Borough of Fort Lee, NJ Chapter 377 Tourist Lodges, Motels and Hotels

[HISTORY: Derived from Ch. IV, Sec. 4-16, of the Revised General Ordinances of the Borough of Fort Lee, 1978, adopted 3-1-1979. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Housing standards — See Ch. 246.

Property maintenance — See Ch. 312.

Rental property — See Ch. 321.

§ 377-1 License required.

No person shall engage in the business of conducting tourist lodges, cabins, camps, inns, motels and hotels without first having applied for and received from the Borough a license to do so.

§ 377-2 Application.

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 and of any person or persons not the applicant who have an interest directly or indirectly in the business, or, if the applicant or such person having an interest directly or indirectly in the business be a corporation or partnership, the names, residences, and post office addresses of the officers, stockholders, directors, partners or any other person having an interest directly or indirectly in the ownership of the corporation or partnership.

B. The exact location of the proposed licensed premises, giving the street address, block and lot number as shown on the Tax Assessment Map of the Borough and the exact dimensions of the lands upon which the business is to be conducted.

C. A description of the buildings, structures and accommodations upon the lands, including a statement of the number of housing or lodging units; the maximum number of persons who can be accommodated at any given time; a description of the character of the 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 the lands and buildings.

E. The name or names of the person on the licensed premises upon whom process may be served.

F. Whether any of the persons required by Subsection A above to be named in this application have ever been convicted of a crime; if the answer to the foregoing be yes, state the details of such conviction.

§ 377-3 Inspection by Health Officer and Fire Prevention Bureau; denial of license.

A. The Borough Clerk shall forthwith forward the application to the Health Officer of the Board of Health and to the Fire Prevention Bureau of the Borough who shall inspect the premises to determine whether or not the premises comply with the Board of Health and fire ordinances and regulations. If the premises do not so comply the Secretaries of the Board and/or Bureau shall attach to the application a written list of recommendations, and return the same to the Borough Clerk, who shall in turn return the application to the applicant. The Chief of Police shall cause to be made an investigation of all persons having direct or indirect interest in the business, which persons are required by § 377-2A to be named in the application, or in the premises, which persons are required by § 377-2D to be named in the application; the investigation shall be concerned particularly with the criminal record or other evidence of bad moral character of any of the persons so named. If the premises do comply with the health and fire regulations, it shall be the duty of the Mayor and Council to issue a license to the applicant unless by reason of the unfitness of one or several of the persons named pursuant to § 377-2A and D as determined by the following standards, they shall deem issuance of a license to the applicant to be reasonably detrimental to public health and morals; the reason for which an application may be denied are:

(1) Such applicant has made a material false statement or concealed a material fact in connection with his application.

(2) Such applicant, or any person named in the application pursuant to § 377-2A or D, was the former holder of a license similar to the one applied for here, or was an officer, director, stockholder, or partner in a corporation or partnership which held such a license, and which license has been revoked or suspended by the proper authority.

(3) Such applicant or any other person named pursuant to § 377-2A or D has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.

(4) Such applicant or the persons set forth in the application as the owners of the business or premises are not the true owners thereof.

(5) Such applicant or the persons named in the application pursuant to § 377-2A or D are of bad moral character.

B. If an application is denied because of unfitness, on one or more of the aforementioned grounds, the applicant shall be informed of the specific reasons for such denial and shall be entitled, at his request, to a hearing before the Mayor and Council at which hearing the applicant shall be afforded full opportunity to offer any reasons which may tend to offset the facts on the basis of which his application was denied.

§ 377-4 License fees.

A. The annual fee for the license is hereby fixed and determined as follows:

(1) For premises having not more than 10 housing or lodging units: $1,000.

(2) For premises having 11 or more housing or lodging units: $1,000 plus the sum of $25 for each additional housing or lodging unit in excess of 10 housing or lodging units.

B. The license fee is hereby declared to be for the purpose of revenue.

§ 377-5 Term, display and transfer of license.

