[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Winslow 6-25-80 as Ord. No. 0-14-80 as Ch. 67 of the 1970 Code of the Township of Winslow. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
A.Â
All public hacks, cabs and automobiles or other motor vehicles used
for the transportation of passengers for hire shall be licensed in
accordance with the provisions of this chapter. The license required
by this section shall be known as the "taxi owner's license."
B.Â
The taxi
owners' licenses shall not be limited as to the number of motor
vehicles that may operate under the license privilege, and all motor
vehicles operated must be owned by the licensee.
C.Â
The motor
vehicles licensed under this chapter may only be operated by a person
who possesses a taxi driver's license issued under this chapter.
No person shall drive or operate, as driver or chauffeur or
otherwise, any public hack, cab, automobile or other vehicle used
for the transportation of passengers for hire, unless such person
shall have a license issued for said purpose pursuant to the provisions
of this chapter. The license herein required shall be known as the
"taxi driver's license."
[Amended 9-27-05 by Ord. No. O-25-05; 6-24-08 by Ord. No. O-23-08; 12-20-11 by Ord. No. O-2011-030]
A.Â
No taxi owner's license shall be issued for any vehicle herein
required to be licensed until the owner thereof shall have filed an
application for the same, addressed to the Mayor and Township Committee,
setting forth the character of the vehicle proposed to be licensed,
the correct name of the owner thereof, the residence or address of
the principal office of such owner, a complete schedule of the fares
proposed to be charged and such other facts as the said Mayor and
Township Committee may require; until the vehicle proposed to be licensed
shall have been inspected and approved, in writing, by the Chief of
Police of the Township of Winslow; until there shall have been paid
to the Township Clerk the license fee hereinafter provided; and until
there shall have been submitted to the Township Solicitor and approved
by him as to both form and sufficiency and filed with the Township
Clerk a policy of insurance, with the premium prepaid thereon, an
insurance policy which shall be issued by an admitted insurance company
duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of the
State of New Jersey or a company registered to do business in the
State, the policy providing for not less than thirty-five thousand
dollars ($35,000.) of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage or
the amount of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage required
pursuant to section 1 of P.L. 1972, c. 197 (C. 39:6B-1), whichever
is greater, to satisfy all claims for damages, by reason of bodily
injury to, or the death of, any person or persons, resulting from,
or on account of, an accident, by reason of the ownership, operation,
maintenance, or use of such autocab upon any public street; and to
satisfy any claim for damages to property of any person or persons,
resulting from, or on account of, an accident, by reason of the ownership,
operation, maintenance, or use of such autocab upon any public street.
Nothing contained herein shall prohibit the owner of an autocab
from obtaining any additional amount of motor vehicle liability insurance
coverage from a company licensed outside the State of New Jersey.
A license issued under this chapter shall be effective and operation
thereunder shall be permitted only so long as the insurance policy
shall remain in force to the full and collectible amounts as aforesaid.
The insurance policy shall provide for the payment of any final
judgment recovered by any person on account of the ownership, maintenance,
or use of the autocab or any fault in respect thereto, and shall be
for the benefit of every person suffering loss, damage or injury as
aforesaid.
B.Â
Certificate of compliance. Upon the filing of the required insurance
policy, the Township Clerk shall issue a certificate in duplicate
showing that the owner of the auto cab has complied with the terms
and provisions of this chapter. The certificate shall recite the name
of the insurance company, the number and date of expiration of the
policy, a description of the auto cab insured thereunder, and the
registration number of the auto cab. The duplicate certificate shall
be filed with the Motor Vehicle Commission before any such vehicle
is licensed as an auto cab. The original certificate shall be posted
in a conspicuous place within the auto cab.
No taxi driver's license shall be granted to any person
who shall make application for said taxi driver's license unless
said applicant shall comply with the motor vehicle regulations in
the State of New Jersey.
The Chief of Police of the Township of Winslow shall make an
investigation and shall submit a report evidencing the findings of
his investigation to the Mayor and Township Committee of the Township
of Winslow for approval or disapproval of said license by the Mayor
and Township Committee of the Township of Winslow.
[Added 12-20-11 by Ord. No. O-2011-030]
A.Â
Each operator or driver of an autocab for which the owner thereof
is seeking the consent to operate in the Township of Winslow shall
submit to the performance of a criminal history record background
check. The cost for the criminal history record background check,
including all costs of administering and processing the check, shall
be borne by the operator or driver of the autocab.
