Egg Harbor City, NJ Towing

No license shall be required for owner-requested services.

No license shall be required to remove a vehicle without consent of the vehicle owner from private property, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:4-56.6.

§ 251-5 Solicitation.

No towing service, whether licensed or unlicensed, shall respond to the scene of an accident or emergency for the purpose of towing a vehicle unless specifically notified by the Police Department or at the request of the vehicle owner. All persons, wreckers and tow vehicle operators are prohibited from soliciting business at the scenes of accidents or emergencies within the City.

Unless another penalty is expressly provided for by New Jersey statute, every person convicted of a violation of this subsection shall be liable to a penalty of not more than $500 and or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days.

§ 251-6 Application proceeding and qualification criteria for City towing contractors.

License application.

The complete legal business name, business address and principal location address.

The complete home address, home telephone number, date of birth and social security number of the applicant, if a sole proprietorship, or the complete home addresses, home telephone numbers, dates of birth and social security numbers of principal officers and partners, if the applicant is a corporation or partnership.

Photocopies of all registrations of every tow vehicle to be operated by the applicant. If the tow vehicle is leased, the applicant is required to submit a lease agreement.

Names, addresses and telephone numbers of any lienholders on the principal location.

Name, address and telephone number of the insurer and photocopies of each certificate of insurance.

(6)

Photocopies of all towing vehicle operators' current drivers' licenses, along with their social security numbers.

(7)

Evidence to demonstrate that the applicant applying for the license has at least five years' experience in the field of towing and storage of vehicles.

(8)

Proof that the applicant has a principal location and storage facility within the City of Egg Harbor.

(9)

Proof that the applicant's principal location and storage facility meet all zoning requirements applicable.

(10)

The applicant shall provide an agreement that upon the issuance of a license the City towing contractor shall indemnify the City of Egg Harbor against all claims of a third party relating to any and all claims arising from towing and/or storage services of the licensee.

(11)

The applicant shall provide an affidavit that the information given in the application is true and correct.

(12)

Applications will be processed according to the order in which the City Clerk received them.

Investigation and inspection.

Applications received by the City Clerk shall be referred to the Director of Public Safety, The Director or his designee shall initiate an investigation to be made of the applicant and of its proposed business operation and shall perform inspections of the vehicles to be licensed.

A criminal history check and driver's license check will be performed on all persons listed in the application. Each applicant will pay fees required by the State of New Jersey for criminal history record information.

The City of Egg Harbor recognizes that the City towing contractor must be trustworthy in that it is safeguarding vehicles belonging to others, Therefore, to protect the public interest, the City of Egg Harbor may disqualify any applicant wherein an employee, owner, officer, partner, etc. that has been convicted of a crime (including a disorderly persons' offense) or any violation that would indicate that the applicant may not be responsible to perform in the best interest of others.

The City of Egg Harbor recognizes that tow truck operators must also be drivers who abide by the state's motor vehicle laws. Accordingly, the City of Egg Harbor may disqualify any tow truck operator having one or more convictions, within three years of the date of the application or renewal thereof, of any moving violation of the motor vehicle laws of this state, which the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee determines will negatively impact upon the ability of the tow truck operator to safely and properly perform the services listed in this chapter. If the applicant is already licensed, any conviction for any moving violation which the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee determines will negatively impact on the ability of the tow truck operator to safely and properly perform required services will result in the disqualification of the tow truck operator from performing duties associated with this chapter.

The City towing contractor shall notify the Police Department in writing of any criminal charges (including disorderly persons' offenses), motor vehicle offenses, or ordinance violations that are issued against the City towing contractor or its employees during the term of the license. Failure to make the proper notification to the Police Department may result in the revocation of the license.

(6)

The Director of Public Safety shall have a reasonable period of time after the receipt of the completed application to complete the investigation and inspection and submit a written report to the City Clerk. The report shall include recommendations that the applicant be accepted, denied or accepted with provisions.

Issuance of licenses and fees.

Upon written notification by the Director of Public Safety that an application has been approved, the City Council shall, at a public meeting, by resolution, consider the issuance of a license.

Upon approval by the City Council, the City Clerk shall issue a license to the City towing contractor under this chapter. Licenses are the property of the City and cannot be assigned, leased, shared, transferred or sold to another person, corporation or proprietorship under any circumstances.

[Amended 4-11-2019 by Ord. No. 6-2019]

A yearly applicant fee of $300 shall be payable to the City of Egg Harbor.