Any license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be for the term of one year, commencing January 1 and expiring December 31. After January 1, 1955, no license fee shall be apportioned, regardless of the date of which such license may be issued. 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. On application made therefor setting forth the same matters and things as are required by this chapter 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 fee for the license sought to be transferred, may transfer to such applicant any license issued under the terms and provisions of this chapter; the 10% shall be retained by the Mayor and Council whether the transfer be granted or not. 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.

§ 377-6 Official register.

Each licensee shall at all times cause to be maintained on the licensed premises a register, consisting of a permanently bound volume of consecutively numbered pages or a permanent card system enclosed in a metal card index box with consecutively numbered cards. No registration hereinafter required to be made shall be made in any register other than the official register, endorsed as aforesaid unless and until the official register shall have been completely filled. Upon filling of any register it shall be preserved at all times upon the licensed premises and a new register endorsed as aforesaid shall thereupon be used for subsequent registrations. The register shall be kept and preserved by the licensee and shall be available on request at any hour of the day or night to any police officer of the Borough. The system of registration as described in the licensee's application shall not be altered in any manner unless the licensee shall first have applied for and received the permission of the Mayor and Council to do so.

§ 377-7 Requirements before occupancy.

No person shall occupy and no licensee shall permit any person to occupy any room on the licensed premises unless each and every person occupying the accommodations (for any time whatsoever) shall first:

A. Display to the licensee or to a duly authorized agent or employee of the licensee in charge of registration written evidence of his or her identity and residence, and, in addition thereto, write or cause to be written on the card record in ink his or her full and true name and address and the full and true name and address of each member of the party, and in the case of the operator of a motor vehicle, the state license or registration number of the motor vehicle conveying him or her to the licensed premises.

B. In addition to the foregoing, the licensee shall cause to be written into the register in ink the number of the room assigned to each registrant, the date and hour of the registration, the signature or identification of the person taking or accepting the registration and the date and hour when the occupant or occupants of each room quits or surrenders same.

§ 377-8 Inspections by Police Department.

It shall be the duty of the Police Department of the Borough to inspect the licensed premises at any hour of the day or night, to determine that the provisions of this chapter are being complied with.

§ 377-9 Definitions.

The terms used in this chapter are hereby defined as follows:

BUSINESS OF CONDUCTING TOURIST LODGES, CABINS, CAMPS, INNS, MOTELS AND HOTELS

The renting, leasing, maintaining, keeping, operating, conducting or providing of overnight or temporary sleeping accommodations, for a consideration, to tourists, transients or travelers in any buildings or structures, devoted exclusively or primarily to the business, commonly known as tourist lodges, tourist cabins, motor lodges, motor courts, tourist courts, tourist camps, inns, motels and hotels, whether meals are served therein or not.

HOTEL

Every building kept, used, maintained, advertised or held out to be a place where sleeping accommodations, eating facilities, conference rooms, recreational facilities and a central lobby with room service availability are maintained for rental to permanent or transient guests, in which 50 or more rooms on the premises are rented, with or without meals, for the accommodation of such guests.

MOTELS, TOURIST LODGES AND INNS

Any structure or building wherein rooms thereof are leased to third parties, not having the facilities set forth in the definition of "hotel," and where an automotive vehicle is capable of being parked immediately adjacent to the room which is leased to the third party. A residential dwelling which does not have more than five rooms rented or used for tourist business is not governed or regulated by this chapter.

OCCUPANCY

The use or possession, or the right to the use or possession, of any room or rooms, or portion thereof, in any hotel, motel, tourist lodge or inn for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes.

PERSON

Any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, social club, fraternal organization, joint stock company, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, trustee, syndicate or any other group or combination acting as a unit.

RENT

The consideration charged, whether or not received, for the occupancy of space in a hotel, motel, tourist lodge or inn, valued in money, whether to be received in money, goods, labor or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits and property and service of any kind or nature, without any reduction therefrom whatsoever.

