[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Paterson 11-10-1992 as Ord. No. 92-048. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 435.
Telephone franchise — See Ch. A513.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CITY
The City of Paterson.
ILLEGAL OR ILLICIT ACTIVITY
Activity which is proscribed by Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes Annotated or any City ordinance or any federal law or regulation.
PERMITTEE
Any person responsible for placing and maintaining a public telephone on sidewalks or streets, as hereinafter defined, and receiving a permit therefor.
PERSON
An individual, business, firm, corporation, association, partnership or any other organization, group or entity.
PUBLIC TELEPHONE
Any self-service, coin- or credit-card-operated telephone or bank of such telephones placed adjacent to each other located in or over a public sidewalk or street.
SIDEWALK
That portion of a highway or street intended for the use of pedestrians, between the curbline or the lateral line of a shoulder or, if none, the lateral line of the roadway and the adjacent right-of-way line.
STREET
The entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is opened to the use of the public for the purposes of vehicular traffic, and shall include but not be limited to roadways, parkways, alleys and highways.
No person may place or maintain any outdoor public telephone on or above any public street or sidewalk without having first obtained a permit as provided in this chapter. Permits shall be issued subject to the approval of the location and means of installation of the telephone by the City Engineer. Prior to installation, a plan or sketch of the telephone shall be furnished in sufficient detail to describe the size, location, equipment and means of installation and cabling.
[Amended 11-12-1996 by Ord. No. 96-069; 12-2-2003 by Ord. No. 03-084]
A. 
The initial fee for a permit shall be $200 for each public telephone.
B. 
The annual renewal fee shall be $100 for each public telephone.
C. 
Any application for a license renewal which is not completed within 30 days of the renewal date shall be subject to an additional late administrative charge equal to 25% of the cost of the license renewal.
D. 
Each public telephone shall be subject to a monthly maintenance fee of $2. The fee shall be paid to the City not later than the 10th day of each month. There will be a twenty-five-percent additional monthly maintenance fee if the payment is made after the 10th day of the month.
Permits shall be renewable annually with all applications for renewal to be submitted to the City not later than the 15th day of January of each year.
The City Engineer shall be notified of the intent of any person to remove or relocate a public telephone, which notification shall be in writing and shall be given not later than 30 days before the intended date of removal or relocation of said telephone. No telephone may be removed or relocated without compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
The City Engineer may reject any application for a permit, revoke a permit or require the removal of an existing outdoor public telephone if it is determined that a public telephone has the potential to or has illustrated a propensity to create or contribute to illegal or illicit activities. A presumption of illegal or illicit activity will be created if during the permit year five incidents of illegal or illicit activities are associated with the location or the proposed location of the public telephone.
A. 
The permit fees set forth herein shall not apply to any public telephone installation subject to an agreement with the City of Paterson providing for the payment of any annual commission and a franchise tax to the City of Paterson, except that such public telephone installations shall be subject to the following:
(1) 
Approval of the location of each public telephone by the City Engineer.
B. 
The City of Paterson may require any of the following if a public telephone has the potential to or has illustrated a propensity to create or contribute to illegal or illicit activity: the removal of an outdoor telephone; the revocation of a permit; or the restriction or limitation upon service to permit outgoing calls only. A presumption of illegal or illicit activity will be created if, during the permit year, five incidents of illegal or illicit activities are associated with the location or the proposed location of the public telephone.
In the event that the City Engineer declines to issue a permit, the applicant may request a hearing before the City Engineer or a designee as to said denial. Said request for a hearing must be made, in writing, to the City Engineer within 10 days of receipt of notice of the denial.
Before receiving a permit, an applicant shall:
A. 
Execute an indemnification agreement by which the applicant agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the City of Paterson against liability for all claims for damage to property or injury to or death of persons arising out of or resulting from the issuance of the permit or the control, maintenance, ownership or use of each public telephone, including the applicant's public telephone and equipment.
B. 
File with the Treasurer of the City of Paterson a general liability insurance policy of $1,000,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for property damage naming the City of Paterson as an additional insured, insuring against injury, loss or damage that may result from placing or maintaining the telephone on or above the sidewalk, said policy to name the City of Paterson and its officers and employees as additional insureds.
Any public telephone installation subject to this chapter shall comply with the following standards:
A. 
No booth surrounding a public telephone shall exceed eight feet in height, four feet in width or four feet in thickness.
B. 
Each public telephone shall be equipped with a coin-return mechanism to permit a person using the machine to secure an immediate refund if a call cannot be placed. The coin mechanism shall be maintained in proper working order.
C. 
Each public telephone shall have affixed to it, in a place visible to everyone using the telephone, the name and address of the distributor and the telephone number of a working telephone service to report a malfunction, secure a refund or give the notices provided for in this chapter.
