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[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Borough of Haddonfield 1-22-1951 by Ord. No. 827. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 232.
The following words and phrases and their derivatives, when used in this chapter, shall have the meaning hereinafter indicated:
BOROUGH
The Borough of Haddonfield.
CRUISING
The practice of driving about the streets of the Borough with a taxicab for the purpose of soliciting passengers or presenting the purpose of the taxicab to the attention of prospective passengers. A taxicab driving along the streets of the Borough for any purpose other than while transporting a passenger going to a definite destination by the most direct route in response to a call for a taxicab by a prospective passenger or returning by the most direct route to the taxicab's home terminus after discharging a passenger or going to or from the terminus to the driver's home by the most direct route shall be prima facie evidence of cruising.
DRIVER
Any person who drives a taxicab within the limits of the Borough.
LICENSED
Licensed in accordance with the appropriate section of this chapter.
OPERATION OF A TAXICAB
Consists of transporting in such taxicab one or more persons for hire along any of the streets or public highways of the Borough. Accepting a passenger to be transported for hire within the limits of the Borough of Haddonfield from a point within the limits of the Borough to a point outside the limits of the Borough shall be deemed to be operation of a taxicab within the limits of the Borough within the meaning hereof. The operation of a taxicab in any manner above described by one other than the owner shall be deemed to be operation by the owner thereof as well as by the person actually driving same. The transportation of any person other than the owner or driver in any motor vehicle bearing the sign therein or thereon using any of the words "taxi," "taxicab," "cab" or "hack" shall be prima facie evidence of operation.
OWNER
Any person, corporation or association in whose name title to any taxicab is registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of New Jersey or who appears in such records to be the conditional vendee or lessee thereof.
PERSON
Includes any individual, copartnership, association, corporation or joint-stock company, their lessees, trustees or receivers, and includes the plural as well as the singular.
TAXICAB
Includes 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 within the limits of the Borough of Haddonfield aforesaid, and which accepts passengers for transportation from points or places to points or places within or without the Borough, except that vehicles, and the operators thereof, used exclusively for transportation of passengers between designated points within the Borough and public transportation facilities outside the Borough shall be specifically excluded from the provisions of this chapter, provided that such service is afforded on an advance reservation basis.
[Amended 11-11-1958 by Ord. No. 917]
From and after the effective date of this chapter, no person shall operate any taxicab within the limits of the Borough unless both the taxicab and the driver thereof are licensed pursuant to this chapter and conform to all the provisions hereof and to the provisions of all applicable statutes.
There are hereby established two classes of taxicab licenses to be known as "taxicab driver's license" and "taxicab owner's license," respectively.
A. 
A taxicab driver's license shall entitle the person named therein to operate within the limits of the Borough any taxicab duly licensed hereunder and under the laws of the State of New Jersey, until the license granted pursuant to the terms of this chapter either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked and shall not be transferable.
B. 
A taxicab owner's license shall entitle the taxicab therein described to be operated in the Borough by a driver duly licensed hereunder and duly licensed under the laws of this state, until the license granted pursuant to the terms of this chapter either expires or is surrendered, suspended or revoked, and shall not be transferable.
All licenses issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall expire at 12:00 midnight of the 31st day of December of the year in which the license is issued, unless sooner surrendered, suspended or revoked.
All applications for the issuance or renewal of any license of either class shall be made to the Commissioners of the Borough on forms to be adopted by the Commissioners and to be obtained from the Borough Clerk and designed to elicit information respecting the identification, responsibility and law-abiding habits of the applicant.
Each applicant for a taxicab owner's license shall supply the information requested on the application in full and verify the correctness thereof by oath or affirmation and thereafter file the completed application with the Borough Clerk, together with the full amount of the proper fee hereinafter fixed therefor, at least three weeks before the application shall be acted upon by the Board of Commissioners of the Borough. Upon the filing of such application, the Borough Clerk shall notify each Commissioner in writing of the name and address of the applicant and of the type of the license applied for and shall post notice of such application in at least one public place in the Borough.
Every applicant for a taxicab driver's license shall, at the time of filing his application, be fingerprinted at such place and by such agency as the Board of Commissioners of the Borough shall from time to time direct. An impression of such fingerprints shall thereupon be forwarded forthwith to the Bureau of Identification of the New Jersey State Police for a report of applicant's criminal record, which report, when received, shall be permanently affixed to the application before consideration thereof by the Board of Commissioners of the Borough.
The annual fee for each taxicab driver's license or for any renewal thereof shall be $1 for each year or portion of a year for which the license is issued or renewed, and the annual fee for each taxicab owner's license issued or renewed shall be $25 for each year or portion of a year for which the license is issued or renewed. Such fees shall not be prorated, nor any part thereof refunded for any reason, except that upon the denial of an application for issuance or renewal of a license by the Board of Commissioners, 90% of the fee deposited shall be returned to the applicant and 10% shall be retained by the Borough as compensation for investigation of the application.
[Amended 8-11-1970 by Ord. No. 1085; 9-9-1980 by Ord. No. 1321; 2-22-1983 by Ord. No. 1382; 12-27-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-13]
There shall be a limit of 25 taxicab owner's licenses which may be issued to any one owner, and the total number of taxicab owner's licenses to be issued in any one year under this chapter is not to exceed 25.
