[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council sitting
as the Board of Health of the Township of Ewing as indicated in article
histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-24-1998 by Ord. No. 98-13 as
Ch. 240 of the 1998 Code]
A code regulating retail food establishments
and fixing penalties is hereby established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 26:3-69.1
et seq. A copy of the code is annexed to this article and made a part
of it without the inclusion of the text thereof herein.
The code established and adopted by this article
is described and commonly known as the "Retail Food Establishment
Code of New Jersey (1965)."
Three copies of the Retail Food Establishment
Code of New Jersey (1965) have been placed on file in the offices
of the Secretary of the Board of Health and the Township Clerk for
the use and examination of the public.
The code is amended in Section 1.82 to read
as follows:
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1.82. "Health Authority" shall mean regular
and special patrolmen and superior officers of the Police Department,
the Township Building Inspector or Building Official, the Plumbing
Inspector, the Health Official, or any other official authorized by
the Board of Health to enforce this code and chapter.
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A.
It shall be unlawful for any person or any body corporate
to conduct a retail food establishment as defined in and governed
by the Retail Food Establishment Code of New Jersey (1965), established
by ordinance of the local Board of Health dated May 1, 1965, without
first having procured a license from the local Board of Health so
to do or without complying with any or all of the provisions concerning
operation and maintenance of the same as contained in the aforementioned
Retail Food Establishment Code of New Jersey (1965).
B.
Licenses will be issued for a one-year period from
June 1 to May 31.
C.
Revocation.
(1)
Any license issued under the terms and provisions
of this article may be suspended or revoked by the Board of Health
of this municipality for the violation by the licensee of any provision
of this article or the Retail Food Establishment Code of New Jersey
(1965), or whenever it shall appear that the business, trade, calling,
profession or occupation of the person, firm or corporation to whom
such license was issued is conducted in a disorderly or improper manner
or in violation of any law of the United States, the State of New
Jersey or any ordinance of this municipality, or that the person or
persons conducting the retail food establishment is of an unfit character
to conduct the same, or that the purpose for which the license has
been issued is being abused to the detriment of the public or is being
used for a purpose foreign to that for which the license was issued.
(2)
A license issued under the terms and provisions of
this article shall not be revoked, canceled or suspended until a hearing
thereon shall have been had by the Board of Health. Written notice
of the time and place of such hearing shall be served upon the licensee
at least three days prior to the date set for such hearing. Such notice
shall also contain a brief statement of the grounds to be relied upon
for revoking, canceling or suspending such license. Notice may be
given either by personal delivery thereof to the person to be notified
or be deposited in the United States Post Office in a sealed envelope,
postage prepaid, addressed to such person to be notified at the business
address appearing upon said license. At the hearing before the Board
of Health, the person aggrieved shall have an opportunity to answer
and may thereafter be heard, and upon due consideration and deliberation
by the Board of Health, the complaint may be dismissed, or if the
governing body concludes that the charges have been sustained and
substantiated, it may revoke, cancel or suspend the license held by
the licensee.
(3)
If any such license shall have been revoked, neither
the holder thereof nor any person acting for him, directly or indirectly,
shall be entitled to another license to carry on the same business
within the Township unless the application for such license shall
be approved by the Board of Health.
D.
No provision of this section shall be applied so as
to impose any unlawful burden on either interstate commerce or any
activity of the state or federal government.
E.
The provisions of this section are declared to be
severable, and if any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase
hereof shall, for any reason, be held to be invalid or unconstitutional,
such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining sections,
subsections, sentences, clauses and phrases of this section, but they
shall remain in effect; it being the legislative intent that this
section shall stand notwithstanding the invalidity of any part.
[Adopted 4-27-2004 by Ord. No. 04-07;
amended 12-14-2004 by Ord. No. 04-19]
No retail sales or service business shall conduct
any such business before 6:00 a.m. on any day, after 11:00 p.m. on
the same day on Mondays through Thursdays, or after 12:00 midnight
on Fridays through Sundays and legal holidays, in any manner, if located
within 250 feet of any building or structure zoned or occupied for
residential purposes.
