[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Southampton 6-26-1973 as L.L. No. 2-1973. Section 103-12 amended
at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.
Other amendments noted where applicable.]
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.
A.
No such license shall be issued unless an application
therefor shall have been filed with the Village Clerk upon a form
prescribed therefor, which shall include:
(1)
The name and business address of the applicant, and,
if he be a natural person, his age and residence address.
(2)
The registration number of the tow truck to be operated.
(3)
The amount of liability and property damage insurance
on the said tow truck, the name of the insurance company and the policy
number.
B.
Any person, firm or corporation operating a tow truck
business may obtain licenses for each tow truck it desires to operate
within the Village of Southampton, provided such person, firm or corporation
abides by the regulations set forth herein.
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.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation
to drive along any public street or highway within the Village of
Southampton for the purpose of soliciting towing work.
B.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation
to solicit towing work at the scene of any motor vehicle accident
either on private property or on a public highway within the said
Village.
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.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation which owns or operates
a licensed tow truck and agrees to abide by the following requirements
and pays to the Village Clerk an additional fee of $100 each year
may request to be placed upon an approved list of tow truck operators
which the Village of Southampton police force may call to remove motor
vehicles:
(1)
The applicant shall be the owner or lessee of premises
containing a motor vehicle repair shop which is operated by the applicant
and a suitable facility to which towed motor vehicles are taken and
stored. Said motor vehicle repair shop shall have a certificate of
registration issued by the State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles.
[Amended 11-10-1994 by L.L. No. 10-1994]
(2)
The applicant shall be the owner of a tow truck and the operator of a towing business which is conducted from and at the premises set forth in Subsection A(1) above. Said premises shall be located either within the Village of Southampton or within a radius of five miles from the Village of Southampton. If located within the Village of Southampton, said premises shall have a certificate of occupancy issued by the Village of Southampton for the building and use conducted on said premises. If located within a radius of five miles from the Village of Southampton, said premises shall have a certificate of occupancy issued by the Town of Southampton for the building and use conducted on said premises.
[Amended 11-10-1994 by L.L. No. 10-1994]
(3)
The applicant maintains twenty-four-hour service to
answer emergency calls regarding motor vehicles.
(4)
The tow truck or trucks are equipped with a minimum
ton-and-a-half power winch equipped with 150 feet of three-eighths-inch
steel cable, dual rear wheels, a CO2 or dry
powder fire extinguisher with a minimum capacity of 15 pounds, a crowbar,
a shovel, emergency flashing red light, an approved first aid kit,
broom, hacksaw, ax and a carton containing at least one dozen red
emergency flares.
(5)
The applicant shall maintain a comprehensive general
public liability insurance policy covering the operation of the applicant's
business (including the towing and storage of motor vehicles) and
the premises from and at which said business is conducted, with limits
for personal injury and property damage in such amounts as may be
determined from time to time by resolution of the Village Board of
Trustees, and the Village of Southampton shall be named as an insured
in said insurance policy. The applicant shall deliver a certificate
of such insurance to the Village Clerk. The applicant shall also deliver
to the Village Clerk proof of compliance with the Workers' Compensation
Law.
[Amended 11-10-1994 by L.L. No. 10-1994]
(6)
The premises from and at which the applicant's business
is conducted and the applicant's tow truck or trucks shall be subject
to inspection by the Village from time to time to assure that the
applicant is in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.
[Added 11-10-1994 by L.L. No. 10-1994]
(7)
The applicant shall comply with such rules and regulations
as may be adopted from time to time by resolution of the Village Board
of Trustees, setting forth procedures for towing motor vehicles and
general operations of a tow truck business.
[Added 11-10-1994 by L.L. No. 10-1994]
B.
The Village Board of Trustees may from time to time
by resolution adopt rules and regulations setting forth procedures
for towing motor vehicles and general operations of a tow truck business.
[Amended 11-10-1994 by L.L. No. 10-1994]
C.
The Village Board of Trustees may from time to time
by resolution adopt rules and regulations establishing the manner
in which tow truck operators shall be called by the Village police
force from the approved list of tow truck operators.
[Added 11-10-1994 by L.L. No. 10-1994]
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]