D. 
Public telephones shall be maintained in a neat and clean condition and in good repair at all times. Public telephones shall be serviced and maintained according to standards, including but not limited to the following:
(1) 
Public telephones shall be reasonably free of chipped, faded, peeling and cracked paint in the visible painted areas thereof.
(2) 
Public telephones shall be reasonably free of rust and corrosion in the visible metal areas thereon.
(3) 
Any clear plastic or glass parts of public telephones shall be unbroken and reasonably free of cracks, dents, graffiti, blemishes and discoloration.
(4) 
Any paper or cardboard parts or inserts of public telephones shall be reasonably free of tears, pealing or fading.
(5) 
The structural parts of public telephones shall not be broken or unduly misshapen.
(6) 
Public telephone receivers shall be attached to the telephones.
E. 
Any person who fails to maintain a public telephone in proper working condition shall be given a ten-day notice to repair the telephone by the City of Paterson. Failure to timely comply with said notice shall be grounds for revocation of the permit for and removal of said telephone.
[Amended 12-2-2003 by Ord. No. 03-084]
F. 
Each public telephone shall, upon the written request of the Chief of Police, be capable of restricted or limited service, allowing outgoing calls only, within 10 days of the request.
A. 
All public telephones shall possess 911 emergency number access.
B. 
Public telephones shall permit the following calls to be placed without charge:
(1) 
Calls to the 911 emergency number.
(2) 
Emergency calls placed through operator assistance to the Police and Fire Divisions.
C. 
Current public telephone rates for a local coin call shall be posted on the public telephone or on the public telephone booth.
D. 
Toll rate quotations must be available for the operator upon request.
A. 
No public telephone shall be permitted to rest upon, in or over any public street or sidewalk when such installation, use or maintenance:
(1) 
Endangers the safety of persons or property;
(2) 
Unreasonably interferes with or impedes the flow of pedestrians or vehicular traffic, including any legally parked or stopped vehicles, or is intended to be installed in such a fashion so as to permit, intentionally or otherwise, its use by occupants of vehicles parked or stopped upon any sidewalk;
(3) 
Unreasonably interferes with the ingress or egress from any residence or place of business; or
(4) 
Interferes with the use of traffic signs or signals, hydrants or mailboxes permitted at or near said location.
B. 
Public telephones shall be placed or otherwise secured so as to prevent their being blown down onto or around the public street or sidewalk but shall not be affixed or otherwise secured to any traffic or street signs or signals.
A. 
In addition to any other penalties for violation of this chapter, the City Engineer may, after notice and hearing and for just cause, suspend, revoke or not renew any permit issued hereunder for:
(1) 
Any violation of the provisions of this chapter.
(2) 
Failure to comply with any federal or state laws and/or regulations or any City ordinance pertaining to the operation of public telephones.
(3) 
Any cause which would have been cause for rejection of the application in the first instance.
(4) 
A material and knowing misstatement or omission of information required on the application pursuant to this chapter. The question of whether a misstatement or omission is material and knowing shall be a question of fact for the fact finder.
(5) 
A finding upon receipt of a complaint by any citizen or upon request of the Chief of Police of the City of Paterson or his designee that the location and/or use of a public telephone constitutes a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of this City.
B. 
Any hearing authorized under this chapter shall be conducted before the City Engineer or a designee and shall require written notice to the permittee, which notice shall be given not less than 10 days prior to the date scheduled for said hearing. If the City Engineer finds the permittee in violation of any provisions of this section, the City Engineer may also require that service from said public telephone be restricted to outgoing calls only.
A. 
The owners of existing public telephones shall apply for the permit acquired hereunder within 30 days from the date this chapter becomes final. The City of Paterson reserves the right to reject any and all locations submitted for approval based upon their existing nonconformance to this chapter.
B. 
If a permit is not obtained within the time specified herein or if the City Engineer rejects any application for a permit, the owner shall forthwith remove said public telephone and all ancillary equipment. If the owner fails or refuses to remove said public telephone within 10 days from notification by the City Engineer, the City Engineer or a designee may cause the public telephone to be removed. Public telephone equipment removed by the City shall be released to the lawful owner thereof upon payment of a fee of $500 to the City of Paterson.
[Amended 12-2-2003 by Ord. No. 03-084]
C. 
If no person makes a claim for return of a public telephone and/or ancillary equipment removed by the City under this section within six months from the date of removal, it may be disposed of pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:14-157.
[Amended 12-2-2003 by Ord. No. 03-084]
Any violation of this chapter shall subject the violator to a fine of not less than $100 and no more than $1,250 and/or imprisonment of up to 90 days. Each noncomplying public telephone violation will constitute a separate violation. Each day of said violation shall constitute a separate violation.