[Amended 4-21-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-2]
A. No person or company shall dispatch a taxicab for the purpose of
picking up a passenger within the City of Amsterdam without having
a current taxicab operator's permit pursuant to this chapter.
Each taxicab company or independent operator shall be required to
obtain one taxicab operator's permit for the dispatch of taxicabs
for the purpose of picking up a passenger within the City of Amsterdam.
B. No person shall drive or operate a taxicab in the City of Amsterdam
without having a current taxicab driver's permit pursuant to
this chapter. A taxicab driver transporting a passenger from outside
the City of Amsterdam to or through the City of Amsterdam does not
require a permit.
C. No person shall operate a vehicle providing taxicab services unless
the owner of that vehicle possesses a taxicab vehicle permit for that
specific vehicle.
[Amended 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-12; 4-21-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-2; 1-15-2019 by Ord. No. 1-2019]
Taxicab vehicle permits, operator's permits and taxicab drivers'
permits shall be issued by the City Clerk upon receipt of the permit
fee as provided by this chapter, upon written application on a form
approved by the Chief of Police. The application shall have attached
to it two copies of a recent photograph of the head and shoulders
and fingerprints of the applicant. Fingerprints and the applicable
fees shall be submitted to the Division of Criminal Justice Services
in the form and manner prescribed by the Division. Each applicant
for a taxicab permit or a taxicab driver's permit shall have attached
to the application a certification by the Police Chief of the City
of Amsterdam that the applicant has not been convicted of one alcohol-
or drug-related offense in the past five years or two alcohol- or
drug-related offenses in the past ten years. The look-back period
of five and ten years begins on the date of application. The Chief
of Police shall review the criminal history of all applicants and
determine if the applicant's criminal history indicates that they
may pose a risk to the public. The Chief of Police shall notify the
City Clerk of this review and the Clerk shall not issue a permit to
any individual determined by the Chief of Police to pose a risk to
the public. A decision regarding the applicant's fitness for a permit
shall be made upon a consideration of the provisions of Sections 701-703b
and 751-753 of the New York State Corrections Law.
[Amended 4-21-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-2]
The fee schedule for a taxicab vehicle permit, operator's
permit and a driver's permit shall be established and amended
from time to time by a resolution of the Common Council.
[Amended 4-21-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-2]
Any permit issued shall expire one year from the date it is
issued and shall be renewable by the City Clerk.
Every taxicab shall be maintained in a clean,
safe condition.
[Amended 4-21-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-2]
A. No taxicab owner or driver, while awaiting hire by passengers, shall
cruise or solicit while driving upon or parked upon public streets.
B. No taxicab owner or driver shall solicit business, for the pickup
of passengers within the City of Amsterdam, without having a current
taxicab operator's permit pursuant to this chapter. Soliciting
business shall include but not be limited to the posting of notices
in the City of Amsterdam.
[Amended 4-21-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-2]
The Common Council may, by resolution, limit the number of taxicab
vehicle permits to be issued by the City Clerk.
[Amended 11-18-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-12]
A. Any taxicab driver's permit shall be immediately suspended
for a period of 60 days if a driver has had convictions for two moving
violations within a twelve-month period.
B. If a taxicab driver is convicted of more than two
moving violations within any eighteen-month period, the Chief of Police
may revoke a taxicab driver's permit or impose a suspension of up
to six months.
C. A taxicab driver's permit may be revoked upon the
conviction of the driver of a felony and shall be revoked upon the
conviction of driving while intoxicated or driving while ability is
impaired. The Chief of Police will review all situations in which
drivers have felony convictions and shall permanently revoke the permit
if the conviction shows that the taxicab driver would pose a risk
to the public.
D. The Chief of Police may revoke a taxicab permit or
a taxicab driver's permit or suspend same for a period of 60 days
if the person operating pursuant to the permit is guilty of violating
the provisions of this chapter.
E. No taxicab driver's permit or taxicab permit shall be suspended or revoked pursuant to Subsection
B or
D hereof, except upon a hearing before the Chief of Police at which the permit holder may be represented by counsel. The permit holder shall be given at least 10 days' notice of the hearing.
[Amended 4-21-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-2]
No taxicab operator's permit or driver's permit may
be transferred.
All laws or parts of laws inconsistent with
this chapter are hereby repealed, except that such repeal shall not
affect the validity of any criminal prosecution or civil action commenced
or pending.
If any section, paragraph, subdivision or provision
of this chapter shall be invalid, such invalidity shall apply only
to the section, paragraph, subdivision or provision adjudged invalid
and the rest of this chapter shall remain valid and effective.
This chapter shall become effective June 1,
2001.