Ordinance #15-2023

"General Ordiances - General Licensing", Section 4-10 "Taxicab License"

An Ordinance Amending and Supplementing the Revised General Ordiances of the Township of Wantage, Chapter 4, "General Licensing", Section 4-10 "Taxicab License", by Amending And Adding the Following.

WHEREAS, the Township of Wantage desires to amend and supplement the provisions of Chapter 4, General Licensing, Section 4-10 Taxicab License of the Wantage Revised General Ordinances;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and Committee of the Township of Wantage, County of Sussex, State of New Jersey:

Section 1. The title of Section 4-10 shall be amended to read "Taxicab and Limousine Licenses".

Section 2. The following shall be added as Section 4-10.11, et. seq. shall be amended to read:

§ 4-10.11 - Definitions.

As used herein, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

Limousine or Livery Service

Includes the business of carrying passengers for hire by taxicabs.

Limousine/Taxicab

Includes any automobile or motor car with a carrying capacity of not more than nine passengers, not including the driver, used 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 which is hired by charter or for a particular contract or by the day or hour or other fixed period or to transport passengers to a specified place or places or which charges a fare or price agreed upon in advance between the operator and the passenger. Nothing in this definition shall be construed to include taxicabs, hotel buses or buses employed solely in transporting school children or teachers or autobuses which are subject to the jurisdiction of the Board of Public Utilities or interstate autobuses required by federal or state law or rules of the Board of Public Utilities to carry insurance against loss from liability imposed by law on account of bodily injury or death.

Person

Includes any individual, proprietorship, partnership or any form of corporate entity if the Township Clerk has issued to such person a certificate of compliance in accordance with N.J.S.A. 48:16-17.

§ 4-10.12 – Notification and payment of fee required.

No person shall operate a limousine or livery service within the Township of Wantage without having notified the Township Clerk as set forth in § 4-10.11 et. seq. and paid the annual fee as required by § 4-10.13.

§ 4-10.13 – Contents of notification; fees.

Any person who intends to operate a limousine or livery service in the Township of Wantage shall, prior to commencing operation, notify the Township Clerk by filing an application in the form required by the Township Clerk. Notification shall include the make, model, year and license plate number for all vehicles used in the operation of the limousine or livery service. Any person who intends to operate a limousine or livery service in the Township of Wantage shall, prior to commencing operation, submit a fee of $50 to the Township Clerk. This section shall not apply to any person operating a limousine or livery service on the effective date of this article.

§ 4-10.14 – Annual notification and fee.

Any person who operates a limousine or livery service in the Township of Wantage shall annually notify the Township Clerk of the make, model, year and license plate number for all vehicles used in the operation of the limousine or livery service. Such notification shall be given, in writing, on or before January 15 of each year and shall be accompanied by a fee of $50, which is in addition to the initial fee paid by new operators as set forth in § 4-10.13.

§ 4-10.15 – List of Drivers.

Any person who operates a limousine or livery service in the Township of Wantage shall notify the Township Clerk of the name, address and driver's license number of every driver employed by the limousine or livery service, on or before January 15 of each year. This requirement shall also apply to any drivers hired after January 15 and who are employed for at least 30 days, following the 30th day of employment of the driver. All applicants must submit a letter of clearance issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission or other applicable authority as proof of having satisfactorily complied with the fingerprint requirement as established by N.J.S.A. 48:16-22.3a.

§ 4-10.16 – Vehicles.

A separate license application shall be filed and a separate license fee shall be paid for each vehicle operated by the person who operates a limousine or livery service in the Township of Wantage. The Applicant shall pay to the Township of Wantage a non-refundable license fee of $50.00 per vehicle which shall be due on or before January 15th of each year.

§ 4-10.17 – Insurance; amount.

Except for limousines registered in other states pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:16-22.4, no limousine shall be operated wholly or partly along any street in the Township of Wantage until the owner of the limousine shall have filed with the Clerk of the municipality in which the owner has his, her or its principal place of business an insurance policy of a company duly licensed to transact business under the insurance laws of New Jersey in the sum of $1,500,000 against loss by reason of the liability imposed by law upon every limousine owner for damages on account of bodily injury or death suffered by any person as a result of any accident occurring by reason of the ownership, maintenance or use of the limousine upon any public street. Such operation shall be permitted only so long as the insurance policy shall remain in force to the full and collectible amount of $1,500,000. The insurance policy shall provide for the payment of any final judgment recovered by any person on account of the ownership, maintenance and use of such limousine or any fault in respect thereto, and shall be for the benefit of every person suffering loss, damage, injury aforesaid.

§ 4-10.18 – Construal of provisions.

This article shall not be construed to limit or restrict the obligations of limousine and livery services to submit an insurance policy and power of attorney to the Township Clerk as required by N.J.S.A. 48:16-13 et seq.

§ 4-10.19 – Limousine licensing.

No limousine shall be operated on the highways of the State of New Jersey unless it has a license issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 48:16-17 and a limousine is equipped in accordance with the minimum standards established by the director of the Division of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Transportation with:

1. A two-way communication system, which, at a minimum, shall provide for communication to a person outside the vehicle for a distance of not less than 100 miles and which requirement may be satisfied by a mobile telephone;
2. A removable first aid kit and operable fire extinguisher, which shall be placed in an accessible place within the vehicle;
3. Sideboards attached to the permanent body construction of the vehicle if the height of the vehicle floor is 10 inches or more above ground level or an appropriate stepping stool or box to assist passengers in entering/exiting the vehicle.

§ 4-10.20 – Compliance with state status.

Any owner, operator or driver shall comply with N.J.S.A. 48:16-13 et seq. and any regulation enacted therefrom.

§ 4-10.21 – Applicability.

This article shall apply only to those persons owning or operating a limousine or livery service in the Township of Wantage.

§ 4-10.22 – Violations and penalties.

Any person, firm or corporation who violates any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by one or more of the following: by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days or by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days.

Section 3. If any section, paragraph, subsection, clause or provision of this Ordinance shall be declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, said decision shall not effect the validity of this Ordinance as a whole or any part thereof.

Section 4. All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with this Ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.

Section 5. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon final passage and publication according to law.

Jonathan Morris, Mayor, Township of Wantage

ATTEST

Michael Restel, Administrator/Acting Clerk

NOTICE is hereby given that the above ordinance was introduced and passed upon first reading at a meeting of the Mayor and Committee of the Township of Wantage, in the County of Sussex, New Jersey, held on the 14th day of December 2023. It will be further considered for final passage after public hearing at a meeting of the Mayor and Committee to be held in the Municipal Building, 888 Route 23 South, in the Township of Wantage, on December 28, 2023 at 7:00 P.M., and during the preceding week copies of the ordinance will be made available at the Clerk's office in the Municipal Building to members of the general public.

Michael Restel, Administrator/Acting Clerk