[Adopted 5-12-2009 by Ord. No. 4192-09]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The request, directly or indirectly, for money, credit, property,
financial assistance or other thing of any kind or value. Solicitation
shall include, but not be limited to, the use or employment of canisters,
cards, receptacles or similar devices for the collection of money
or other thing of value. A solicitation shall take place whether or
not the person making the solicitation receives any contribution.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
no person shall place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin, for
solicitation purposes, unless all of the following requirements are
met:
A.
The person has obtained a permit, valid for a two-year term, from
the Township of Toms River Zoning Officer within the territorial boundaries
of the Township in which the donation clothing bin will be placed,
in accordance with the following:
(1)
In applying for such a permit, the person shall include:
(a)
The location where the bin would be situated, as precisely as
possible, which may include the use of a photograph containing the
marked location;
(b)
The manner in which the person anticipates any clothing or other
donations collected via the bin would be used, sold, or dispersed,
and the method by which the proceeds of collected donations would
be allocated or spent;
(c)
The name and telephone number of the bona fide office required pursuant to Subsection A(5)(a) of this section of any entity which may share or profit from any clothing or other donations collected via the bin; and
(d)
Written consent from the property owner to place the bin on
his property.
(2)
The Township of Toms River Zoning Officer shall not grant an application
for a permit to place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin if it
determines that the placement of the bin could constitute a safety
hazard. Such hazards shall include, but not be limited to, the placement
of a donation clothing bin within 100 yards of any place which stores
large amounts of, or sells, fuel or other flammable liquids or gases,
and bins may not be located at residential sites, sight triangles,
fire lanes, utility easements, right-of-ways, public streets and roadways,
or otherwise impede the free flow of traffic of public and private
property.
(3)
The fee for such application shall be $30 for each bin, to offset
the costs involved in enforcing this article.
(4)
An expiring permit for a donation clothing bin may be renewed for
two years upon application for renewal and payment of any fee imposed
by the Zoning Officer for such renewal, at $30 for each bin, to offset
the costs involved in enforcing this article. Such application shall
include:
(a)
The location where the bin is situated, as precisely as possible,
and, if the person intends to move it, the new location where the
bin would be situated after the renewal is granted and written consent
from the property owner to place the bin on his property;
(b)
The manner in which the person has used, sold, or dispersed
any clothing or other donations collected via the bin, the method
by which the proceeds of collected donations have been allocated or
spent, and any changes the person anticipates it may make in these
processes during the period covered by the renewal; and
(5)
The permit number and its date of expiration shall be clearly and conspicuously displayed on the exterior of the donation clothing bin, in addition to the information required pursuant to Subsection A(5)(b) of this section.
(a)
The person, and any other entity which may share or profit from
any clothing or other donations collected via the bin, maintains a
bona fide office where a representative of the person or other entity,
respectively, can be reached at a telephone information line during
normal business hours for the purpose of offering information concerning
the person or other entity. For the purposes of this subsection, an
answering machine or service unrelated to the person does not constitute
a bona fide office; and
(b)
The following information is clearly and conspicuously displayed
on the exterior of each donation clothing bin:
[1]
The name and address of the registered person that owns the
bin, and of any other entity which may share or profit from any clothing
or other donations collected via the bin;
[2]
The telephone number of the person's bona fide office and, if
applicable, the telephone number of the bona fide office of any other
entity which may share or profit from any clothing or other donations
collected via the bin;
[3]
In cases when any entity other than the person who owns the
bin may share or profit from any clothing or other donations collected
via the bin, a notice, written in a clear and easily understandable
manner, indicating that clothing or other donations collected via
the bin, their proceeds, or both, may be shared or given entirely
to an entity other than the person who owns the bin, and identifying
all such entities which may share or profit from such donations; and
[4]
A statement, consistent with the information provided to the appropriate municipal agency in the most recent permit or renewal application pursuant to Subsection A(1)(b) of this section and Subsection A(4)(b) of this section, indicating the manner in which the person anticipates any clothing or other donations collected via the bin would be used, sold, or dispersed, and the method by which the proceeds of collected donations would be allocated or spent.
A.
The Township of Toms River Division of Code Enforcement shall receive and investigate, within 30 days, any complaints from the public about the bin. Whenever it appears to the Division of Code Enforcement that a person has engaged in, or is engaging in, any act or practice in violation of § 391-45, the person who placed the bin shall be issued a warning, stating that if the violation is not rectified or a hearing with the Township of Toms River Division of Law is not requested within 45 days, the bin will be seized or removed at the expense of the person who placed the bin, and any clothing or other donations collected via the bin will be sold at public auction or otherwise disposed of. In addition to any other means used to notify the person who placed the bin, such warning shall be affixed to the exterior of the bin itself.
B.
In the event that the person who placed the bin does not rectify
the violation or request a hearing within 45 days of the posting of
the warning, the Division of Code Enforcement may seize the bin, remove
it, or have it removed, at the expense of the person who placed the
bin, and sell at public auction or otherwise dispose of any clothing
or other donations collected via the bin. Any proceeds from the sale
of the donations collected via the bin shall be paid to the Chief
Financial Officer of the municipality.
In addition to any other penalties or remedies authorized by
the laws of this state, any person who violates any provision of this
article which results in seizure of the donation clothing bin shall
be:
A.
Subject to a penalty of up to $20,000 for each violation. The appropriate
municipal agency may bring this action in the municipal court or Superior
Court as a summary proceeding under the Penalty Enforcement Law of
1999, P.L. 1999. c. 274 (N.J.S.A. 2A:58-10 et seq.), and any penalty
monies collected shall be paid to the Chief Financial Officer of the
municipality; and
B.
Deemed ineligible to place, use, or employ a donation clothing bin for solicitation purposes pursuant to § 391-45. A person disqualified from placing, using, or employing a donation clothing bin by violating the provisions of this article may apply to the Division of Code Enforcement to have that person's eligibility restored. The Division of Code Enforcement may restore the eligibility of a person who:
