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AN ORDINANCE LICENSING AND REGULATING TAXICABS, FIXING LICENSE FEES
THEREFORE, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OAK PARK HEIGHTS, WASHINGTON COUNTY,
MINNESOTA, DOES ORDAIN:
1402.01 Definitions.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, whenever used in this Ordinance the following
words shall have the meaning given to them by this Section:
A. "Taxicab "means and include any motor vehicle engaged in the carrying of
persons for hire having a capacity of seven passengers or less.
B. "Taxicab Driver" means and include any person who drives a taxicab.
C. "Operator" means and include any person, partnership or corporation owning
or having control of the use of one or more taxicabs.
D. "Taxicab Stand "means and include any place along the curb or street or
elsewhere which is exclusively reserved by the City for the use of taxicabs.
E. "Operate" means the soliciting or accepting for transportation of passengers
for hire within the City.
F. "Taximeter" means and include any mechanical instrument or device
approved by the Chief of Police by means of which a charge for hire of a
taxicab is mechanically calculated and on which such charge is plainly
indicated.
1402.02 License Reauired.
No operator shall operate a taxicab within the City limits without first having
obtained a license therefore under the provisions of this ordinance. Each applicant
for a taxicab license shall apply to the City Clerk for such license on a form to be
provided by the City. Each taxicab operated in the City shall be required to be
licensed as provided herein.
1402.03 Examination of Taxicabs.
The Chief of Police or some other employee, on behalf of the City, designated by the
Chief of Police, shall thoroughly and carefully examine each taxicab before a license
is obtained to operate the same. No taxicab shall be licensed which does not comply
with the following:
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A. It must be in a thoroughly safe condition for the transportation of passengers.
B. It must be clean, in good appearance, and well painted.
C. It must be equipped with a meter in good working order which is lighted and
sealed and so located to permit the passenger to see the meter when
operating. Such other examinations and tests of licensed taxicabs may be
ordered by the Chief of Police from time to time as he may determine
advisable and said Chief of Police shall maintain a constant vigilance to see
that all taxicabs are kept in a good condition for public service. A license
shall be refused for any vehicle found unfit or unsuited for public patronage
and the license of any such unfit or unsuitable vehicle shall be revoked.
1402.04 Taxicab Fares.
The Council may by resolution regulate the minimum and maximum taxicab fares for
all taxicabs licensed under this Ordinance and such regulated fares shall take effect
ten (10) days after the City Clerk has mailed copies of the resolution regulating the
fare to all taxicab licensees.
1402.05 License Fee.
The applicant applying for a taxicab license shall, before being issued a license, pay
to the City Clerk the sum to be established by Council resolution each and every
vehicle to be so licensed. Any license may be transferred during any year, only upon
the additional payment of a proportional part of the fee by the transferee, in addition
to the regular fee paid by the transferor when the license was issued, and upon
approval of the City Council of such transfer. All licenses shall be for a period of
one (1) year and shall expire on the 31 st day of December of each year.
1402.06 Form of License.
Each license shall authorize the owner to operate one public vehicle according to the
provisions of this section and shall contain the name, signature, and address of the
owner and a description of the vehicle, including the serial number, Minnesota State
license number, the make and model of vehicle, and the license number selected by
the City Clerk by which the license shall be designated and known.
1402.07 Insurance Requirements.
No taxicab license shall be issued until the applicant therefore shall obtain a policy or
policies of liability insurance with an insurance company authorized to do business
under the laws of the State of Minnesota and such policy or policies shall be
approved by the City Attorney and filed with the City Clerk. Each insurance policy
shall provide that it is non - cancellable without fifteen (15) days written notice to the
City and the coverage shall be for the term of the license. The limit in any such
insurance policy of liability of the insured on account of the ownership, maintenance
and use of such taxicab shall be not less than $100,000.00 for bodily injuries or the
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death of one person, and $300,000.00 on account of any one accident resulting in
bodily injuries to or death of more than one person and a total of $50,000.00 liability
for damage of property of others arising out of one accident.
1402.08 License Revocation.
Public vehicle licenses may be revoked by the City Council at any time for cause,
after hearing, or may be suspended by the Chief of Police, provided the Chief of
Police shall present charges against the license holder to be heard at a meeting of the
City Council immediately following such suspension of license. Otherwise, said
suspension shall terminate.
