No person, firm or corporation shall operate
for hire a truck or other type of motor vehicle designed to tow and
capable of towing other motor vehicles within the Village of Southampton
unless a license therefor shall first have been obtained from the
Village Clerk of the Village of Southampton as hereinafter provided,
except tow truck operators from outside the Village of Southampton
may enter the Village of Southampton to remove a motor vehicle from
any garage without a license.
The license fee payable to the Village Clerk
for each such license or renewal thereof, which license may cover
only one tow truck, shall be $10 regardless of the number of months
such license may be in effect.
After the making and filing of said application,
the Village Clerk shall make an investigation to determine whether
the applicant is eligible for the issuance of a license, and after
such investigation is completed, the Village Clerk may either:
A. Issue a license if the Village Clerk finds that the
applicant and the business involved comply with the requirements of
this chapter, or
B. Deny the license if the Village Clerk finds that the applicant or the business involved does not comply with the requirements of this chapter, or otherwise finds that the issuance of the license would not be for the general welfare of the public. n making such determination, the Village Clerk may consider, among other things, the matters set forth in §
103-9 of this chapter.
On each side of every tow truck for which a
license has been granted, there shall be legibly inscribed in letters
not less than three inches high the name and address of the owner
of such tow truck or of the person, firm or corporation having the
license therefor and the license number assigned to such tow truck
by the Village Clerk.
Every license issued pursuant to this chapter
shall expire on the first day of March following the issuance thereof,
and no such license is transferable from one operator to another.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or
corporation to tow away any motor vehicle which has been involved
in an accident without the prior consent of the owner or operator
thereof or of the police officer at the scene of the accident, and
no motor vehicle shall be removed from the scene of an accident where
the police officer requires or requests that an examination be made
of the damaged vehicle to determine whether the car was defective
or where the police officer requires or requests that photographs
and/or diagrams of the scene be made, until these requirements have
been accomplished.
The Village Board may revoke or suspend any
license or licenses issued under this chapter to any applicant, after
a public hearing, for the following reasons:
A. The applicant is unfit to be granted such license
by virtue of bad moral character, intemperate habits or a bad reputation
for truth, honesty or integrity, or by virtue of conviction of a felony
or any crime involving theft, embezzlement or moral turpitude.
B. The applicant has falsified or failed to provide information
and evidence of substantial and material import in his application
for a license.
C. The manner in which the business or work has been
conducted in the past is such as to warrant a finding that the granting
of a license will be adverse or detrimental to the public health,
safety or welfare.
D. The person or business involved otherwise has demonstrated
that he or it is unfit to be trusted with the privileges granted by
such a license.
The Board of Trustees may remove from the approved
list of tow truck operators any operator whom the Board shall determine,
after public hearing, has failed to abide by any of the requirements
of this chapter and any of the requirements of any rules or regulations
adopted hereunder.
[Amended 1-29-1982 by L.L. No. 1-1982; 7-11-2002 by L.L. No. 1-2002; 8-13-2020 by L.L. No. 7-2020]
Any person who violates this chapter or fails to comply with any of its requirements shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to the penalties provided in Article
II of Chapter
1 of the Code of the Village of Southampton.