[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of East Hanover 12-21-1995 as Ord. No. 36-1995. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Peace and good order — See Ch. 115.
LICENSED PREMISES — Any place
licensed by the State of New Jersey to primarily sell at retail beer,
wine and/or mixed spirits for consumption on the premises.
An individual, partnership, cooperative, association, corporation,
personal representative, receiver, trustee, assignee or any other
legal entity.
A rack/display containing any tobacco product that is accessible,
without the aid or assistance of the owner or licensee of the premises
containing the rack/display, to a person desiring to purchase the
same.
Any product made from the tobacco plant for the purpose of
smoking, chewing, inhaling and other personal use, including cigars,
chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, snuff and cigarettes in any form.
Any person or entity who or which operates a store, stand,
booth, concession or place at which sales of tobacco are made to purchasers
for consumption or use and shall mean a person or entity that owns
or operates a vending machine and/or a vending machine location.
The administration officer of the Township of East Hanover
Department of Health and/or his or her authorized representative.
Any automated, self-service device which, upon insertion
of money, tokens or any other form of payments, dispenses cigarettes
or other tobacco products.
The room, enclosure, space or area where a tobacco vending
machine is installed and operated.
It shall be unlawful for anyone, including a
tobacco retailer, to sell, give or permit to be sold or given to a
person under 18 years of age tobacco in any form.
It shall be unlawful for a tobacco retailer
to sell or permit tobacco products to be sold to any individual under
the age of 18 years, unless the seller has a reasonable basis for
determining that the buyer is of legal age (18 or over).
It shall be unlawful for any tobacco retailer
to allow, suffer or permit the sale of tobacco products on his or
her premises by any person under the age of 18 years.
A.
It shall be unlawful for a tobacco retailer to offer
for sale or to sell any tobacco product through a vending machine
in this township, except in the following instances:
(1)
In any premises or portion thereof to which access
by minors is expressly prohibited by law or by the expressed policy
of the owner of the premises; provided, however, that the tobacco
vending machine is:
(2)
Any premises such as a factory, business, office,
industrial plant or other place where the public is generally not
given access and where such machines are intended for the use of employees
18 years of age or older or other adults; provided, however, that
the tobacco vending machine in each premise is:
(3)
In any premises or portion thereof where the principal
use therein is for the retail sale of alcoholic beverages pursuant
to the New Jersey Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, N.J.S.A. 33:1-1
et seq., where access by persons under 18 years of age is prohibited
by law, provided that the tobacco vending machine is:
B.
In all other instances, locations and places, a tobacco
vending machine shall be permitted to operate only if:
(1)
The operation of the machine to vend tobacco products is possible only by the activation of an electronic switch or other device, which is controlled by the attendant or deputy attendant, as set forth in § 148-7 of this chapter, and only after the attendant or deputy attendant has positively established the purchaser's age as 18 years or greater by the purchaser's production of two forms of identification setting forth the purchaser's date of birth; and
[Amended 2-15-1996 by Ord. No. 1-1996]
(2)
There is compliance with all other applicable sections
of this chapter.
It shall be unlawful for any tobacco retailer
responsible for the operation of a tobacco vending machine to remove,
disconnect or otherwise disable the remotely activated electronic
switch or device on a tobacco vending machine where provisions of
this chapter provide for a vending machine to be so equipped.
No cigarette vending machine shall be placed
on or in any establishment permitted by this chapter unless the owner
or lessee of the machine provides, in writing, to the township, for
each individual cigarette vending machine, the names and business
addresses of a person or persons who shall serve as attendant and
deputy attendant for that machine. More than one attendant and/or
deputy attendant may be appointed in reference to a single cigarette
vending machine, provided that the owner or lessee states the time
periods when each of two or more attendants and/or deputy attendants
for a single cigarette vending machine shall be the attendant or deputy
attendant on duty and thus responsible for compliance with this chapter.
The attendant and, in his/her stead, the deputy
attendant shall be responsible for the penalties and fees which may,
upon conviction, be imposed for violations of this chapter. Nothing
in this chapter shall prohibit the employer of an attendant from paying
penalties imposed under this chapter, but payment by the employer
shall not be required.
The attendant and, in his/her stead, the deputy
attendant shall:
A.
Be at least 18 years of age or more, as certified
by the Township Health Officer;
B.
Be responsible for placing and maintaining the cigarette
vending machine in accordance with the provisions of this chapter;
C.
Have a clear unobstructed line of sight between his/her
normal place of transacting business and the location of the cigarette
vending machine;
D.
Be responsible to make those cigarette vending machines
for which he/she is responsible inoperable during any time when the
public has access to said machines but for any reason the attendant
or deputy attendants are not available to attend the machines;
E.
Be an employee or agent of the firm, corporation,
partnership or entity having possessory interest, including but not
limited to leaseholds, in the establishment where the cigarette vending
machine is located; and
F.
Be deemed in violation of this chapter if he/she permits
a person who is under the age of 18 years to purchase a product from
a cigarette vending machine.
Except on premises as described in § 148-5A(2) of this chapter, it shall be unlawful for a tobacco retailer to operate a tobacco vending machine in any premises or portion thereof located within 200 feet of any public or private school or other property used primarily for school activities unless it is equipped with a locking device.
A.
Any person, firm or corporation who or which shall
violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction,
be punished by a fine of $1,000, and each violation of any of the
provisions of this chapter and each day the same is violated shall
be deemed and taken to be a separate and distinct offense.
B.
The Township Health Officer or his/her designee and
the East Hanover Police Department have authority to enforce this
chapter.
C.
The Township Health Officer or his/her designee or
the Township Police Department, after giving proper identification,
may inspect any matter, thing, premises or place as may be necessary
for the proper enforcement hereof.
D.
It shall be unlawful for any person to oppose or otherwise
obstruct a Township Health Officer or his/her designee in the performance
of duties hereunder, and they may request the assistance of a law
enforcement agency or peace officer when necessary to execute his
or her official duty in a manner prescribed by law.
A tobacco vending machine which is not permitted
under this chapter may be seized, forfeited and disposed of in the
same manner as other unlawful property seized under N.J.S.A. 2C:64-1
et seq. Any machine so seized shall be returned to its owner, upon
payment of the reasonable costs incurred in connection with the seizure.
As an alternative, or in addition to the provisions of this section,
any tobacco retailer, for each unauthorized tobacco vending machine
remaining at any prescribed location after the effective date of this
chapter, may be fined $1,000 for each day placement of the vending
machine is in violation of this chapter.