For purposes of this article, the above-specified
minimum distance of 250 feet shall be measured on a straight line:
A.
From the point in any building or structure used for
any such retail or service business closest to the nearest building
or structure zoned or occupied for residential purposes; and
B.
To that point on any such residential building or structure closest to the point referred to in Subsection A hereof; but
C.
Excluding any residential building or structure occupied
by the owner, operator or any employee of the retail or service business
concerned.
The following retail sales and service business operations, and activities ancillary and customarily incidental thereto, including food service, shall, if not otherwise excluded pursuant to § 400-6 hereof, be specifically exempted from the application of this article, all being either otherwise regulated by law, deemed to involve minimal nuisance characteristics, necessary for the public health, safety or convenience, or some combination of the foregoing, as follows:
A.
Establishments licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages pursuant to Chapter 91 of the Ewing Township Code, whose hours and mode of operation are governed separately by Township ordinances and by N.J.S.A. 33:1-1 et seq. of the laws of New Jersey pertaining to alcoholic beverages.
B.
Barbershops, barber schools or barber colleges.
C.
Bowling alleys operating within the interior of an
enclosed building or structure.
D.
In-house cafeterias and similar retail food operations
customarily servicing employees or residents of institutions but not
the general public and operating within the interior of an enclosed
building or structure.
E.
Gasoline service stations, provided such operations
do not include automobile or truck repair or body and fender repair
work during the hours prohibited by this article.
F.
Hotels and motels.
G.
Medical and dental services, including hospitals,
nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.
H.
Movies or other theatrical performances, provided
that the final performance or featured film of any given date commences
at or before 11:00 p.m. on that date.
I.
Supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores selling
food products within the interior of an enclosed building or structure
primarily for off-premises preparation or consumption.
J.
Restaurants, offering full-service meals on a twenty-four-hour
basis, seven days a week.
K.
Incidental activities not involving retail sales or
service within or about any retail or service business which may be
required in advance of or after the hours of operation permitted by
this article, including, but not limited to, cleaning and sweeping,
off-street loading and unloading of inventory and supplies, and disposal
of waste and garbage, provided such activities are carried on in such
reasonable manner as to emit the least possible noise.
Establishments selling only prepared foods for
purposes of immediate take-out off-premises consumption only may apply
to Council to operate after the hours designated in this article as
provided hereafter:
A.
Any such take-out only services provided by an establishment
that also permits on-premises seating and consumption during regular
hours must close all such seating off from the public from 11:00 p.m.
to 6:00 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays and from 12:00 midnight to
6:00 a.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
B.
Any establishment wishing to remain open for take-out
purposes only must submit a security plan to the Chief of Police demonstrating
the measures that the establishment intends to implement to prevent
the congregation of the establishment's customers in the parking lot
and ares surrounding the establishment. Establishments having submitted
a security plan that has been approved by the Chief of Police may
apply to Council for authority to operate after the hours established
by this article.
C.
Failure to submit a satisfactory security plan that
has been approved by the Chief of Police or if the police indicate
that the operation of the establishment during extended hours constitutes
a nuisance, noise detriment or security risk to patrons and the surrounding
residential areas shall result in rejection of the establishment's
request for extended hours of operation.
D.
An establishment serving take-out that received authority
to operate after the hours established in this article must reapply
to Council for authority to operate after the hours established in
this article if an incident occurs at the establishment during such
extended hours in which the police are summoned. For any such reapplication
for authority to continue to operate in extended hours, the establishment
must provide proof, satisfactory to the Council, that the police do
not consider the continued operation of the establishment during such
extended hours to be a nuisance, noise detriment or security risk
to the surrounding residential areas.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any
provision of this article shall, upon conviction therefor, pay a fine
of not to exceed $500, with each violation or day of continued violation
constituting a separate offense.
