As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
DISTRIBUTOR
The person(s) responsible for installing, maintaining, repairing,
stocking or collecting the proceeds from a cigarette vending machine
placed or located within the Township, as well as the owner of the
machine.
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
A.
A representative of the Bergen County Health
Department or the Township of Saddle Brook Health Department;
B.
The Zoning Officer of the Township; or
C.
Any police officer of the Township.
PERSON
An individual, partnership, cooperative, association, corporation
or any other legal entity.
TOBACCO
Any product made from the tobacco plant for the purpose of
smoking, chewing, inhaling and other personal use, including cigars,
chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, snuff and cigarettes in any form.
TOBACCO RETAILER
Any person or entity that operates any store, stand, booth,
concession or place at which sales of tobacco are made to purchasers
for consumption or use, and shall mean a person or entity that owns
or operates a vending machine and/or a vending machine location.
VENDING MACHINE
Any automated, self-serving device which, upon insertion
of money, token or any other form of payment, dispenses cigarettes
at retail.
It shall be unlawful for any person involved
in the retail sale of cigarettes or other tobacco products to sell,
give or permit to be sold any tobacco products to any person under
18 years of age. Violations of this section shall be subject to the
penalty provisions of N.J.S.A. 2A:170-51.
It shall be the obligation of any person involved
in the sale or retail of cigarettes or other tobacco products to assure
themselves that no sale or other transaction concerning those products
is occurring to any person under the age of 18 years, including but
not limited to requiring a form of identification from the person
stating their date of birth prior to dispensing (or allowing to be
dispensed) the product. Unless identification is requested by the
retailer, it shall be conclusively presumed that the retailer has
not taken reasonable steps to determine the age of the buyer if proof
is presented to the Municipal Court that the buyer was at the time
of the purchase under 18 years of age.
No person engaged or involved in the sale of
cigarettes or other tobacco products shall allow or permit any person
under the age of 18 years to be involved in the sale of cigarettes
or other tobacco products, including operation of the locking device
hereinafter described.
In view of the indiscriminate sale of cigarettes
to minors currently by automatic vending machines, all cigarette vending
machines are hereby prohibited within the Township of Saddle Brook
with the exception of vending machines installed and operating in
accordance with each and every one of the restrictions and requirements
set forth herein.
A. An electric hard-wire and/or remote control locking
device shall control the operation of the cigarette vending machine.
The locking device shall be certified by the distributor both at the
time of installation and at six-month intervals thereafter as one
which functions in a manner that assures that the cigarette vending
machine is always in the "off" mode and when activated will allow
the purchase of only one pack of cigarettes whenever the locking device
is operated by the person controlling the switch or button. The certification
shall be filed with the Township Clerk's office.
B. The control button or switch on the locking device
shall be within 15 feet of the cigarette vending machine it controls.
The control button or switch shall be located in an area not directly
accessible to nonemployees of the retail or other establishment.
C. The cigarette vending machine shall be under the direct
visual observation of the person operating the control button or switch
of the locking device.
D. No more than two cigarette vending machines meeting
all the requirements and restrictions of this chapter shall be allowed
in any single retail or other establishment. Where two cigarette vending
machines are to be installed, separate control buttons or switches
no closer than 24 inches apart shall be installed for each cigarette
vending machine to prevent the inadvertent activation of the cigarette
vending machine other than the one from which a purchase is desired
to be made.
E. The distributor of the cigarette vending machine shall
certify, both at the time of installation and at six-month intervals
thereafter, that in the event of any malfunction in the operation
of the locking device or mechanism, the machine remains in the "off"
position and the vending machine can no longer be operated by any
person to dispense cigarettes until the locking device is fixed by
the distributor or other authorized representative of the owner of
the cigarette vending machine. The certification shall also be filed
in the Township Clerk's office.
It shall be unlawful for any person, including
the distributor responsible for the installation, operation or maintenance
of a cigarette vending machine, to remove, disconnect or otherwise
disable the locking device for the purpose or with the result that
prospective customers of the cigarette vending machine can purchase
cigarettes without the locking device controlling each individual
sale.
A cigarette vending machine which is not installed
or operating in accordance with this chapter may be seized, forfeited
and disposed of in the same manner as other unlawful property seized
under N.J.S.A. 2C:64-1 et seq. Any machine so seized may be returned
to its owner under payment of the reasonable costs incurred in connection
with the seizure and any fine imposed by the Municipal Court.
This chapter shall take effect on July 1, 1995,
provided that the chapter has received final approval and publication
as provided by law prior to July 1, 1995.