[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Lacey 5-17-1974 as Ch. 96 of the 1974 Code. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 323.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Includes any automobile or motorcar engaged in the business
of carrying passengers for hire upon the streets of the township to
points or places within or without the township, whether hired or
engaged from a garage or from any taxi stand or other place in the
township.
[Amended 7-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-36]
The applicable provisions of N.J.S.A. 48:16-1
et seq. of the Revised Statutes, as amended and supplemented, shall
be complied with in the licensing and regulating of taxicabs under
this chapter. No license shall be issued under this chapter until
the insurance required under N.J.S.A. 48:16-3 or 48:16-4 has been
obtained and produced in accordance with said statutory sections.
[Amended 7-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-36]
Any person wishing to operate a taxicab or own
a taxicab for the purpose of operating the taxicab or to permit another
person to operate said taxicab must obtain a license in accordance
with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 48:16-1 et seq. and the provisions
of this chapter.
[Amended 7-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-36]
No license shall be issued under this chapter
unless the application for such license has been submitted to the
Township Committee. Any applicant shall be investigated by the Chief
of Police and fingerprinted and photographed. A complete report of
said investigation shall be submitted to the Township Committee for
its review and consideration.
A.
All licenses shall be numbered consecutively and
classified according to whether the licensee is an owner or operator
of a taxicab. All licenses shall expire on December 31 of the year
of issuance. Licenses not suspended or revoked may be renewed annually,
subject to review by the Township Committee if deemed necessary pursuant
to any reports of violations or incidents which may have occurred
in the previous year. Every license shall contain the following:
[Amended 7-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-36]
B.
The Township Clerk shall keep a register of all licenses
granted, which register shall contain the details required by this
section.
[Amended 7-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-36; 2-11-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-04]
License fees in the following amounts shall
be paid to the Clerk, who shall deliver the same to the Chief Financial
Officer:
[Amended 7-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-36]
No owner's license shall be issued unless the
taxicab shall be in such a condition, mechanical and otherwise, as
to render it fit, safe and appropriate for the comfortable and decent
transportation of passengers. Failure to maintain a taxicab in a fit,
safe and appropriate mechanical and interior condition shall be a
violation of this chapter.
A.
Every operator, whether owner or otherwise, shall
be supplied a badge containing the number of the license, which he
or she shall wear in a conspicuous place upon his or her person while
operating such taxicab.
[Amended 7-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-36]
B.
Every owner and operator shall display the owner's
license in a conspicuous place in the taxicab licensed.
No owner or operator of any taxicab, while waiting
for employment at any place other than the garage or residence of
the owner thereof, shall refuse conveyance to any person without just
cause.
The Township Committee may, by resolution, designate
public stands for taxicabs licensed under this chapter. The Chief
of Police or such other police officer as may be designated for that
purpose shall regulate and preserve order at such public stands. Any
owner or operator who shall fail, neglect or refuse to obey the directions
of such police officer shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter.
No operator shall permit any person or persons
other than the person or persons first employing the taxicab to occupy
or ride in said taxicab unless the person or persons first employing
the taxicab shall consent to the acceptance of such additional passenger
or passengers.
[Amended 7-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-36]
Each passenger shall be entitled to have carried
and conveyed upon any licensed taxicab, without charge, his or her
ordinary traveling baggage.
Every owner's or operator's license granted hereunder may be suspended or revoked by the Township Committee, after notice and hearing, for the violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, or of the statutory provisions incorporated in § 305-2 hereof, or for other good and sufficient cause. During said suspension and after revocation, the license shall be inoperative and of no effect and the license shall be surrendered to the township forthwith, along with the badge supplied by the township pursuant to § 305-8 hereof.
[Amended 7-11-1996 by Ord. No. 96-36]
Any person violating or failing to comply with
any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof,
be punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.),
by imprisonment for a term not to exceed ninety (90) days and/or by
a period of community service not to exceed ninety (90) days, in the
discretion of the Judge. The continuation of such violation for each
successive day shall constitute a separate offense, and the person
or persons allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation
may be punished as provided above for each separate offense.