B.Â
A person shall be disqualified from operating or driving an autocab
if a criminal history record background check required pursuant to
this section reveals a record of conviction of any of the following
crimes:
(1)Â
In New Jersey or elsewhere any crime as follows: aggravated
assault, arson, burglary, escape, extortion, homicide, kidnapping,
robbery, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault or endangering
the welfare of a child pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4, whether or not
armed with or having in his possession any weapon enumerated in subsection
r. of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-1, a crime pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A.
2C:39-3, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4, or N.J.S.A. 2C:39-9, or other than a disorderly
persons or petty disorderly persons offense for the unlawful use,
possession or sale of a controlled dangerous substance as defined
in N.J.S.A. 2C:35-2.
(2)Â
In any other state, territory, commonwealth, or other jurisdiction of the United States, or any country in the world, as a result of a conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction, a crime which in that other jurisdiction or country is comparable to one of the crimes enumerated in Subsection B(1) above.
C.Â
If a person who has been convicted of one of the crimes enumerated in Subsection B(1) and/or (2) above can produce a certificate of rehabilitation issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2A:168A-8 or, if the criminal offense occurred outside New Jersey, an equivalent certificate from the jurisdiction where the criminal offense occurred, the criminal offense shall not disqualify the applicant from operating or driving an autocab.
[Amended 12-20-11 by Ord. No. O-2011-030]
A.Â
There shall be available for issuance five (5) taxi licenses in the
Township of Winslow, which shall be issued to the highest qualified
bidder therefor at a sale for public auction for that purpose conducted
or supervised by the Township Clerk.
(1)Â
A minimum bid of five hundred dollars ($500.) shall be required.
(2)Â
The Township reserves the right to reject all bids where the highest
bid is not accepted.
(3)Â
In addition to the fees provided for in Section 260-7, the recipient of a license shall reimburse the township for any costs incurred in connection with the public notice requirements established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:16-2.1. In the event more than one license is issued at the same public auction, the recipients thereof shall equally split the costs of such reimbursement.
B.Â
The licenses herein provided for shall be signed by the Township
Clerk and shall have the Township Seal affixed thereto. The Township
Clerk shall not issue any license until the application therefor has
been approved by the Mayor and Township Committee and the conditions
precedent, including but not limited to compliance with all zoning
regulations, the payment of the license fees, the criminal history
background check and, in the case of a taxi owner's license,
the filing of the policy of insurance herein provided for, approved
by the Mayor and Township Committee, together with the power of attorney,
shall have been complied with.
The taxi owner's license herein provided for shall bear
a number and shall state the name of the person licensed. It shall
briefly describe the vehicle licensed and contain the motor vehicle
license number, as well as the manufacturer's number of such
vehicle.
The Township Clerk shall keep a register of all licenses granted
under the provisions of this chapter, which register shall show the
character of the license, its number, date of issue, name of person
licensed and any other information pertaining thereto. He shall keep
all applications, and, upon those which may be granted, he shall endorse
the number of the license issued in pursuance thereof.
All licenses granted hereunder shall expire on the first day of July succeeding the date of issue. In the case of application for a taxi owner's license made after the first day of January in any year, the fee to be paid therefor shall be one-half (1/2) the amount stated in § 260-7 hereof.
The charge for carrying passengers shall not exceed the rates
set forth in the application for the owner's license.
Every holder of a taxi driver's license, when driving or
operating any vehicle herein required to be licensed, shall have in
his possession the license issued to him.
[Amended 9-27-05 by Ord. No. O-25-05]
All vehicles licensed, used or operated for the carrying of
passengers within the scope of this chapter shall have a minimum of
three (3) doors, with at least two (2) of said doors for the exclusive
use of the passengers. Said vehicle shall at all times be clean and
in good repair.
The Mayor and Township Committee shall make reasonable regulations
respecting the use of vehicles licensed hereunder, public hack stands,
the number of licensed vehicles which may stand in any one (1) place
at the same time, the inspection of vehicles licensed and to be licensed
hereunder, the inspection of drivers licensed hereunder and such other
regulations as may promote the public convenience and safety.
[Amended 9-27-05 by Ord. No. O-25-05]
Where the owner of an auto cab operates in more than one (1) municipality, the insurance company or bond require to be filed pursuant to this chapter shall be filed with the clerk of the municipality in which the owner has its principal place of business. Certificates, in such number as may be necessary, certifying that the owner has complied with all the provisions of Chapter 48:16-1 et seq. shall be provided to the owner by the Municipal Clerk, and said owner shall then be required to file the certificate with the clerk of each municipality where such operation occurs. The providing of this certificate shall not exempt the owner displaying in the auto cab the certificate and any license issued by the licensing municipality a photograph of the driver and a display of the various charges or rates for transportation of passengers.