[Amended 4-11-2019 by Ord. No. 6-2019]

All towing licenses will be issued for a period of one year beginning January 1 of each year and expire on December 31. Applications for license renewals are to be completed and returned to the City Clerk by September 15 for the following calendar year.

Licenses are property of the City of Egg Harbor and cannot be assigned, leased, shared, transferred or sold to another person, corporation or proprietorship under any circumstances.

(6)

The City towing contractor shall not represent that he/she is a servant, agent or employee of the City with respect to said towing service but is an independent contractor and shall not hold himself/herself out as an official member of the government of the City of Egg Harbor or of its departments.

(7)

The City of Egg Harbor may issue a temporary City towing contractor license in the event that any emergent situation arises, for the purpose of adding additional towers or replacing a current license, for reasons of revocation, or issued immediately, but the applicant must submit an application within two business days. A temporary license shall be valid for 60 days.

Tow vehicle requirements.

A City towing contractor must own or lease for use, two tow vehicles (one of which must be a medium-duty flatbed).

The following equipment shall be carried on all tow vehicles:

Push broom.

Shovel.

Fire extinguisher.

Jumper cables or jump box.

(e)

Tire changing equipment.

(f)

Pry bar and hammer.

(g)

Absorbent.

All tow vehicles must have properly authorized amber emergency warning lights mounted so as to warn approaching traffic of their presence.

All tow vehicles must comply with all applicable laws and safety standards.

The City towing contractor must maintain a twenty-four-hour telephone service for police contact All responding tow vehicles must have two-way communications via radio or cellular phone.

Storage facility requirements.

All vehicle stored under this chapter shall be stored and protected with ordinary care to protect the vehicle from further damage. All vehicle storage will be one level.

There shall be no unescorted access to the storage area by the general public. Storage areas shall be posted against unauthorized entry.

The Police Department shall have access to any part of the storage area 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the purpose of inspection and investigation. Under this provision, "access" means a contact person must be provided to provide entry.

No vehicle towed by the City towing contractor shall be stored outside of the storage facility.

The City towing contractor shall maintain regular hours for the release of vehicles from storage. A minimum of eight hours a day Monday through Friday (excluding New Jersey state holidays). Weekend releases will be by prior appointment only. Hours shall be conspicuously posted at the City towing contractor's principal location and the storage facility.

§ 251-7 Towing and storage of vehicles.

The City towing contractor shall be responsible for the basic towing services on a twenty-four-hours, seven-days-a-week basis during the terms of his/her license.

City towing contractors will be placed on call on a rotating basis as determined by the Director of Public Safety.

The City towing contractor shall be required to respond to all City requests for towing services within 20 minutes unless unusual traffic conditions exist. Repeated late arrivals without satisfactory cause shall constitute grounds under which the officer in charge of the Police Department may consider the City towing contractor in violation of this chapter and may be grounds for immediate suspension or revocation of said license.

[Amended 4-11-2019 by Ord. No. 6-2019]

Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the owner or operator of a vehicle from contacting a tower or wrecker of their own choice to remove the vehicle from the public streets of the City of Egg Harbor City after it has become disabled or otherwise inoperable, unless the police officer on the scene determines that public safety requires that the vehicle be immediately removed from the scene, at which time the on-call City towing contractor will be summoned.

All owners or operators of any disabled vehicle retain the right to direct the City towing operator to remove the disabled vehicle to a garage or workshop of their own choosing, provided that payment or arrangement for payment for services has been made to the City towing contractor.

City towing contractors licensed under this subsection shall accept a minimum of two major credit cards.

City towing contractors shall be responsible for the towing of vehicles from the public streets, public rights-of-way, public easements, avenues, thoroughfares, public or quasi-public places, including parks and playgrounds, or any other City storage facility as directed by the Police Department.

The City towing contractor shall remove vehicles for storage to either the City towing contractor's storage facility or the City storage facility as directed by the Police Department.

Vehicles towed to the City towing contractor's storage facility will incur charges as set forth in this chapter.

Vehicles removed to the City storage facility will incur only applicable towing fees, not storage fees.

Prior to release of a vehicle from the City storage facility, the City of Egg Harbor will require the owner to satisfy his/her obligations to the City towing contractor.

In the event, the police direct the City towing contractor to move the vehicle from the City Storage facility to his/her storage facility, the owner of the vehicle will incur the cost of the additional tow and storage fees commencing the date the vehicle is moved. The City towing contractor that provided the original service will be requested to provide the secondary service. Where a vehicle is stored as a result of having been involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident or incident, the permitted storage fees are limited to not more than 14 calendar days.

