[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of Old Bridge as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted as Secs. 5-4.1 through 5-4.9 of
the 1973 Revised General Ordinances]
No person shall install, place, maintain, operate
or possess in any store, building or place wherein the public is invited
or may enter, or in any building, store or other place wherein any
club or organization meets or maintains quarters, any automatic or
mechanical machine, game or device of skill or entertainment, music
vending machine and motion-picture machine, which is or are operated
or set in motion by the deposit therein of any coin or any token or
slug or the like which are purchased for cash, or any coin-operated
vending machine within the Township without first applying for and
obtaining a license. Machines owned by nonprofit organizations shall
be exempt from the provisions of this article.
[Amended 4-6-1981 by Ord. No. 10-81; 1-9-2006 by Ord. No. 38-2005; 9-22-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-29]
The license for the placing, operation, maintenance
or use of such amusement devices or vending machines shall be issued
to and in the name of the proprietor of the premises where the machine
is to be installed. The license fee for each machine licensed, for
the calendar year or any portion thereof, shall be as follows:
[Amended 1-9-2006 by Ord. No. 38-2005]
A separate application for each machine shall
be filed on a form to be furnished by the Township Clerk, which form
shall show the name of the applicant and his post office address.
The fee for the license shall be payable with the filing of the application,
and, if the application is rejected, the fee shall be returned to
the applicant, less a service fee of 25% which shall be retained by
the municipality for rejected applications.
No device or machine as specified in this article,
except for coin-operated vending machines, shall be placed, operated,
maintained or used in any back room of the premises where the machine
is licensed or within 200 feet of a school or church. The license
issued by the Township for all coin-operated machines shall be affixed
thereto in a conspicuous place so that the same shall be easily and
quickly identified. The license shall, on its face, disclose the name
and post office address of the licensee and the amount of the license
fee and briefly state that the machine or device to which the same
is affixed is licensed for operation by the Township.
The holder of a license shall be permitted to
transfer the license within the period for which it is issued to another
like machine operated in the same premises. The licensee may also
transfer a license from one premises to another, provided that he
immediately notifies the Township Clerk of such transfer. The license
shall not be transferable from one person to another.
It shall be unlawful to install, maintain or
operate or use any machine, game or device in the Township for the
purpose of gambling, wagering or betting, either for cash, merchandise
or other property of any nature. Any licensee, his agents, servants
or employees who willfully permit the use of any machine for such
a purpose shall be guilty of a violation of this article.
It shall be unlawful to install, maintain or
use any machine, game or device in the Township for the purpose of
giving directly or indirectly any prize, return or profit. Any licensee,
his agents, servants or employees who willfully permit the use of
any machine for such a purpose shall be guilty of a violation of this
article.
Upon any conviction for a violation of this
article, the license issued for the machine, game or device, concerning
which there was a conviction, shall be subject to revocation by the
Township Clerk, after hearing upon reasonable notice to the interested
parties, if upon presentation of the record of conviction to the Township
Clerk, the Township Clerk deems such action advisable.
Automatic picture-showing amusement devices
which are designed for viewing by patrons other than those seated
in a theater-type auditorium are specifically prohibited from licensing,
installation, possession or operation under this chapter, section,
subsection, or other ordinance of the Township.
[Adopted 4-14-1997 by Ord. No. 9-97 (Secs.
5-4.10 through 5-4.18 of the 1973 Revised General Ordinances)]
For all purposes of this article, the following
terms have the meanings hereinbelow ascribed to them.
N.J.S.A. 5:8-78 through N.J.S.A. 5:8-130 and N.J.A.C. 13:3-1.1
through N.J.A.C. 13:3-6.6, including any amendments thereto duly enacted
subsequent to the effective date of this article.
Any mechanical device or devices which carry or convey passengers
along, around, or over a fixed or restricted route or course for the
purpose of giving its passengers amusement, pleasure, thrills or excitement,
and as otherwise defined and regulated under the Carnival-Amusement
Rides Safety Act, N.J.S.A. 5:3-31 et seq.
A certification of permissibility granted by the Commissioner
pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:3-7.1 et seq.
The Amusement Games Control Commissioner as that office is
created and empowered under N.J.S.A. 5:8-78 et seq. and Reorganization
Plan No. 004-1992, 24 N.J.R. 4462, November 30, 1992.
Any natural person and any legal person, the existence of
which is authorized by statute, including but not limited to any corporation,
limited liability company and limited or general partnership.
