[Adopted 11-1-1955 by Ord. No. 590 (Ch.
87 of the 1974 Code)]
The terms used in this article are hereby defined
as follows:
The renting, leasing, maintaining, keeping, operating, conducting
or providing of overnight or temporary sleeping or housing accommodations
for a consideration, to tourists, transients or travelers in any building
or structure or group of buildings or structures devoted exclusively
or primarily to said business, commonly known as tourist lodges, motels,
tourist cabins, motor lodges, motor courts, tourist courts or tourist
camps, whether meals are served therein or not.
Any room, cabin or quarters, whether or not physically attached
or connected with any other building or structure, used for sleeping
or housing accommodations in the business of conducting tourist lodges.
Any person, individual, firm, association, partnership or
corporation.
No person shall engage in the business of conducting
tourist lodges or motels without first having applied for and obtained
from the Borough of Totowa a license to do so. No such license shall
be issued to any person who has been convicted of a crime involving
moral turpitude nor shall any such license be issued to any corporation
in which any stockholder, holding 5% or more of any of the stock thereof
or in which any director or officer shall have been convicted of a
crime involving moral turpitude.
Each applicant for such license shall make written
application on forms prescribed and supplied by the Mayor and Council
setting forth:
A.
The full name, residence and post office address of
the applicant.
B.
The exact location of the proposed licensed premises,
giving the street address, block and lot number as shown on the 1973
Tax Assessment Map of the Borough, and the exact dimensions of the
lands upon which the business is to be conducted.
[Amended 11-12-1974 by Ord. No. 1027]
C.
A description of the buildings, structures and accommodations
upon said lands, including a statement of the number of housing or
lodging units and the maximum number of persons who can be accommodated
at any given time; a description of the character of said buildings
or structures as to size, type of construction and whether or not
the same are fireproof; and a description of automobile parking space
and facilities.
D.
The name and address of the owner of said lands and
buildings.
E.
The name or names of the person or persons on the
licensed premises upon whom process may be served.
F.
A detailed description of the register or system used
for the registration of persons to whom accommodations are extended.
G.
Whether any person constituting the individual or
partnership applicant or whether the corporate applicant or any stockholder
holding 5% or more of the stock thereof, or any director or officer
thereof, has ever been convicted of any crime, and if so, the details
thereof, including, with respect to each conviction, the name of the
person convicted, the date thereof, the nature of the crime, the court
in which the conviction was entered and the punishment imposed.
H.
In the case of corporate applicants, the names and
residences of all stockholders holding 5% or more of any stock of
the corporation, the names and residences of all officers of the corporation
and the office held by each.
The Borough Clerk shall forthwith forward said
application to the Health Officer of the Board of Health and to the
Fire Chief of the Borough of Totowa, who shall inspect the premises
to determine whether or not the premises comply with Board of Health
and fire ordinances and regulations. If the premises do not so comply,
said officers shall attach to said application a written list of recommendations
and return the same to the Borough Clerk, who shall in turn return
said application to the applicant. If the premises do so comply, said
officers shall attach thereto certificates of approval. The Borough
Clerk shall present said application, with said certificates of approval
attached, to the Mayor and Council. The Mayor and Council shall thereupon
cause to be made such further investigation of the premises and of
the information set forth in said application as it may deem necessary
and shall determine on the basis of said investigation and application
whether or not such license shall be granted.
[Amended 5-16-1972 by Ord. No. 991]
A.
Any license issued under the provisions of this article
shall be for a term of one year commencing on July 1 and expiring
June 30. No license fee shall be apportioned, regardless of the date
on which such license may be issued.
B.
Each license shall be valid only to the applicant
to whom it is issued and to such applicant to whom the license may
be transferred as hereinafter provided. All licenses shall be displayed
at a prominent place on the licensed premises.
C.
