[HISTORY: Adopted by the Merchantville Borough Council 3-12-2012 by Ord. No. 12-02. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the enforcement
of P.L. 2007, c. 209.
The request, directly or indirectly, for money, credit, property,
financial assistance, or other thing of any kind or value. Solicitation
shall include, but not be limited to, the use or employment of canisters,
cards, receptacles or similar devices for the collection of money
or other thing of value. A solicitation shall take place whether or
not the person making the solicitation receives any contribution.
A.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no person
shall place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin, for solicitation
purposes, unless all of the following requirements are met:
(1)
The person has obtained a permit, issued by the Borough Clerk's
Office, valid for a specified period of time, from the Borough of
Merchantville in which the donation clothing bin will be placed, in
accordance with the following:
(a)
In applying for such a permit, the person shall include:
[1]
The location where the bin would be situated, as precisely as
possible;
[2]
The manner in which the person anticipates any clothing or other
donations collected via the bin would be used, sold, or dispersed,
and the method by which the proceeds of collected donations would
be allocated or spent;
[3]
The name, and telephone number of the bona fide office required pursuant to Subsection A (2) of this section, of any entity which may share or profit from any clothing or other donations collected via the bin; and
[4]
Written consent from the property owner to place the bin on
his property;
(b)
The Borough of Merchantville shall not grant an application
for a permit to place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin if it
determines that the placement of the bin could constitute a safety
hazard. Such hazards shall include, but not be limited to, the placement
of a donation clothing bin within one hundred (100) yards of any place
which stores large amounts of, or sells, fuel or other flammable liquids
or gases;
(c)
The Borough of Merchantville fee for such application, is twenty-five dollars ($25.) per bin, to offset the costs involved in enforcing Chapter 20A of the Code of the Borough of Merchantville entitled "Donation Clothing Bins," pursuant to P.L. 2007, c. 209 (C. 40:48-2.60 et seq.);
(d)
An expiring permit for a donation clothing bin may be renewed upon application for renewal and payment of any fee imposed by the Borough of Merchantville for such renewal, not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.) annually, to offset the costs involved in enforcing Chapter 20A of the Code of the Borough of Merchantville entitled "Donation Clothing Bins," pursuant to P.L. 2007, c. 209 (C. 40:48-2.60 et seq.). Such application shall include:
[1]
The location where the bin is situated, as precisely as possible,
and, if the person intends to move it, the new location where the
bin would be situated after the renewal is granted and written consent
from the property owner to place the bin on his property;
[2]
The manner in which the person has used, sold, or dispersed
any clothing or other donations collected via the bin, the method
by which the proceeds of collected donations have been allocated or
spent, and any changes the person anticipates it may make in these
processes during the period covered by the renewal; and
(2)
The person, and any other entity which may share or profit from any
clothing or other donations collected via the bin, maintains a bona
fide office where a representative of the person or other entity,
respectively, can be reached at a telephone information line during
normal business hours for the purpose of offering information concerning
the person or other entity. For the purposes of this subsection, an
answering machine or service unrelated to the person does not constitute
a bona fide office; and
(3)
The following information is clearly and conspicuously displayed
on the exterior of the donation clothing bin:
(a)
The name and address of the registered person who owns the bin,
and of any other entity which may share or profit from any clothing
or other donations collected via the bin;
(b)
The telephone number of the person's bona fide office and,
if applicable, the telephone number of the bona fide office of any
other entity which may share or profit from any clothing or other
donations collected via the bin;
(c)
In cases when any entity other than the person who owns the
bin may share or profit from any clothing or other donations collected
via the bin, a notice, written in a clear and easily understandable
manner, indicating that clothing or other donations collected via
the bin, their proceeds, or both, may be shared, or given entirely
to, an entity other than the person who owns the bin, and identifying
all such entities which may share or profit from such donations; and
(d)
A statement, consistent with the information provided to the Borough Clerk in the most recent permit or renewal application pursuant to Subsection A(1)(a)[2] and Subsection A(1)(d)[2] of this section, indicating the manner in which the person anticipates any clothing or other donations collected via the bin would be used, sold, or dispersed, and the method by which the proceeds of collected donations would be allocated or spent.
The Borough of Merchantville in which the donation clothing
bin has been placed shall receive and investigate, within thirty (30)
days, any complaints from the public about the bin. Whenever it appears
to the Chief of Police or his designee that a person has engaged in,
or is engaging in any act or practice in violation of Section 2 of
P.L. 2007, c. 209 (C. 40:48-2.61), the person who placed the bin shall
be issued a warning, stating that if the violation is not rectified
or a hearing with the Borough Council is not requested within forty-five
(45) days, the bin will be seized or removed by the Chief of Police
or his designee at the expense of the person who placed the bin, and
any clothing or other donations collected via the bin will be sold
at public auction or otherwise disposed of. In addition to any other
means used to notify the person who placed the bin, such warning shall
be affixed to the exterior of the bin itself.
In the event that the person who placed the bin does not rectify
the violation or request a hearing within forty-five (45) days of
the posting of the warning, the Chief of Police or his designee may
seize the bin, remove it, or have it removed, at the expense of the
person who placed the bin, and sell at public auction or otherwise
dispose of any clothing or other donations collected via the bin.
Any proceeds from the sale of the donations collected via the bin
shall be paid to the Chief Financial Officer of the borough.
A.
In addition to any other penalties or remedies authorized by the laws of this state, any person who violates any provision of Chapter 81 of the Code of the Borough of Merchantville entitled "Donation Clothing Bins" pursuant to P.L. 2007, c. 209 (C. 40:48-2.60 et seq.) which results in seizure of the donation clothing bin shall be:
(1)
Subject to a penalty of up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.)
for each violation. The Borough of Merchantville may bring this action
in the Municipal Court or Superior Court as a summary proceeding under
the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L. 1999, c. 274 (C. 2A:58-10
et seq.), and any penalty monies collected shall be paid to the Chief
Financial Officer of the Borough of Merchantville; and
(2)
Deemed ineligible to place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin for solicitation purposes pursuant to Section 2 of P.L. 2007, c. 209 (C. 40:48-2.61). A person disqualified from placing, using, or employing a donation clothing bin by violating the provisions of Chapter 20A of the Code of the Borough of Merchantville entitled "Donation Clothing Bins," pursuant to P.L. 2007, c. 209 (C. 40:48-2.60 et seq.) may apply to the Merchantville Borough Clerk's Office to have that person's eligibility restored. The Borough of Merchantville may restore the eligibility of a person who: