[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Ridgefield 5-28-1996 by Ord. No. 1558. (This ordinance also
superseded Ord. No. 1376, adopted 5-22-1989,
regarding fees for limousine services.) Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Includes any automobile or motor car, with the capacity of five but
less than 10 passengers, plus driver, engaged in the business of carrying
passengers for hire, and which is hired by charter or for a particular contract,
or by the day or hour or other fixed period, or to transport passengers to
a specified place or places, or which charges a fare or price agreed upon
in advance between the operator and the passenger; provided, however, that
the term "limousine" shall not include taxicabs, hotel buses or buses employed
solely in transporting school children or teachers or auto buses which are
subject to the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Utility Commissioners or
interstate autobuses required by federal law or the rules of the Board of
Public Utility Commissioners to carry insurance against loss from liability
imposed by law on account of bodily injury or death. Furthermore, limousine
shall not be deemed to include a vehicle utilized for the pickup and discharge
of passengers within the Borough of Ridgefield. A vehicle used for that purpose
shall be deemed a taxicab.
The total number of limousine owners' licenses that may be issued
and outstanding at one time is hereby fixed at 15 as of May 1, 1996. However,
as licenses are retired or are not renewed, they shall not be replaced, and
the total number of licenses shall be gradually reduced to five.
Any person who drives a limousine within the borough.
Licensed in accordance with the appropriate sections of this chapter,
unless otherwise stated.
The Borough of Ridgefield.
Consists of accepting and transporting in such limousine one or more
persons for hire from a point within the borough. The operation of a limousine
by one other than the owner shall be deemed operation by the owner thereof
as well as by the person actually driving the same. Operation shall also be
deemed to include parking, storing or otherwise maintaining said vehicle within
the borders of the Borough of Ridgefield.
Any person, corporation or association in whose name title to any
limousine is registered with the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles or
who appears in such records to be the conditional vendee or lessee thereof.
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of Ridgefield.
No limousine shall be operated within the borough unless both the limousine
and the driver thereof are licensed pursuant to this chapter and conform to
all of the provisions hereof.
There are hereby established two classes of limousine licenses to be
known as "limousine driver's license" and "limousine owner's license,"
respectively.
A limousine driver's license shall entitle the person named therein
to operate within the Borough of Ridgefield any limousine duly licensed hereunder
until the license either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked and
shall not be transferable.
A limousine owner's license shall entitle the limousine therein
described to be operated in this borough by a driver duly licensed hereunder
until the license either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked and
shall not be transferable.
Any license issued pursuant to the terms of this chapter shall expire
at 12:00 midnight on March 31 of the year in which it was issued unless sooner
surrendered, suspended or revoked.
A.
All applications for the issuance or the renewal of any
license of either class shall be made to the Council on forms to be obtained
from the Borough Clerk and designed to elicit information respecting the identification,
responsibility and law-abiding habits of the applicant.
B.
Each applicant for a license of any class shall supply
the information requested on the application in full and verify the correctness
thereof by his oath or affirmation and thereafter file the completed application
with the Borough Clerk, together with the full amount of the proper fee hereinafter
fixed therefor.
C.
No limousine owner's license shall be issued until
the limousine has been thoroughly inspected by the Police Department and found
to be in a clean and sanitary condition for the transportation of passengers.
[Amended 7-8-1996 by Ord. No. 1566; 7-14-1997 by Ord. No. 1599]
A.
All applications for the issuance or renewal of a limousine
owner's license shall be made in writing, in duplicate, and shall contain
the full name and address of the owner; the serial number, type, color, year
and make of the limousine; the number of persons it is to carry; and a detailed
description of the manner in which all vehicles shall be parked or otherwise
stored in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Any and every change
of address of the owner shall be reported to the Borough Clerk within three
days after such change.
B.
Every person obtaining a limousine owner's license
shall be at least 18 years of age; and, if operating more than one vehicle
with the owner's license, shall have a regularly registered business
office located within the Borough of Ridgefield in compliance with all local
building and zoning ordinances and shall therein have a telephone operating.
C.
No limousine owner's license shall be issued unless
the limousine has been thoroughly inspected by the Police Department and found
to be in a clean and sanitary condition for the transportation of passengers.
[Amended 7-8-1996 by Ord. No. 1566; 7-14-1997 by Ord. No. 1599]
D.
No limousine licensed under this section shall be maintained
or operated on the streets of the borough except by a driver licensed in accordance
with the provisions of this chapter.
E.
No limousine owner's license shall be issued without satisfactory proof of the availability of off-street parking for all vehicles. Said proofs must be approved, in writing, by the Building Inspector. All vehicles must be garaged in accordance with § 257-7C hereof.
F.
No limousine owner's license shall be issued unless
the applicant shall possess a valid New Jersey driver's license.
A.
Each applicant for a limousine driver's license
shall be at least 18 years of age and a holder of a valid driver's license
issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles, State of New Jersey.
B.
Each applicant for a limousine driver's license
shall file with his application two photographs, each 31/2 inches square,
clearly depicting the facial features of the applicant, both of which photographs
shall thereupon become the property of the borough and be retained with the
application form unless the application shall be issued, in which event one
of the photographs shall be permanently affixed to the license card in a space
provided therein.
C.
Each applicant for a limousine driver's license
shall be fingerprinted by the Police Department of the borough, which fingerprints
shall thereupon become the property of the borough and be retained with the
application form.
D.
All changes of residence on the part of the holder of
any limousine driver's license issued under this section shall be reported
in writing to the Borough Clerk within three days after such change and shall
be directed to the Police Department of the borough.
E.
The Borough Clerk is hereby authorized to issue temporary
limousine driver's licenses pending the approval by the Council of any
application for a limousine driver's license submitted in accordance
with the provisions of this section, provided that the Chief of Police of
the borough shall first certify to the Borough Clerk that, after due investigation,
the applicant is not ineligible under the provisions of this section.
A.
Every applicant for a limousine owner's license
shall submit the insurance policy or bond required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-14 and
48:16-15 of the Statutes of New Jersey covering the limousine to be licensed
and shall execute and deliver to the Borough Clerk concurrently with the filing
of the policy or bond aforesaid a power of attorney, wherein and whereby the
owner shall appoint the Borough Clerk his true and lawful attorney for the
purpose of acknowledging service of any process out of a court of competent
jurisdiction to be served against the insured by virtue of the indemnity granted
under the insurance policy or bond filed in accordance with N.J.S.A. 48:16-16
of the Statutes of New Jersey.
B.
The Borough Clerk, upon filing of the required insurance
policy or bond, shall issue a certificate, in duplicate, showing that the
owner of the limousine has complied with the terms of the New Jersey Statutes,
aforementioned, which certificate shall recite the name of the insurance company,
the number and date of expiration of the policy or bond, a description of
the limousine insured thereunder and the registration number of the same.
The duplicate certificate shall be filed with the Division of Motor Vehicles
before any such car is licensed as a limousine. The original certificate shall
be posted in a conspicuous place with the limousine.
The annual license fee for each limousine driver's license hereafter
issued or any renewal thereof shall be $50 for each year or portion of a year
for which the license is issued or renewed. The annual fee for each limousine
owner's license hereafter issued or any renewal thereof shall be $150,
plus $100 for each limousine for each year or portion of a year for which
the license is issued or renewed; and all such licenses shall be under the
charge and control of the person applying therefor, and he shall be responsible
for the operation of all cars so licensed to him. Where the licensee is 62
years of age or older and operates and licenses only one vehicle, the license
for said single limousine shall be $50.
The Council may, in its discretion, refuse to issue or renew or may,
after notice and hearing, revoke or suspend:
A.
Any license of either class if the applicant or licensee
has been once convicted of a crime in this or any other jurisdiction or convicted
of being a disorderly person or of a violation of Title 39, Motor Vehicles
and Traffic Regulations, of the Statutes of New Jersey, or has been dishonorably
discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States of America; or who violates
any provisions of this chapter; or has any judgment unsatisfied of record
against him arising out of an automobile accident; or who has made false answers
in his application for such license or any renewal thereof; or who has failed
or fails to render reasonably prompt, safe and adequate limousine service;
or who has not complied fully with all requirements of this chapter for such
class of license.
B.
Any limousine driver's license if the licensee or
the applicant has in any degree contributed to any injury to persons or damage
to property arising out of negligent operation of a motor vehicle; or has
any communicable or contagious disease.
C.
Any limousine owner's license if the motor vehicle
licensed or to be licensed, by reason of unsafe or unsanitary conditions,
is dangerous or unsafe to the occupants or others; or if the policy of insurance
or bond or power of attorney required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-14, 48:16-15 and 48:16-16
of the New Jersey Statutes of the aforementioned has not been furnished or
kept in force; or if the owner fails to comply with any terms or conditions
imposed by the Council or any law of this state.
A.
Each applicant granted a limousine driver's license
shall be issued a license card in evidence thereof in a form approved by the
Council and signed by the Borough Clerk on its behalf. Such license card shall
at all times be prominently displayed and adequately protected in the interior
of any vehicle operated by the licensee so that the fact thereof shall be
at all times in full view of and plainly legible to any passenger seated on
the rear seat of such limousine; and the license card shall at all times be
and remain the property of the borough and on direction of the Council shall
at once be surrendered to the Borough Clerk.
B.
No limousine driver's license card other than that
of the licensee actually operating the limousine at the time shall be displayed
therein.
A.
Drivers of limousines shall not receive or discharge
passengers in the roadway but shall pull up to the right-hand sidewalk, or
as nearly as possible thereto, or, in the absence of a sidewalk, to the extreme
right-hand side of the road, and there receive or discharge passengers, except
on one-way streets where passengers may be discharged on either right- or
left-hand sidewalk or at the side of a roadway in the absence of a sidewalk.
B.
No limousine shall be operated about the streets of the
borough so as to solicit passengers or to bring the presence of the limousine
to the attention of prospective passengers.
A.
All vehicles herein required to be licensed, or used
or operated for the carrying of passengers within the scope of this chapter
shall be automobile sedans with a minimum of three doors, at least two of
which doors shall be for the exclusive use of the passengers. These automobiles
shall at all times be clean and in good repair.
B.
No person other than the licensed driver of the limousine
shall ride or sit in the compartment of the limousine reserved for the driver.
No limousine shall be licensed until an insurance policy or certificate
in lieu thereof shall have been filed with the Borough Clerk with liability
limits not less that $100,000/$300,000 for bodily injury and $100,000 for
property damage.