On application made therefor, setting forth the same
matters and things as are required by this article to be set forth
in connection with an original application for a license, the Mayor
and Council, with the consent of the licensee, and upon payment of
a fee of 10% of the annual license fee for the license sought to be
transferred, may transfer to such applicant any license issued under
the provisions of this article. Said fee of 10% shall be retained
by the Mayor and Council whether the transfer is granted or not.
D.
Any change in any of the information set forth in
the application during the term of the license shall forthwith be
communicated by the licensee in writing to the Borough Clerk.
A.
Each licensee shall at all times cause to be maintained
on the licensed premises a register, consisting of consecutively numbered
cards which shall constitute the register of the licensed premises.
Said register shall be preserved for three years upon the licensed
premises.
B.
No person shall occupy, and no licensee shall permit
any person to occupy any housing or lodging units on the licensed
premises, unless each person or the head of the party who is to occupy
such housing unit shall first:
(1)
Display to the licensee or to a duly authorized agent
or employee of the licensee in charge of the register written evidence
of his or her identity and residence; and
(2)
Write in the register immediately following the preceding
registration in ink, and in his or her own handwriting, his or her
full and true name and address and, in the case of the operator of
the motor vehicle or a member of his party, the state license or registration
number of the motor vehicle conveying him or her to the licensed premises.
(If the registrant does not write in the register the information
herein required as to the motor vehicle, it shall be the duty of the
licensee or his duly authorized employee to write in said information.)
C.
Every hotel and motel in the Borough of Totowa shall be required
to maintain at all times a registry identifying the name of each registrant
of each rooming unit, together with the principal residence address
of such registrant of each rooming unit, together with the principal
residence address of such registrant and the date upon which his/her
occupancy of such rooming unit commenced. The registrant shall sign
the registry and must produce a valid driver's license or other
identification, copy of a valid driver's license or other identification
must be kept on file and is subject to review by the Code Enforcement
Officer of the Borough of Totowa upon periodic inspection.
[Amended 8-22-2023 by Ord. No. 08-2023]
D.
Vehicle identification. Each registrant who is parking a motor vehicle
in the hotel or motel lot shall provide the make, model and license
plate number of that vehicle.
[Amended 8-22-2023 by Ord. No. 08-2023]
E.
"Transient occupancy" means occupancy in hotels and motels for a
period of occupancy which does not exceed 14 days. Except as otherwise
set forth in this article, no hotel or motel guest may occupy a hotel
or motel unit in such facility for more than 14 consecutive days or
14 days within any thirty-day period and may not extend such occupancy
by moving into another unit within the same facility.
[Added 8-22-2023 by Ord. No. 08-2023]
F.
Any owner of any hotel or motel found to be in violation of this
article will be subject to the issuance of violations, fines and court
appearances when necessary, as set forth below. Any owner of any hotel
or motel found to be in violation of this article will be subject
to the following fines: For the first violation, a fine of not less
than $250 and not exceeding $2,500 shall be imposed. A second violation
within one year of the date of a previous violation shall result in
an additional fine as a repeat offender. The additional fine imposed
by the court for a repeat violation shall be not less than the minimum
of $500 or exceed the maximum fine of $2,500 but shall be calculated
separately from the fine chapter may, in discretion of the court,
and in default of the payment of any fine imposed therefore, be imprisoned
in the Passaic County Jail for a term not exceeding 90 days or be
required to perform community service for a period not exceeding 90
days.
[Added 8-22-2023 by Ord. No. 08-2023]
It shall be the duty of the Police Department
of the Borough of Totowa to inspect the licensed premises from time
to time, at any hour of the day or night, to determine that the provisions
of this article are being complied with.
No licensee shall employ in, on or about the
licensed premises any person convicted of a crime involving moral
turpitude within a period of five years from the date of conviction.
Any license issued under this article may be
suspended or revoked for any violation of this article or for any
conviction of any licensee or any stockholder holding 5% or more of
the stock of any corporate licensee, or director or officer thereof,
of a crime involving moral turpitude, after due notice of the charges
and a hearing by the Council of the Borough of Totowa, at which the
licensee shall be afforded full opportunity to be heard.