Any natural person exerting actual or beneficial control
over any person other than a natural person, even if that control
is shared with others. As to corporations, all of the following are
principals: (1) any person owning or otherwise controlling at least
5% of the authorized and issued voting stock of the corporation; (2)
any director elected by the shareholders; (3) any officer elected
by the directors. The principals of a limited liability company are
all of its members and managers. The principals of a general partnership
are all of its general partners. The principals of a limited partnership
are the general partner and all limited partners. Where a person consists
of a complex of statutory entities such as subsidiaries, the principals
of the ultimate parent and all subsidiary, subordinate or affiliated
entities are principals within the meaning of this article.
A commercially operated permanent business open to the public
at least 31 consecutive days annually, whose acreage is designed and
themed for the primary purpose of providing participatory amusement
incorporating rides or water slides licensed in accordance with N.J.S.A.
5:3-31 et seq., and food and merchandise concessions in permanent
structures, it being the intention of the Township Council that a
site coming within the foregoing definition shall be deemed a recognized
amusement park solely for the purpose of this article and the Amusement
Games Licensing Law, and the foregoing definition shall not be deemed
to control the interpretation of any other chapter of the Code of
the Township of Old Bridge.
A game certified as permissible by the Commissioner, pursuant
to the Amusement Games Licensing Law, which is played for amusement
or entertainment, which is a game in which the person or player actively
participates, in which the outcome is not in the control of the operator
or owner of the game and which is so conducted that when and where
all of the players are present there occurs, in continuous sequence,
the sale of a right to participate, the event which determines whether
a player wins or loses and the award of a merchandise prize or nontransferable
tokens or tickets which may be accumulated and which are immediately
redeemable for a merchandise prize; provided, however, that the following
are not redemption amusement games and are not eligible for license
under this article:
It shall be unlawful for any person to own or
operate within Old Bridge Township any redemption amusement game without
first having obtained a proper license therefor from the Township
Council of the Township of Old Bridge. Said license shall be issued
only pursuant to this article and the provisions of the Amusement
Games Licensing Law.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 5:8-78 et seq.
A.
Each applicant for such a license shall file with
the Township Clerk a written application therefor in duplicate and
shall pay the fees provided in this article. The application shall
be in the form prescribed by the Commissioner and shall comply with
all application requirements as specifically set forth in the Amusement
Games Licensing Law, and this article.
B.
The Township Clerk may require, as a condition of
application, that any applicant (or for applicants other than natural
persons, the principals thereof) to be fingerprinted under the supervision
of the Old Bridge Department of Police and that the record thereof
be submitted with and as a part of such application.[1]
C.
Any fees for fingerprinting or any other investigation
shall be paid by the applicant, even though not otherwise stated in
this article.
A.
Issuance. Upon the applicant's compliance with all
applicable requirements of this article, the Township Council shall
by resolution authorize the issuance of a license. Said resolution
shall specifically recite the finding of the Township Council that
the premises to be licensed is located in a recognized amusement park.
Promptly following the date of the resolution, the Township Clerk
shall issue the license certificate or certificates authorized thereby
and shall forward to the Commissioner a certified copy of the resolution,
a copy of the application, a counterpart original of the license certificate
and the license fees payable to the Commissioner as hereinafter provided.
B.
License term. Each license issued pursuant to this
article shall be for a term of the calendar year which next follows
the date of such resolution, or if the applicant shall so request,
for a term which commences on the date of the resolution and which
expires on December 31 next following such date; provided, however,
that the license so issued shall be inoperative unless and until the
licensee named therein shall also, within 90 days from the issuance
thereof and prior to the conduct or operation of redemption amusement
games thereunder, procure and receive from the Commissioner a state
license authorizing the licensee holding the Old Bridge Township license
to operate and conduct certain redemption amusement games according
to the terms of such Old Bridge Township license; and any license
issued hereunder shall also be inoperative during any period of suspension
or revocation of such state license.
C.
License certificate.
(1)
The license certificate shall be in the form prescribed
by the Commissioner and shall set out on the face thereof:
(a)
The name of the licensee.
(b)
The address of the licensed premises and such
further description or limitation upon the licensed premises as may
be provided in the application or the said resolution.
(c)
The certification category of the kinds of games
licensed and, in the case of arcade games, the number thereof.
(d)
The amount of fee paid.
(e)
A statement of the dates between which and the
hours between which such games may be conducted.
