[Adopted as Sec. 4-2 of the 1997 Revised General Ordinances]
[Amended by Ord. No. 573; Ord. No. 591]
No person shall engage in or carry on any business or trade in the City or use any vehicle, stand, store or other place or thing, or sell or offer for sale any goods or chattels unless a mercantile license has first been obtained from the City Clerk.
[Amended by Ord. No. 573; Ord. No. 741; Ord. No. 881-91; Ord. No. 978-93; Ord. No. 1037-95; Ord. No. 1118-97; Ord. No. 1146-98; Ord. No. 1169-99; Ord. No. 1256-2002; 2-17-2004 by Ord. No. 1322-2004; 11-14-2005 by Ord. No. 53-2005; 1-17-2006 by Ord. No. 56-2005; 3-22-2011 by Ord. No. 228-2011; 5-2-2017 by Ord. No. 305-2017; 2-1-2022 by Ord. No. 452-2021; 10-1-2024 by Ord. No. 543-2024]
A. 
Fees for licenses issued for license year commencing on or after May 1, 2005. Not later than November 1 of each year, the City Manager shall provide City Council with a report that includes the amount of revenue raised by the license fees, broken down by category and recommendations to the City Council as to whether the licensing fee ordinance should be modified to reflect cost of living adjustments and/or all other relevant factors. Council shall review this information and, in its discretion, make any adjustments to the licensing fee ordinance that it deems necessary. The annual fees to be paid to the City for licenses issued for the license year commencing on or after May 1, 2005, for conducting a business or trade or combination thereof shall be as follows:
(1) 
All businesses not classified herein: $300.
(2) 
Amusements, including arcades, golf courses and games of skill, per establishment (Chapter 139, Article II, Automatic Amusement Devices): $1,100.
(3) 
Beach concessions renting chairs and umbrellas, selling soft drinks and beach boxes, each location: $300.
(4) 
Bicycle/Low-speed vehicle vendor: $300 per vendor location.
(5) 
Boat marina, per boat slip (attach boat slip plan): $30.
(6) 
Coin-operated vending and amusement machines in addition to any other license fee which may be required, per machine: $50.
(7) 
(Reserved)
(8) 
Hotels, condotels, and motels, per rental unit: $50. Condotels, where units are individually owned but rented similar to a commercial hotel operation with centralized booking and/or front desk service, shall be subject to the same per rental unit fee as hotels and motels. If a condominium unit owner does not rent through a centralized booking service offered or required through the condotel, and instead rents direct to consumer (for example, through a real estate licensee or transient space marketplace) the owner shall comply with the residential rental licensing requirements under Chapter 310, Article IV and pay the applicable residential rental licensing fee based on square footage pursuant to Subsection A(13) below.
(9) 
Laundries/Drycleaners, including self-service: $300.
(10) 
Parking lot (per commercial space, $100 minimum) (attach parking plan and hours of operation): $20.
(11) 
Restaurants, per indoor seat (attach seating plan): $10.
(12) 
Restaurants, per outdoor seat (attach seating plan): $20.
(13) 
All residential short-term rentals including but not limited to a house, apartment unit, condominium unit, or duplex unit:
Square Footage of Rental
Fee
0 to 1,000
$125
1,001 to 2,000
$125
2,001 to 3,000
$200
3,001 to 4,000
$250
4,001 to 5,000
$300
5,000+
$300
(14) 
(Reserved)
(15) 
(Reserved)
(16) 
(Reserved)
(17) 
Stores and sales areas (including food):
(a) 
Under 4,000 square feet: $300.
(b) 
Over 4,000 square feet: $1,000.
(18) 
Tourist/guest house, per unit: $50.
(19) 
Tours - Vehicles/Horse-drawn (Chapter 469, Tours, Licensing of): $900.
(20) 
Tours - Walking: $200.
(21) 
Walk-up sales establishments and stores (without sales areas including food): $300.
(22) 
Rental of real property, commercial: $100.
(23) 
Residential landscaping: $250.
(24) 
Property maintenance services: $250.
(25) 
House cleaning services: $250.
(26) 
Event professionals: $300.
(27) 
Trash Haulers: $250.
B. 
