[Added 4-11-1985 by Ord. No. 8-1985[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed
former Article XVHA, Amusement Devices, added 2-10-1983 by Ord. No.
1-1983, as amended.
A.
This Article shall be known as "An Ordinance Regulating
the Use of Amusement or Entertainment Machines within the City of
Somers Point."
B.
Authority, intent and purpose. This amendment and
supplement to this chapter is adopted pursuant to the Municipal Land
Use Law, Chapter 291, Laws of New Jersey, 1975, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1
et seq., and is intended to promote and protect the public health,
safety, morals and general welfare and is passed in furtherance of
the specific objective to properly establish, regulate and control
amusement devices within the City of Somers Point and, in so doing,
to protect the established character and the social and economic well-being
of both private and public property; to promote, in the public interest,
the utilization of land within the municipality for the purpose for
which it is most appropriate; and to secure safety from fire, panic
and other dangers while providing adequate light, air and convenience
of access; to prevent overcrowding of buildings wherein this type
of device is contained and to avoid undue concentration of traffic
or population; to lessen and, where possible, to prevent traffic congestion;
and to do all things as authorized in the general purposes and powers
as more fully provided in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
This chapter is hereby amended to allow arcades
as a conditional use in the TC Transient Commercial District, HC-1
and HC-2 Highway Commercial Districts, REC-A Recreational District
and the GB General Business District,[1] subject to the following:
A.
The premises on which the mechanical amusement devices
within the arcade are located shall be permitted on the first floor
of the premises only and shall be so arranged as to permit a clear
view of the interior from the exterior at all times and shall have
sufficient glass frontage to permit a clear view of the interior of
the premises by a code official or law enforcement officer viewing
the interior from the exterior of the premises.
B.
The arcade shall not be permitted to operate between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 9:00 a.m. If said arcade is located within a shopping center or mall or cluster of stores, the arcade shall not be permitted to operate later than the latest established closing time for the surrounding stores and, in no event, shall be permitted to operate after 12:00 midnight. Further, every operator of an arcade shall comply with the provisions of Chapter 107, Curfew, which states that minors under the age of 16 years must be out of public places and off the streets and playgrounds between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and daylight unless accompanied by a parent or guardian; and that minors aged 16 and 17 years must be out of public places and off the streets and playgrounds between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and daylight unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.
C.
Each machine shall be licensed in accordance with Chapter 174, Mercantile Licenses, of the Code of City of Somers Point, and the license shall be conspicuously displayed on the premises. No machine which would otherwise be unauthorized by this chapter shall be permitted to be licensed by the Clerk of the City of Somers Point.
[1]
Editor's Note: Pursuant to amending Ord. No.
20-1992, adopted 7-9-1992, GB General Business District has been substituted
for the former RC Regional Commercial District.
In addition, no arcade and no mechanical amusement
device within an arcade shall be permitted within 500 feet of a church
or other religious institution nor within 2,500 feet of any public
or private school, and there shall not be permitted any more than
one arcade facility containing mechanical amusement devices located
within 1,000 feet of any other arcade, the distance to be measured
from building line to building line at their closest points.
Erection and installation of coin-operated or
non-coinoperated mechanical amusement devices as permitted within
an arcade shall comply with all local, state and federal fire and
safety regulations, statutes and codes. In addition, for each one
square foot of floor space occupied, taken up or covered by a machine
(to be measured at its widest, deepest and longest points, whether
touching the surface of the floor or not), there shall be a minimum
of three square feet of open space in order to provide an established
ratio between occupied space and space for the unobstructed flow of
customers. If machines are located along an aisleway, the minimum
width of aisles between the machines shall be 12 feet. In computing
open space as used in this section, any and all interior sections
of the structure reserved for office, rest room, operation, storage
or other facilities shall be deducted and only the actual open unobstructed
floor space shall be considered open for purposes of this calculation.
A minimum of two rest rooms must be provided
within the arcade or immediately adjacent thereto, one to be designated
for each sex.