(2)
Each license certificate shall be issued in triplicate,
the original to be delivered to the applicant, with one copy to the
Commissioner, as aforesaid, and the remaining copy to be retained
by the Township Clerk.
D.
Display. Each license certificate and all other information
required under the Amusement Games Licensing Law[1] to be posted upon licensed premises shall be conspicuously
displayed at the place or places where the redemption amusement games
are to be conducted, at all times during the conduct thereof.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 5:8-78 et seq.
A.
No application for the issuance of a license shall
be refused by the Township Council until after a hearing is held on
due notice to the applicant, at which hearing the applicant shall
be entitled to present evidence upon the qualifications of the applicant
and the merits of the application.
B.
Any license issued under this article may be amended,
upon application made to the Township Council, if the subject matter
of the proposed amendment could lawfully and properly have been included
in the original license and upon payment of such additional license
fee, if any, as would have been payable, if the amendment had been
so included.
A.
Concurrently with the Commissioner and the Commissioner's
agents and designees, the Township shall have and exercise control
and supervision over all amusement games held, operated or conducted
under such license with all the powers authorized or granted to it
under the Amusement Games Licensing Law and all amendments and supplements
thereto.
B.
The Department of Community Development may inspect
or cause to be inspected any place or building in which redemption
amusement games are made available for public use and all records
that the licensee is required to prepare and maintain under the Amusement
Games Licensing Law.
C.
Redemption amusement games licensed hereunder shall
be available only in plain view of any person or persons who may enter
upon any place where such redemption amusement games are made available
for play or use by the public; and in no licensed premises shall they
be made available selectively to certain persons designated by the
licensee or other person; nor shall they be in any way concealed except
when out of service for maintenance or repair.
D.
Redemption amusement games shall not be operated or
otherwise made available to the public for use on any day later than
11:00 p.m. nor earlier than 8:00 a.m.
E.
Neither alcoholic beverages nor tobacco products shall
be sold or consumed on any premises licensed hereunder.
F.
Prizes awarded as the result of play or use of redemption
amusement games shall be only merchandise of no greater value than
as applicable the single game and aggregate limitations from time
to time provided under the Amusement Games Licensing Law. Alcoholic
beverages, tobacco products, weapons, obscene or indecent pictures,
writings or recordings or money shall not be awarded as prizes, and
no licensee shall directly, indirectly or by any subterfuge, purchase
any merchandise prize, once it has been duly awarded, nor shall licensee
exchange the prize for money or money's worth.
G.
Every licensee shall comply with such conditions and
limitations as the Commissioner may include in any certification.
H.
The following provisions of the Amusement Games Licensing
Law[1] are by this reference hereby incorporated as provisions
of this article, as fully as if they were herein at length set out,
it being the intention of the Township Council that any violation
of such sections by a licensee shall be a violation not only of the
Amusement Games Licensing Law but also of this article and that any
duties of a licensee as set out in such sections are duties of a licensee
under both the Amusement Games Licensing Law and this article:
(1)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-1.12, Qualification of applicant; conviction
of crime.
(2)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.4, Maximum fee for participation in
game.
(3)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.5, Types of prizes permitted; value
of prize.
(4)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.6, Determination of value of prizes.
(5)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.7, Redemption of prize or cash.
(6)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.9, Employee's qualification, questionnaires,
list.
(7)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.10, Fingerprinting employees.
(8)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.11, Interest held in business by person
other than licensee.
(9)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.12, Law enforcement officers holding
business interests.
(10)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.13, Hindering inspection or investigation.
(11)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.15, Gambling on licensed premises.
(12)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.16, Licensee responsible for acts
of employees.
(13)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-3.17, Required signs.
(14)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-4.1, Books of account, entries, inspection.
(15)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-4.2, Invoices of cost of prizes retained.
(16)
N.J.A.C. 13:3-4.3, Report of conduct of game by licensee.
(17)
N.J.A.C. 5:8-103.
(18)
N.J.A.C. 5:8-108.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 5:8-78 et seq.
Any licensee or principal thereof who or which
shall make any false statement in any application for such license,
or shall fail to keep such books and records as required to be kept
under the Amusement Games Licensing Law, or shall falsify such books
or records, or shall violate any of the provisions of this article
or the Amusement Games Licensing Law or of any of the terms of such
license, shall be a disorderly person; and if convicted as such, shall
in addition to any other penalties which may be lawfully imposed,
forfeit any license issued to it under this article.
A.