TRANSIENT

Any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy by reason of concession, permit, right of access, license or by the payment of any money for the right to occupy the premises for a period of 30 consecutive calendar days or less, counting portions of calendar days as full days. Any such person so occupying space in a hotel, motel, tourist lodge or inn shall be deemed to be a transient up to and including the 30th day. In determining whether a person is a transient, uninterrupted periods of time extending both prior and subsequent to the effective date of this chapter may be considered.

§ 377-10 Revocation of license; hearing.

Any license issued under this chapter may be revoked for any violation of this chapter after due notice of the charges and a hearing at which the licensee shall be afforded full opportunity to be heard.

§ 377-11 Additional mandatory penalties.

In addition to any and all other penalties imposed, a licensee which violates any provision of this chapter shall be subject to the following mandatory fines:

A. First two offenses: $100 each.

B. Next two offenses: $250 each.

C. Fifth offense: $500 each.

D. All subsequent offenses: $2,000.

[Amended 5-23-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-20; 3-23-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-16]

§ 377-12 Cooking appliances and cooking prohibited in individual rooms; violations and penalties.

A. No motel, hotel, inn or lodge owner or operator shall allow, provide, maintain, or place any cooking appliance in any individual room located within the premises unless the owner of the building has obtained an appropriate certificate of occupancy which specifically allows said use. "Cooking appliance" shall be defined, for purposes hereof, as any artificial device utilized for the heating of food or liquids, including but not limited to any stove, oven, microwave oven, hot plate or other electrical, gas, fuel or mechanically operated equipment. The presence of any cooking appliance in any individual room shall be presumptive evidence of a violation of this chapter.

(1) In the event of a violation hereof, the person or entity owning or operating the motel, hotel, inn or lodge shall be subject to a fine of not less than $250 for the initial violation of this subsection. In the event of subsequent convictions hereunder, the Municipal Court Judge may both impose a fine of not less than $500 and revoke the license to operate.

(2) Each day that the cooking appliance remains in an unauthorized location shall constitute a separate offense hereunder.

B. No person shall be allowed to cook food in any individual room located within any motel, hotel, lodge or inn unless the owner of the building has obtained an appropriate certificate of occupancy which specifically allows said use. "Cooking food" shall be defined, for purposes hereof, as the heating of food or liquid for consumption by any artificial means, including, but not limited to, the use of boiling water, the use of any electrical, gas or oil operated device, or the use of any open flame. The presence of any artificial cooking device, in operational position, in any individual room, shall be presumptive evidence of a violation of this subsection.

(1) Each owner of a motel, hotel, lodge or inn shall post, in a conspicuous place at the premises, a notification indicating that cooking in individual rooms is prohibited. The owner of each hotel, motel, lodge or inn shall be under a continuing duty to inspect its rooms for hire, and notify the Board of Health or Fire Prevention Bureau of any violations hereof.

(2) Any person found to be in violation of the provisions of this subsection shall be subject to a fine of not less than $250. In addition, the owner of any hotel, motel, lodge or inn found to be in repeated violations hereof shall be subject to a revocation of its license to operate.

§ 377-13 Occupancy requirements and limitations.

A. The sleeping accommodations of a hotel, motel, tourist lodge or inn shall be rented only for the use of transient occupants and shall not be used or occupied on any permanent basis, and no such occupants shall be deemed to be a resident therein. Every licensed premises shall maintain at all times a complete register of all rentals therein set forth and the true identification and correct hours of occupancy of each person using any room on the licensed premises.

B. No person shall use or occupy any room or any portion of a room in any hotel, motel, tourist lodge or inn for more than 30 consecutive calendar days, and a portion of a calendar day shall be considered a full day. This provision limiting the use or occupancy of a room or a portion of a room to no more than 30 consecutive calendar days shall apply to all dwellings, lodgings or sleeping rooms or room or any portion of same, whether located in the same hotel, motel, tourist lodge or inn, as defined herein, or located in one or more hotels, motels, tourist lodges and/or inns, as defined herein, so long as said hotel, motel, tourist lodge and/or inn is located within the Borough of Fort Lee.