During the hours of operation, the arcade must
be supervised at all times by at least one responsible adult individual
who shall be an employee of the owner or operator of the premises
and who shall be responsible for the supervision, maintenance and
operation of the premises during all hours of operation.
There shall be one automobile parking space
provided for each four mechanical amusement devices and two bicycle
parking spaces provided for each five mechanical amusement devices.
The bicycle parking facility shall be affixed to the ground and constructed
of steel pipe in a manner approved by the Construction Official.
No operator shall permit any activity or the
operation of any machine which is illegal, immoral or which creates
an undue amount of noise or danger of a breach of the peace to occur
on the premises.
A.
Exterior lighting shall be provided on the exterior
of the arcade as approved by the appropriate board of the City of
Somers Point. Lights shall provide a minimum of 10 footcandles of
white light.
B.
The building or premises to be used for arcade purposes
shall be designed and constructed and sufficiently insulated to provide
noise elimination permitting a maximum of 50 dBa of noise measured
at 25 feet from the arcade, and certification verifying the appropriate
sound transmission rating to establish such decibel maximums shall
be submitted to the Construction Officer as a condition precedent
to granting of conditional approval for the use of the premises as
an arcade.
No operator or owner shall offer or permit to
be offered within the premises any prizes or awards, whether in cash
or otherwise.
No operator shall knowingly permit any person
convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude to be associated with
the ownership, management or operation of the business.
No gambling devices of any kind whatsoever,
inclusive of, but not limited to, 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, shall be permitted.
No occupation other than operation of coin-
or non-coinoperated mechanical amusement devices shall be permitted
to be carried on within the premises of the arcade, and the arcade
shall not be an accessory use to any other occupation or activity
permitted within the City of Somers Point. This includes, but shall
not be limited to, operation of coin- or non-coin-operated vending
machines which shall dispense food, beverage or other commodities.
No such vending machine shall be permitted within the arcade.
In order to obtain approval of the conditional use of the arcade within the permitted zones, a site plan must be filed with the application establishing the applicant's compliance with §§ 114-125, 114-126, 114-129 and 114-131, indicating location of proposed parking for both bicycle and automobile; lighting; compliance with the noise level requirements; distance to the nearest public or private school or religious institution; compliance with all applicable buffer zones; distance to any other existing arcade; and such other requirements as may be imposed by other sections of this chapter.
[Amended 7-9-1992 by Ord. No. 20-1992]
Coin- or non-coin-operated mechanical amusement devices shall be permitted within the City of Somers Point other than within an arcade as permitted in commercial districts noted in § 114-124, provided that they are limited to three machines in an establishment and provided, further, that the principal business of the establishment is recreation, restaurant, establishment licensed to sell alcoholic beverages by the drink and convenience stores as hereinafter defined. The term "convenience store" shall be as defined in § 114-9B. Convenience stores only shall be subject to the following special regulations:
A.
Any coin-operated and non-coin-operated amusement
machine or device shall be placed in such a position as to allow a
clear distance of 62 inches from the end of said machine to the nearest
counter or wall, so that a clear aisle for ingress and egress of at
least 44 inches is maintained.
B.
Each machine shall be placed in such a location within
the establishment so that the machine shall be clearly visible to
the cash register area of the establishment.
C.
All machines shall be placed as far from an exit as
is possible to allow the free flow of individuals given the physical
layout of the establishment.
D.
Each establishment maintaining machines shall post, at a place clearly visible to the player of any machine, a notice indicating that pursuant to Chapter 107 Curfew, of the Code of the City of Somers Point, no individual 16 years of age or younger shall be allowed to use the machine after 10:00 p.m.
Compliance with the terms and conditions of
this article, as an amendment to Ordinance No. 3-1980, shall be a
condition precedent to the issuance of a mercantile license for coin-
or non-coin-operated mechanical amusement devices, and violations
of the terms and conditions of this article shall be grounds for revocation
of or denial of said license.
Before the issuance of a mercantile license,
the applicant must have a letter of approval from the City of Somers
Point Police Department and approval of the City of Somers Point Zoning
Administrator.
