This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Road Service
and Towing Ordinance" of the Town of Fallsburg.
No person, firm or corporation shall operate a truck or other
type of motor vehicle designed and capable of servicing or towing
other motor vehicles for hire within that portion of the Town of Fallsburg
outside any incorporated village, unless a permit therefore shall
be first obtained from the Town Clerk of the Town of Fallsburg, New
York, as hereinafter provided, except that tow truck operators from
outside the Town of Fallsburg may remove motor vehicles from any place
in the Town without a license, upon the request of the owner, where
said vehicle is not within or blocking a public or private roadway
or deemed a hazard by the Town of Fallsburg Police Department. The
Chief of Police or his designee shall have the right to order the
towing of a vehicle deemed to be a hazard on a public or private street
where such hazard places in jeopardy the life or health of a person
or persons and/or the property of the residents of the Town of Fallsburg
or creates a dangerous situation within the Town.
No such permit shall be issued unless an application shall have
been filed with the Town Clerk upon a form prescribed by the Town,
which shall include:
A.
The name and business address of the applicant and, if he is a natural
person, his age and residence address, where the tow truck will be
dispatched from if different from the address of business, the date
of birth of the natural person and where vehicles will be towed to
if different than the place of business.
B.
The registration number of the service or tow truck to be operated.
C.
The amount of liability insurance for personal injury and property
damage on said service truck, the name of insurance company, which
must be licensed to do business in the State of New York, and the
policy number. The limits shall not be less than $1,000,000 for each
person and $3,000,000 for each occurrence. Each applicant shall file
with the application a certificate of insurance naming the Town of
Fallsburg as additional named insured.
D.
The business must be a state-certified motor vehicle repair station
located within the Town of Fallsburg, and own its own tow vehicle(s).
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. IV)]
Every vehicle for which an application has been filed with the
Town Clerk's Office must be inspected by the Chief of Police
or his designee prior to obtaining a permit.
Every permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall expire on
the last day of April following the issuance thereof and is not transferable
from one operator to another, nor from one truck to another, without
prior consent of the Town Board.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. IV)]
The permit fee payable to the Town Clerk for each such permit
or renewal thereof shall be as set by resolution of the Town Board
per vehicle, regardless of the number of months such permit may be
valid.
On each side of every tow truck there shall be legibly inscribed
in letters not less than three inches high the name and address of
the owner of such service or tow truck or of the person or firm or
corporation having the permit therefore and the permit number assigned
to such tow truck by the Town Clerk.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to
service or tow away any motor vehicle which has been involved in a
motor vehicle accident without prior consent of the owner or operator
or police officer at the scene of the accident, and no motor vehicle
shall be serviced or removed from the scene of an accident where the
police officer requires or requests that an examination be made of
the damaged vehicle to determine if the car was defective or where
the police officer requires or requests that photographs and/or diagrams
of the scene be made.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to drive
along any public street or highway within that portion of the Town
of Fallsburg or outside any incorporated village therein for the purpose
of soliciting and/or repair work.
B.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to solicit
towing or repair work at the scene of any motor vehicle accident on
private property or on a public highway within that portion of the
Town of Fallsburg outside any incorporated village therein.
The Town Board may revoke any license or licenses issued under
the authority of this chapter to any applicant or license holder whom
the Town Board shall determine, after a public hearing, to be an undesirable
person or incapable of properly conducting a road service or tow truck
business or who has violated the provisions of this chapter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. IV)]
A violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be a misdemeanor,
and any person, firm or corporation violating the same may, upon conviction,
be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment not
exceeding one year, or both such fine and imprisonment.
A.
A licensee whose garage or service station is located in the Town
of Fallsburg performing towing service for the Town or called by a
police officer shall perform the services outlined in this section
of the Code on a rotating basis. No licensee shall respond to the
scene of an accident except upon notification by the police officer
in charge or upon request of the driver or owner of a disabled vehicle
as long as the vehicle does not constitute a hazard as determined
by the Town of Fallsburg Police Department. Where a disabled vehicle
is located within a private or public roadway and/or constitutes a
hazard as determined by the Chief of Police or his designee, the Police
Department shall dispatch a licensed tow operator from the rotating
call list to remove the vehicle. The rotating list shall operate on
a call-of-the-day basis with each licensee having a calendar day assigned
on an equal rotating basis. The Police Department shall, where practicable,
upon request of an owner call a specific operator as long as said
operator is a validly licensed tow operator as defined under this
chapter. No licensee shall respond to a tow call on a day not assigned
to them unless specifically directed to by the Chief of Police or
his designee.
B.
In the event that a licensee called does not respond as quickly as
is necessary in the opinion of the officer in charge of the accident
scene or other emergency personnel, the police officer may call another
licensed tow truck. At no time shall it be less than 15 minutes from
the time the licensee is called.
C.
Such additional rules and regulations regarding rotation of tow trucks,
as they may be hereafter promulgated by the Town Board, shall take
effect immediately after service of a copy thereof on holders of all
licenses for tow trucks in the Town. Service upon a licensee may be
made by sending, by ordinary mail, a copy of the additional rules
and regulations to said licensee's business address.
The invalidity of any section or provision of this chapter shall
not invalidate any other section or provision thereof.
Every tow vehicle will be equipped with a broom and shovel or
other equipment which will be used to remove debris from the roadway.
Any operator not removing debris after an accident scene will be subject
to review by the Town Board or the designee assigned.
It shall be the duty of each licensee to file a copy of the
bill for any towing or road service requested by the Fallsburg Police
Department with the Fallsburg Police Department at the same time that
same is provided to the owner/driver of the vehicle or as soon thereafter
as is practicable, but in no case later than one week after bill is
given to the owner/driver.