[Amended 4-11-2019 by Ord. No. 6-2019]

The owner of any vehicle shall have the right to remove his/her personal belongings from the stored vehicle within 24 hours of the accident or release from the hospital. A release for personal property must be obtained from the Police Department, listing exactly what property is to be released. The release of personal property will take place during normal business hours. All other personal belongings can be removed after the owner satisfies his/her obligations with the City towing contractor.

The owner or agent of the owner shall have the right to photograph the stored vehicle during normal business hours.

If the stored vehicle is being held as evidence, the removal of personal belongings and/or photographs will be allowed only with the consent of the Police Department.

When the City towing contractor has been contacted to remove a disabled vehicle by the Police Department and then the owner or operator of that vehicle appears prior to the City towing contractor's arrival and requests his/her own towing service, the City towing contractor cannot charge for the response.

The City towing contractor will also be responsible to clean up and remove all broken glass and debris at the scene of accidents as per N.J.S.A. 39:4-56.8-b.

The City towing contractor will also be responsible for basic environmental cleanup.

In the event that an emergency arises and the on-call City towing contractor cannot provide adequate service when requested by the Police Department, another City towing contractor will be contacted to respond.

If no City towing contractor can perform the required service, the Police Department may contact any available towing contractor with the proper equipment to perform the activity. The fees for vehicles that require this extraordinary service shall be reasonable and customary, based upon the prevailing rate in the industry. Whenever applicable, it shall be the responsibility of the towing contractor to first inform the owner or operator of the estimated total cost prior to the performance of any towing service.

City towing contractors may not charge any owner for any damage to his/her tow equipment or storage facilities resulting from any towing operation.

Prior to towing any vehicle, the City towing contractor shall remove or secure anything that may fall from the disabled vehicle while being towed.

The City towing contractor will notify the Police Department on a monthly basis, if they are in custody, of any unclaimed police-requested, stored vehicles. The Police Department will file for junk titles for any vehicles towed at the Police Department's request left on the City towing contractor's premises. The Police Department will be responsible for compliance with N.J.S.A. 39:10A-1 and will make every effort to dispose of unclaimed vehicles expeditiously.

§ 251-8 Rates and charges.

The rates on the City of Egg Harbor Towing and Storage Rate Schedule[1] annexed hereto and incorporated herein by reference, represent the maximum rate permitted under this chapter. It shall be unlawful for any City towing contractor to charge a rate in excess of the rates prescribed in this chapter therein for the services regulated herein.

[1]

Editor's Note: A copy of the Towing and Storage Rate Schedule is on file in the City's offices.

There shall be no mileage charge for any vehicle towed under this chapter from the point of service back to the City towing contractor's storage facility or the Egg Harbor City storage facility. If the owner or operator designates the vehicle to be towed to another location, then the City towing contractor can only charge for the loaded mileage outside the boundaries of the City.

Separate fees are incurred for each recovery action.

On each occasion that extraordinary service is provided, receipts of expenses incurred by the City towing contractor must be maintained by the City towing contractor for review prior to billing the owner of the vehicle.

As deemed necessary, the Director of Public Safety shall recommend to the City Council, which shall establish by resolution, changes to the Egg Harbor City Towing and Storage Rate Schedule.

An administrative fee of $25 is to be charged for the processing of a tow release prepared by the City of Egg Harbor Police Department. Such fee is to be paid by the owner of the vehicle and collected by the City of Egg Harbor prior to a release being issued.

[Added 6-25-2015 by Ord. No. 10-2015]

§ 251-9 Insurance and indemnity.

The City towing contractor shall have in effect, prior to application and at all times during the term of the license, the following insurance:

Garage keeper's liability must be maintained in the amount of $500,000 for any one claimant, and $1,000,000 for more than one claimant, along with $500,000 coverage for property damage for any one event.

Automobile insurance must be maintained and it must be issued by an insurance corporation authorized to transact business in the State of New Jersey. The policy must insure every tow vehicle operator against liability imposed by law for damages arising out of bodily injury, including death, sustained by any person and injury or destruction of property, including the loss of use thereof, caused by accident and arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the tow vehicle of the City towing contractor. The amount of the limits of liability coverage to be offered by such policy shall be $2,000,000 combined single limit.

Workers' compensation insurance insuring the obligation of the City towing contractor under the New Jersey Workers' Compensation and Occupational Disease Laws.

The City towing contractor shall supply a certificate of insurance to the City Clerk which describes each policy of insurance and identifying the City of Egg Harbor as an additional insured party. Each certificate of insurance shall contain a provision that no cancellation of the policy shall become effective until after the expiration of 15 days' written notice of such proposed cancellation forwarded by the insurance company to the Egg Harbor City Clerk.

