being blown down or around the public street or sidewalk, but
shall not be chained or otherwise secured, to any traffic or street
signs, signals, hydrants or mailboxes.
(d) 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 five (5) 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 four (4) feet;
(7)
Within three (3) feet of any building unless written permission
is secured from the property owner and filed with the application;
(8)
Within a four hundred (400) foot radius of any other pay telephones
in any zone other than R-1 and R-2 zone as described in the Zoning
and Redevelopment Map of the City of Plainfield except that one (1)
pay telephone may be installed on one (1) additional corner of an
intersection comprising four (4) or more corners.
[MC 1998-20, July 6, 1998]
This Article shall apply to all existing pay telephones located
on or above public sidewalks. Owners or lessees of such telephones
shall have a period of thirty (30) days from the date this article
becomes final to obtain licenses as required by this article. The
City of Plainfield reserves the right to reject any and all locations
submitted for approval based upon their existing conformancy with
this article.
[MC 1998-20, July 6, 1998]
Any violation of this article shall subject the violator to
a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than
One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). Each noncomplying pay telephone
shall constitute a separate violation. Each day of said violation
shall constitute a separate violation.