The Board of Commissioners of the Borough may refuse to issue or renew or may, after notice and hearing, revoke or suspend:
A. 
Any license of either class if the applicant or licensee has been convicted of a crime in this or in any other jurisdiction, or convicted of being a disorderly person or of a violation of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey, dealing with motor vehicles and traffic regulation, or who violates any provision of this chapter or has any unsatisfied judgment of record against him, arising out of an automobile accident, or who is an alien citizen of any nation between whom and the United States of America a state of war exists or who has made false answers in his application for such license or any renewal thereof, or who has failed or fails to render reasonably prompt, safe and adequate taxicab service or who has not complied fully with all requirements of this chapter for such class of license.
B. 
Any taxicab driver's license if the licensee or applicant has in any degree contributed to any injury to person or damage to property arising out of negligent operation of a motor vehicle or has any communicable or contagious disease.
C. 
Any taxicab owner's license if the motor vehicle licensed or to be licensed, by reason of unsafe or unsanitary condition, is dangerous to the safety or health of the occupants or others or if the policy of insurance required by this chapter has lapsed or such coverage is not maintained at all times.
To each applicant to whom a taxicab driver's license shall be granted, there shall be issued a license card in evidence thereof in a form approved by the Board of Commissioners of the Borough and signed by the Borough Clerk in behalf of the Board. Such license card shall at all times be prominently displayed and adequately protected in the interior of any taxicab 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 in such taxicab. The license card shall at all times be and remain the property of the Borough and, on direction of the Board of Commissioners of the Borough, shall be promptly surrendered to the Borough Clerk.
To each applicant who shall be granted a taxicab owner's license, there shall be issued a license plate hereinafter referred to as a "Borough tag," made of such material and in such form as the Board of Commissioners of the Borough shall decide and which said Borough tag shall at all tines be kept clearly legible and be displayed on the rear exterior portion of the taxicab so licensed, directly above or below the New Jersey state registration plate thereon. Said Borough tag shall at all times be and remain the property of the Borough and, on direction of the Board of Commissioners of the Borough, shall be promptly surrendered to the Borough Clerk.
No taxicab shall hereafter be operated in the Borough unless and until there is prominently displayed in the interior thereof, within the full view and access of any passengers therein, a complete list of fares, charges or tariff rates charged for transportation of passengers, which fares, charges or tariff rates so displayed, and no others, shall be those to be charged any passenger so transported.
Every taxicab so licensed shall have painted on both sides thereof one of the words "taxi" or "cab," in letters at least three inches high, or the name of the operating owner, containing at least one of the words "taxi," "cab" or "taxicab." Every taxicab so licensed shall have painted on each side thereof, in letters at least one inch high, the name of the owner thereof followed or preceded by the word "owner."
[Last amended 1-22-1980 by Ord. No. 1307]
The amount charged for transportation of passengers shall be determined by the Board of Commissioners as follows:
A. 
All licensed corporations or individuals providing taxicab services within the Borough of Haddonfield shall present to the Board of Commissioners a proposal of rates to be charged for the initial mile or fraction thereof and each additional mile or fraction thereof or such other proposed charge or method of charge.
B. 
All applications for rates or rate adjustments shall be accompanied by supporting information justifying such rate or rate adjustment. Such supporting information may, but need not, include evidence of the petitioning party's income, operating and other expense, experience in neighboring communities, and the value of tangible and intangible property of the petitioner.
C. 
Upon receipt of an application with supporting information, the Board of Commissioners, if it is satisfied with the appropriateness of the rate or rate adjustment requested, may approve the same by resolution, and the application for rate or rate adjustment shall be deemed preliminarily approved.
D. 
A further public hearing on the preliminarily approved rate or rate adjustment shall be held at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Commissioners at which time a final determination may be made. If the rate or rate adjustment requested is again approved, the Board of Commissioners shall adopt a resolution of such final approval based upon the application as submitted, and the rates shall be effective immediately. If the rate or rate adjustment does not receive final approval at the public hearing, the application shall then be determined at a future regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Commissioners, not more than 60 days later, at which time a resolution setting forth the Commissioners' decision, findings and conclusions shall be adopted. Further hearings and information may be submitted in the interim.
E. 
Upon receipt of an application with supporting information, the Board of Commissioners, if it is not satisfied with the appropriateness of the rate or rate adjustment requested, shall adopt a resolution denying the initial application pending a further public hearing as described in Subsection D above.
F. 
All existing rates on the effective date of this section are hereby approved.
The owner of each taxicab so licensed shall keep or require to be kept a written record of each trip made by the taxicab, showing the number of daily trips. Such record shall not be destroyed for at least one year from the date of the trip and shall be kept within the Borough in readily accessible form and shall be accessible at all reasonable times for inspection by the Board of Commissioners of the Borough or its accredited representative or by local, state, federal or military law enforcement agencies.
No person shall park or rank any taxicab on any of the streets of the Borough at any time, except at such place or places as may from time to time be lawfully designated as municipal taxi stands.
[Added 2-28-1995 by Ord. No. 1705 [1]]
Every person operating a taxicab, who is transporting a child under the age of five years on roadways, streets or highways of this Borough, shall be responsible for the protection of the child by properly using a child passenger restraint system that complies with federal vehicle safety standards and compliance with state statute.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).