[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Cape May by Ord. No. 1150-98 (Ch. XXVI of the 1997 Revised General Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Licenses and permits — See Ch. 310.
The City of Cape May will provide a direct telephone connection between the Welcome Center and any place of business within the local telephone service area. Such a telephone connection will hereinafter be known as a "hot-line." All hot-line connections will be subject to the rules and provisions of the following sections.
All business will be classified into three categories within the hot-line telephone system as follows: accommodations, activities, and eateries.
A. 
The "accommodations" category will consist of any business providing overnight sleeping facilities (i.e., hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfast inns, guest houses, apartments, and condominium units).
B. 
The "activities" category will consist of any business providing services or facilities for recreation or entertainment purposes (i.e., tours, sporting events, nature/environmental programs, cultural events).
C. 
The "eateries" category will consist of any business providing food and beverage products for personal consumption (i.e., restaurants, delicatessens, convenience stores, pizzerias, confectionery stores).
Any business within the City of Cape May and surrounding area may apply for a listing on the hot-line telephone system. Businesses located within the City of Cape May will be given first option to new listings. No business will be listed when the telephone connection causes a long-distance call to be placed. Any individual, partnership, or corporation which operates more than one business, or multiple businesses within one complex, may apply for more than one hot-line listing. All businesses within the City of Cape May must maintain a mercantile license, when required.
The City of Cape May will provide the hot-line telephone system and maintenance of the telephone system. The City retains the right to establish the number of hot-line listings available on the system. The hot-line telephone system will be located in the Welcome Center, which is situated on the southwest corner of Lafayette Street and Bank Street. Each business is entitled to an approximate two-inch-by-six-inch space designated as the advertisement listing area. All advertisement copy must be supplied by each business to the City. The City retains the right to edit inappropriate material for advertisement listings.[1] The Welcome Center will be open from the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; hours for Saturday and Sunday will be maintained on a seasonal basis; and will be closed on any legal holiday, or periods of declared emergency.
[1]
Editor's Note: Any business not located in Cape May City must list the municipality it is physically located in, not just its mailing address.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1178-99]
The City of Cape May will assess an annual fee to businesses listed on the hot-line system as follows:
A. 
Accommodations:
(1) 
One to 20 sleeping units: $150.
(2) 
Twenty-one to 50 sleeping units: $200.
(3) 
Fifty-one to 200 sleeping units: $250.
B. 
Activities: $150.
C. 
Eateries:
(1) 
Zero to 100 seats: $150.
(2) 
One hundred one to 500 seats: $200.
(3) 
Five hundred one or more seats: $250.
D. 
The service year shall be a fiscal year commencing on July 1 and ending on the next June 30.
E. 
The City will issue an annual bill on or before June 1, which is due and payable on or before June 30 for the new year forthcoming. Failure to receive the bill when issued does not relieve the business of its duty to make a timely payment.
F. 
Any business which does not pay the annual bill by the June 30 due date will be removed from the hot-line telephone system.
G. 
Any business removed from the hot-line telephone system must reapply for a listing.
H. 
All fees shall be payable commencing July 1, 1999.
All listings will be repositioned on the telephone system board on the first business day after January 1 of each even year. All active business listings in each category, as of January 1, will be placed in a pool, and selected by lottery method until all listings are assigned a position on the listing board. The first business drawn will be assigned slot number one, and each subsequent business drawn assigned the next available slot until completed. City personnel will conduct the lottery drawing procedure, which will be open to the public. Any business making application after January 1 of each even year will be assigned the next available space at the end of each classification. Should any business withdraw from the hot-line system, or be removed for nonpayment, creating an opening amongst the active listings, such opening shall be filled only when no other listing space exists.