There shall be issued to an applicant who shall qualify
a separate license for each place at which the licensee is authorized
to hold, operate and conduct such redemption amusement games. The
annual license fee for each place shall be $250.
B.
A separate license shall be issued for each specific
kind of redemption amusement game authorized to be held, operated
and conducted on the licensed premises by the licensee. The license
fee payable to the Township for each specific kind of game certified
by the Commissioner pursuant to N.J.A.C. 13:3-7.9, as permissible,
shall be as follows:
(1)
Games permitted under Category and Certification No.
1: throw games wherein a single player upon payment of fee is furnished
a number of balls, hoops, darts or other objects, or uses his own
coins to be hand thrown or propelled at, into, or upon targets, with
prizes awarded according to results achieved; provided that only one
of the above games may be licensed under one license; and there is
no restriction on the number of units that may comprise the game:
$250.
(2)
Games certified as permissible under Category and
Certification No. 2: arcade games wherein a single player upon payment
of fee is permitted to play a machine or device to obtain a prize
or attain to score upon which a prize is awarded according to results
achieved: $250 plus $10 per machine for each machine in excess of
50 machines.
(3)
Games certified as permissible under Category and
Certification No. 4: competitive games wherein several players upon
payment of fee are permitted to compete against each other for a prize
to be awarded to the player who first achieves the required result,
provided that only one of the above games shall be licensed under
one license; and there is no restriction on the number of units that
may comprise the game: $250.
(4)
Games certified as permissible under Category and
Certification No. 7: tests of strength wherein a single player upon
payment of a fee is entitled to win a prize in the event that within
a permitted number of tries he rings a bell or gong a required number
of times by striking with a maul one end of a horizontal level arm
on the other end of which propels a weight upward along a vertical
wire at the top of which the bell or gong is located; provided, however,
only one unit may be licensed under one license: $250.
(5)
Games certified as permissible under Category and
Certification No. 8: miscellaneous games wherein a single player upon
payment of a fee is entitled to use a physical skill to obtain a predetermined
goal for which a prize is awarded: $250.
C.
The required Township fee, which shall be an annual
fee without proration, shall accompany the license application. In
the event that the license is denied or the application therefor is
withdrawn, the Township shall retain 25% of the application fee as
an investigation fee, and the balance shall be returned to the applicant.
D.
On application, the applicant shall deposit, with the Township Clerk, the applicant's certified check or money order, in an amount equal to the license fees otherwise payable to the Township, and drawn to the order of the New Jersey Amusement Games Control Commissioner. If the Township Council shall pursuant to § 35-13 of this article authorize the issuance of a license to the applicant, then together with the other items to be forwarded under Subsection D hereof, the Township Clerk shall forward the certified check or (as the case may be) money order, to the Commissioner. However, if the Township Council shall refuse or decline to authorize the issuance of the license applied for, or if the application shall be withdrawn, then at the time when the Township Clerk returns a portion of the required Township fee as hereinabove provided, the Township Clerk shall also return to the applicant the certified check or money order.
Redemption amusement games certified by the
Commissioner as permissible under Certification 3 (non-draw raffle
games), Certification 5 (a certain game of chance particularly described
in such certification and named therein, "Stop and Go Game"), Certification
6 (guessing games) and Certification 9 (a certain game of chance particularly
described in such certification and named therein, Pan Game, Crazy
Ball and Crazy Block), are prohibited hereby and shall not be operated
within Old Bridge Township, and no license shall be issued authorizing
the same. Nothing in this article shall be deemed to require a license
for the award of prizes as the result of successful play at any game
which, pursuant to common understanding, is a sport such as baseball,
soccer, tennis or golf; or for the distribution without charge of
rights to participate in amusements, as promotional inducement to
persons to visit a premises licensed hereby; or for the award of the
same prize value in respect of the play of any game or device, before
or following each use of such device or play of such game and without
regard to any particular score or outcome resulting therefrom. Games
and game devices, the use or play of which does not result in any
person receiving any merchandise, prize, additional right to play
or participate without charge or other thing of value, are beyond
the scope of this article. Nothing provided herein shall be construed
to state or imply that such games or devices must be licensed under
this article; or that the Township does not retain the inherent prerogative
to provide by ordinance for the licensing, regulation and supervision
of the use of such games and devices. Also beyond the scope of this
article is any carnival, fair or other activity held on an annual
or other periodic or scheduled basis by a not-for-profit group or
organization wherein amusement devices, structures or amusement rides
are installed or used on a temporary basis.