§ 251-10 Recordkeeping.

The City towing contractor shall prepare and issue to the owner/operator a written invoice for services rendered under this chapter. The invoice shall reflect the date, time, and location of service, the employee that performed the service and that the service was performed at the direction of the Police Department. A copy of the invoice shall be retained by the City towing contractor and filed in a manner that coincides with his/her normal business practice and will allow immediate access to such records when requested by the Police Department.

The City towing contractor has discretion to establish the method of payment and forfeits all mechanic lien rights once he/she physically releases a vehicle from his/her custody. The City will not be held liable for or assist the City towing contractor to collect any unpaid fees that were incurred under the provisions of this chapter.

The City towing contractor shall incur the cost of and shall post the rate schedule listed in this chapter in a conspicuous location at the City towing contractor's principal location where payment of fees are transacted.

The City towing contractor shall incur the cost of preparing a payment rate circular for fees listed under this chapter and shall distribute this rate circular to all customers at no cost.

The City towing contractor shall not release any vehicle impounded under this chapter without written release from the Police Department. The release form must be attached and filed with the invoice.

All records, payment invoices and other documentation resulting from the City towing contractor's compliance with this chapter must be kept by the City towing contractor for a period of two years.

§ 251-11 Conduct of City towing contractor and employees.

At all times the City towing contractor and his/her employees will present a neat appearance and act in a professional and courteous manner when interacting with the public and police.

All towing vehicles shall be operated in accordance with all existing traffic regulations and statutes and in a safe and prudent manner. Tow vehicle operators must request police assistance whenever their activities will obstruct or impede traffic flow.

The investigating officer and/or supervisor at the scene shall maintain complete charge of the incident scene (excluding the actual towing operations), and all tow operators shall comply with the officers' instructions.

§ 251-12 License enforcement.

The Director of Public Safety or his/her designee shall investigate and keep a record of all complaints that are received regarding the provisions of this chapter.

The Director of Public Safety, with the advice and consent of the Mayor, has the authority to suspend any license at any time for criminal activity (including disorderly persons' offenses), violation of applicable motor vehicle laws, or violations of this chapter.

The Director of Public Safety or his/her designee shall oversee all tow vehicles used by the City towing contractors to ensure that they are kept in a safe condition. The Director of Public Safety or his/her designee may inspect any or all tow vehicle at any time. If the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee finds the equipment inadequate or unsafe, the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee may demand immediate correction and/or suspend the City towing contractor's license.

The Director of Public Safety, with authorization by the City Council, may establish additional rules and regulations as may be necessary and reasonable to govern the issuance and the operation of towing services and storage facilities. Such rules and regulations, once adopted, shall be issued in writing to all City towing contractors.

Any City towing contractor who violates any section of this chapter, in addition to any other penalties provided by law, shall be subject to suspension of towing privileges for one month for a first offense, three months for a second offense and permanently for a third offense.

In addition to the previous subsection, the Director of Public may immediately revoke the City towing contractor's license for any offense grievous in nature.

After such revocation, the licensee may request a public hearing before the Licensing Committee. The licensee must notify the City Clerk, in writing, of a request for a hearing within 20 days of the termination notice issued by the Director of Public Safety.

In all cases, and in addition to any other penalty, if a City towing contractor overcharges a vehicle owner, the contractor will return the excess money paid.

§ 251-13 Complaints by owners of vehicles.

Any complaint or dispute by an owner of a vehicle that is towed with or without the owner's consent pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be submitted to the Director of Public Safety or his/her designee, who shall promptly investigate and resolve any disputes.

§ 251-14 Application procedures and qualification criteria for private towing contractors.

Any person or company engaged in the towing of vehicles from common interest property shall obtain a mercantile license from the City. At the time an application is submitted to the City Clerk, the applicant shall provide the following information in a form acceptable to the Clerk.

The full name, address and telephone number of the company.

The full name, address and telephone number of each corporate officer and shareholder.

Proof of general and automobile liability insurance with a single limit coverage of not less then $1,000,000.

Proof of "hook insurance" with property damage coverage of not less than $250,000 or, in the alternative, a letter from the towing operator stating that it will be responsible for any and all damage caused by the towing operator and both the towing company and the common interest property association having a contract for the removal of vehicles from the common interest property shall supply to the City an agreement to save and hold harmless the City of Egg Harbor from any and all claims of any nature whatsoever from any party with respect to any towing operation conducted under the terms and conditions of this chapter.