[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.