[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Hazlet 3-16-1982 by Ord. No. 555-82 as Sec. 7-7 of the
1982 Revised General Ordinances (Ch. 113 of the 1993 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Those games commonly designated and known as "pinball," "bagatelle,"
"baseball amusement games," "video amusement games," "pool tables,"
"billiard tables" and any other coin-operated skill or amusement device
or mechanical contrivance which is permitted to function and be played
by the insertion of a coin, slug or token and is operated for amusement,
but shall not include jukeboxes.
[Amended 7-10-1982 by Ord. No. 562-82]
Any individual, firm, partnership or member of a partnership,
corporation or any officer, director or stockholder of any corporation
or any agent or employee of any such firm, partnership or corporation
who operates or maintains one or more of the devices defined herein
upon the premises controlled by him or her.
The license period, which shall be for one full year, from
July 1 to June 30.
Includes any building, store, marketplace, club, tavern,
inn, cocktail lounge, restaurant, hotel, confectionery store or other
places wherein the public is invited or wherein the public may enter.
This chapter shall not apply to jukeboxes and
mechanical amusement devices which are not operated for profit.
[Amended 7-20-1982 by Ord. No. 562-82]
A.
No person shall place, install, keep, allow or operate
any mechanical amusement devices in any public or quasi-public place
owned, rented or controlled by such person, within the limits of the
Township, unless such person has first secured a license for such
devices.
B.
A separate license shall be required for each mechanical
amusement device in use within the Township.
C.
Licenses shall be issued by the Township Committee
upon the filing of applications therefor in the form distributed by
the Township Clerk.
D.
Applicants which are associations shall supply the
information required for all members of the association; applicants
which are corporations shall supply the information required for all
officers and directors and for those stockholders owning more than
10% of the issued and outstanding capital stock of the applicant.
E.
Each license issued shall, on its face, disclose the
name and address of the licensee and a brief description of the device
licensed. The license shall be affixed to the device so that the same
can be easily and quickly identified.
F.
Any licenses issued by the Township under this chapter
prior to June 30, 1982, and in existence as of that date may be renewed
from time to time in accordance with this chapter; provided, however,
that from and after June 30, 1982, no new or additional licenses shall
be issued to any applicant which would enable more than five mechanical
amusement devices to be maintained in any public or quasi-public place
within the Township, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
[Amended 11-10-1992 by Ord. No. 898-92; 9-21-1993 by Ord. No. 923-93]
G.
Any person may request a waiver of the licensing provisions
of this chapter from the Township Committee. Every request for a waiver
pursuant to this section shall be in writing and shall specifically
set forth the precise nature of the waiver, the reasons for the request
and any additional information the Township Committee deems necessary
to make a determination as to the request.
[Added 11-10-1992 by Ord. No. 898-92; 9-21-1993 by Ord. No. 923-93]
A.
All applications for any license hereunder shall be
made to the Township Clerk, on application forms to be made available
by the Township Clerk.
B.
The application filed with the Township Clerk shall contain, in addition to information required by § 249-2, whether or not the applicant has been convicted of any crimes or the violation of any ordinances involving gambling or for the violation of this chapter, a description of the device for which an operator's license is sought and the name and address of the person from whom such device shall be leased, rented or otherwise obtained.
C.
The Chief of Police shall file an investigative report
with the Municipal Clerk, including a conviction or convictions with
regard to the character, moral turpitude and fitness of the applicant
or of the persons who are the incorporators, directors or employees
of the corporation, if the applicant shall be a corporation, and his
or her recommendation thereon.
[Amended 9-21-1993 by Ord. No. 923-93]
D.
No license shall be issued by the Township Committee
hereunder until the Township Committee shall be satisfied from the
aforementioned investigative report and the recommendation by the
Chief of Police that a license should be issued.
[Amended 9-21-1993 by Ord. No. 923-93]
Operators of mechanical amusement devices shall
be charged $50 for each machine.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 7-7.6, Transferability,
which immediately followed this section, was deleted 9-21-1993 by
Ord. No. 923-93.
No mechanical amusement device shall be located
in any premises within 200 feet of a church or other religious institution
or a public or private school. The distance shall be measured from
the nearest entrance of the premises on which the mechanical amusement
device is located or is sought to be located along the route that
a pedestrian would normally walk.
A.
Premises on which mechanical amusement devices are
located shall be so arranged so as to permit a clear view of the interior
from the exterior at all times.
B.
No operator shall knowingly permit any person convicted
of a crime involving moral turpitude to be associated with him or
her in the ownership or management of the business, to be in his or
her employ or to loiter on the premises.
C.
No operator shall offer or permit to be offered any
prizes or awards, whether in cash or otherwise, as an inducement to
use mechanical amusement devices, except for trophies or plaques or
items of similar nature of nominal value.
E.
No operator shall permit any activity which is illegal
or immoral or which creates an undue amount of noise or a danger of
a breach of the peace to occur on the premises.
If a license shall have been issued and the Township Committee shall determine that the individual or the persons who are the incorporators, officers, directors or employees of the corporation, if the applicant shall be a corporation, is an unfit person or corporation to retain such license by reason of the conviction of a crime or the conviction of the violation of any Township ordinance involving moral turpitude or for any reason for which such applicant would have been denied a license as enumerated in § 131-4 of this chapter or who shall have fraudulently misrepresented facts on the application or shall have knowingly concealed from the Township Committee facts which would preclude the issuance of a license hereunder, such license shall immediately be revoked by the Township Committee, after a hearing before the Committee, upon written notice to the licensee, which notice shall specify the charges upon which the proposed license revocation is based. Five days' notice of the hearing shall be given to the licensee. At such hearing, the licensee and his or her attorney may be present and submit evidence in his or her defense.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
authorize any gambling device of any kind whatsoever, including any
device that dispenses any kind of payoff or reward, or any device
that has been judicially determined to be a gambling device or declared
to be a gambling device under any law of the State of New Jersey.
A.
For violation of any provision of this chapter, the maximum penalty, upon conviction, shall not exceed the maximum penalties set forth in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article III. Each and every violation of any provision of this chapter shall be considered a separate violation and shall subject the person so charged to the maximum penalty.
[Amended 9-21-1993 by Ord. No. 923-93]