Parking Trust Fund surcharge. In addition to the fee specified in Section 310-16A, each applicant for a mercantile license shall pay an annual parking surcharge of $25.00. These surcharges shall be deposited into the City's Parking Trust Account for the purpose of pursuing parking alternatives within the City.
[Added 5-2-2017 by Ord. No. 305-2017]
C. 
Tourism fee. In addition to the fee specified in § 310-16A, each applicant for a mercantile license shall pay an annual tourism fee surcharge of $50.
[Added 2-1-2022 by Ord. No. 452-2021]
[Amended by Ord. No. 893-91; Ord. No. 1256-2002]
A. 
No mercantile license or permit shall be issued, granted or renewed to any party unless said applicant for such license or permit has submitted to the City Clerk a certified statement from the City Tax Collector that there are no delinquent local real property taxes outstanding on the real property upon which the permit is sought or the licensed activity is to occur. The certified statement of payment of such taxes shall be a receipt from the City Tax Collector or any other authenticated document from the City Tax Collector declaring that the local real property taxes for the property in question are current.
B. 
For purposes of this section, local real property taxes shall be considered delinquent when they have not been paid in a timely fashion pursuant to the requirements of N.J.S.A. 54:4-66.
C. 
Any license or permit issued by the City may be revoked or suspended pursuant to § 310-9 upon submission of proof by the applicable enforcement officer that the taxes on the licensed premises have remained unpaid for a term of three consecutive quarters.
D. 
This section shall not apply to licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 33:1-1 et seq.
[Amended by Ord. No. 893-91; 11-20-2007 by Ord. No. 123-2007]
For the violation of any provision of this Article II, the maximum penalty, upon conviction of the violation, shall be the penalty stated in Chapter 1, Article III, Penalty; the minimum penalty, upon conviction of a violation of any provision of this Article II, shall be a fine of not less than $100. Each day that violation of any provision of this article exists shall be deemed a separate offense.
[Added 2-15-2005 by Ord. No. 17-2005; amended 10-16-2007 by Ord. No. 117-2007; amended 2-15-2011 by Ord. No. 225-2011]
In the event that the applicable mercantile license fees due and owing pursuant to this article are not paid prior to the first date that the business is opened in the applicable license year, the person required to obtain a license shall be subject to all fines and penalties for violating the provisions of this article, including, without limitation, fines for each day that the violation continues in accordance with § 310-18 and/or a suspension or permanent revocation of such license in accordance with §§ 310-9 through 310-13. Furthermore, if such license fee is not paid prior to May 1 of the applicable license year or, in connection with a new applicant, the first date that the business is opened in the applicable license year, there shall be a late charge assessed in the amount of 10% of the required fee for each 30 day period, or portion thereof, that payment of the fee is late, until such time that the license fee together with all prior late charges are paid in full. Such late charges shall be considered part of the fee such that a license will not be issued until all such late charges are paid in full.
[Added 5-17-2005 by Ord. No. 31-2005]
Nonprofit organizations having a tax-exempt status pursuant to both state and federal law that engage in such public purposes as civic and historic programs, activities, recreation and the promotion of the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the community shall be exempt from the annual license fees set forth herein; provided, however, that such organizations provide to the City annual proof of the continued tax-exempt status of the nonprofit organization. Nothing herein shall exempt nonprofit organizations from the annual tourism fee assessment.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 10, Art XXXVI, for more information regarding the tourism fee assessment.
[Added 2-20-2007 by Ord. No. 90-2007]
A. 
There shall be assessed to the applicant for each license, permit or land use approval set forth in Subsection B herein, an annual or per occurrence fee, which shall be due and payable at the same time the application fee is due and payable.
B. 
The fees are as follows:
(1) 
Development application: $50.
(2) 
"C" variance application: $10.
(3) 
"D" variance application: $10.
(4) 
HPC application: $10.
(5) 
Zoning permits: $10.
(6) 
Charter bus permit: $10.
(7) 
General business license: $10.
(8) 
Parking agreement: $10.
(9) 
Street opening permit: $25.
C. 
The additional license, permit and application fees set forth in Subsection B herein shall be payable to Jungle Lasers, LLC, for the sole purpose of funding the development and maintenance of the National Geomatica System.