1402.09 Driver
No person shall drive a taxicab and no person, firm, or corporation shall permit an
employee to drive a taxicab within the City of Oak Park Heights without such driver
having first obtained the written approval of the Chief of Police under the provisions
of this Ordinance, provided that any driver licensed to operate in another
municipality of this State may carry passengers from said municipality where so
licensed to any place or point within the City of Oak Park Heights, and may freely
enter and travel upon the streets and thoroughfares for that purpose, and may receive
passengers for carriage to said municipality of which the driver of such vehicle is so
licensed, and in any such case, it shall not be deemed necessary for the driver of such
vehicle to acquire the written approval as provided herein; but such driver shall not
be permitted to solicit business on the streets of the City of Oak Park Heights or to
otherwise operate within the City of Oak Park Heights without obtaining such
written approval under the provisions of this Ordinance. While within the corporate
limits of the City of Oak Park Heights, the driver of such vehicle from another
municipality of the State, shall have with him the license certificate for said vehicle
and display the same to any authorized person upon demand. Each applicant seeking
written approval to drive a licensed taxicab in the City of Oak Park Heights must
comply with the following to the satisfaction of the Council.
A. Be a citizen of the United States.
B. Be 18 years of age or over.
C. Be of sound physique and good eyesight and not subject to epilepsy, vertigo,
heart trouble, or other infirmity of the body or mind which might render him
unfit for the operation of a taxicab.
D. Be clean in dress and person and not addicted to the use of intoxicating
liquors or drugs.
E. Fill out upon a blank form to be provided by the City Clerk, a statement
giving his full name, residence for five (5) years previously to moving to his
present address, age, height, color of eyes, year and place of birth, place of
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previous employment, whether married or single, whether he has ever been
convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, whether he has been summoned to
court, whether he has previously been licensed as a driver or chauffeur and, if
so, when and where, and whether his license has ever been revoked and for
what cause. One statement shall be signed and sworn to by the applicant and
filed with the Chief of Police as the provisions of this Ordinance shall be
investigated under the supervision of the Chief of Police and when such
investigation is completed, the application shall be forwarded by the Chief of
Police to the City Clerk, provided however, that a temporary approval may
be given pending such investigation for a period not to exceed twenty (20)
days. Each applicant for driver's approval must file with his application two
(2) recent photographs of himself. Pending compliance with the conditions
above set forth, no person shall drive a licensed taxicab within the City of
Oak Park Heights, and violation of said conditions shall constitute grounds
for revocation of the taxicab license.
1402.10 Lost Articles.
Whenever any package or article or baggage of any kind shall be left in or on any
taxicab, or shall be left in the custody of the driver of any taxicab, such driver shall
upon the discovery thereof, forthwith deliver the same to the City Clerk unless such
package or article shall sooner be delivered to the owner.
1402.11 Taxicab Stands.
Licensed taxicabs shall, when not in motion, be parked at stands designated for the
purpose, from time to time, by resolution of the City Council. Said resolution shall
also designate the number of taxicabs which may be stationed at any such stand. No
taxicab shall remain parked at the head of a column of two (2) or more taxicabs, at
any stand, for more than one (1) hour consecutively. After that time, it shall move
and permit the taxicab next in line to move up to the head of the column. No taxicab
shall park within thirty (30) feet of any crosswalk unless this portion of the street has
been designated as a taxicab stand. Only licensed taxicabs shall be permitted to park
at any taxicab stand.
1402.12 General Reiulations.
A. All taxicab drivers shall be clean and courteous at all times.
B. No more than two (2) persons, in addition to the driver, shall be carried in the
front seat of any taxicab, and no more than a total number of seven (7)
passengers exclusive of the driver, shall be carried in any taxicab.
C. No taxicab driver shall refuse or neglect to convey an orderly person or
persons upon request, unless previously engaged or unable or forbidden by
the provisions of this Ordinance to do so.
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D. No taxicab driver shall solicit patronage in a loud, noisy, or boisterous tone
of voice or manner or to lay hands upon the person or baggage of any person
without the consent of such person, or to follow any person for the purpose of
soliciting patronage.
1402.13 Penaltv.
Any person, firm, or corporation who violates any of the provisions of this Ordinance
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof be sentenced to a
payment of a fine not to exceed Seven Hundred Dollars ($700.00) or imprisonment
not to exceed ninety (90) days, or both.
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