Each applicant granted a driver's license as required by
this chapter shall be issued a license card in evidence thereof in
a form approved by the Mayor and Township Committee of the Township
of Winslow and signed by the Township Clerk in its behalf. Said license
card shall at all times be carried by the driver while operating a
vehicle as provided in this chapter. In addition, the owner of the
vehicle shall furnish a card with the name of the driver, which shall
at all times be prominently displayed and adequately posted in the
interior of any vehicle operated by the licensee so that the face
thereof shall be at all times in full view of and plainly legible
to any passenger seated on the rear seat of such vehicle, and there
shall be affixed to such card in full view of such passengers a photograph,
of a size not less than one and one-fourth (1Â 1/4) inches in
height and one and three-fourths (1Â 3/4) inches in length, of
such licensed driver, together with a photograph of the licensed owner
of such vehicle of the same size, and each of such photographs shall
have indicated thereon the words "licensed taxicab owner" or "licensed
taxicab driver," as the case may be.
[Amended 12-20-11 by Ord. No. O-2011-030]
A.Â
No vehicle as provided for in this chapter shall hereafter be operated
in the Township of Winslow unless and until there is prominently displayed
in the interior thereof, within full view and access of any passengers
therein, a copy of the taxi owner's license and a complete list
of fares, charges or tariff rates charged for transportation of passengers,
which fares, charges or tariff rates so displayed, and no other, shall
be those charged any passenger so transported.
B.Â
Every owner of an autocab shall cause to be displayed on the body
of the vehicle the taxi license number issued to that vehicle, which
shall be three (3) inches in height and located in the center of the
rear quarter panels on both the driver and passenger sides and the
rear centerline of the trunk of the vehicle.
C.Â
Each autocab shall display on each rear door the name of the Township
of Winslow and any other municipality which has issued a taxi license
to the owner in letters three (3) inches in height.
A.Â
The Mayor
and Township Committee may suspend or revoke any license issued hereunder
for the violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or for
the violation of any of the rules and regulations made, adopted or
promulgated by the Mayor and Township Committee, which rules are adopted
by the Mayor and Township Committee in accordance with the provisions
hereof.
B.Â
A second
suspension for the same reason or, in any case, a third suspension
of a taxi driver's license shall revoke the license.
[Amended 9-27-05 by Ord. No. O-25-05]
Any person violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions
of this chapter shall have the license revoked, and upon conviction
shall be punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars
($500.). The continuation of such violation for each successive day
shall constitute a separate offense, and the person or persons allowing
or permitting the continuation of the violation may be subject to
punishment as provided above for each separate offense.
[Added 12-20-11 by Ord. No. O-2011-030]
A.Â
No autocab license shall be issued to, or renewed, for any driver
or owner unless and until proof is given to the Township Chief of
Police, or his designee, that such autocab has adequately provided
for the safety of children under the age of five (5) years, who would
be passengers in that autocab, by maintaining a federally approved
car seat in the passenger compartment or trunk of the licensed vehicle
at all times for use in accordance with this section.
B.Â
The holder of taxicab licenses prior to the effective date of this section shall have thirty (30) days from the effective date of this section to comply with the requirements set forth in Section 260-20A above before any penalty may be imposed for violation thereof. The license of any autocab owner or driver who has not complied with the requirements of this section after the time period indicated hereinabove has passed shall be subject to penalties as set forth in this chapter. The requirements of this section shall be strictly applied to any applicant for license or renewal of a license after the effective date of this section.
[Added 12-20-11 by Ord. No. O-2011-030]
The following terms as used in this chapter shall have the meaning
set forth below unless the context within which the term is used clearly
provides for a different meaning:
Any automobile or motor car, commonly called taxi, engaged
in the business of carrying passengers for hire which is held out,
announced or advertised to operate or run or which is operated or
run over any of the streets or public highways of this state, and
particularly accepts and discharges such persons as may offer themselves
for transportation from points or places to points or places within
or without the state.
Any individual, copartnership, association, corporation or
joint stock company, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed
by any court whatsoever.
Any street, avenue, park, parkway, highway or other public
place.
