ORD CC 09/02/1941 - Taxicabs BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF TAM CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS:
SECTION I: DEFINITION OF TERMS
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Unless it appears from tiie context that a different
meaning is intended, the following words shall have the meaning
attached to them by this Section:
1. The word "street" shall mean and include any
street, alley, avenue, lane, public place or highway within the
corporate limits of the City of Huntsville, Texas.
2. The word "taxi" or "cab" shall mean, cover and
embrace any vehicle for hire for the purpose of transporting passen-
gers upon or over the streets of the City of Huntsville, whether
operated wholly within the City or between points outside of the
City and points within the City, except bus lines operating through
the City and having a permit from the Railroad Commission of the State
of Texas and buses hauling or carrying school children on a regular
scheduled route.
3. The word °person" shall include both the singu-
lar and plural, and shall mean and embrace any person, firm, corpor-
ation, association, partnership, society or trust.
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SECTION II: rERYIT AND AFB LICATIOI'a THEREFOR
1. No person shall hereafter operate a taxi or cab
within the corporate limits of the City of Huntsville, Texas, without
first having made application for anL procured a rermit from the
City Council of the City of Huntsville, Texas, permitting and authoriz-
ing the operation thereof under the provisions of this Ordinance.
2. Any person desiring to operate a taxi or cab
within the City of Huntsville, Texas, shall make application to the
City Council of the City of Huntsville, Texas, for authority or
permission to so operate said taxi or cab, which application shall be
in writing, be signed and sworn to by the applicant, and shall dis-
close, among other matters that may be required by the City Council
from time to time, the following:
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(1) Facts shoving that there exist the public
convenience and necessity for such operation.
(2) The name, age, business and residential
address of the applicant.
(3) The experience of the applicant in the
operation of a taxi or cab business, and the type of service to
be furnished.
(4) The place or places of residence of the appli-
cant .for the five years next preceding the filing of the application.
(5) The business or businesses engaged in by
applicant for the five years next preceding the filing of the appli-
cation.
(6) The number, kind, character, condition,year,
model and make of all vehicles to -be operated by applicant, whether
eacKI of said vehicles are fully paid for and are free and clear
of all liens, and the nature, amount and to whom any sums are owing
on each of said vehicles.
(7) A complete, full and detailed financial state-
ment shoring the kind, character, description, location and value
of all assets of the applicant, and the kind, character, description,
holder and maturity of all liabilities of the applicant, and which
said statement shall show which of said assets, if any, are exempt
under the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas from the
payment of applicant's debts.
{8) Whether the applicant is addicted to the use of
intoxicating liquor, morphine, cocaine or opiate, or any other kind
of drug calculated to affect the physical or mental condition or
strength of applicant.
(9) ,Whether applicant is deaf, partially deaf,
near-sighted, or is laboring under any other physical or mental
deformities, or is affected with any contagious or infectious
disease.
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(10) Whether applicant has ever been convicted of
a felony or a misdemeanor in this or any other State; if so, a
complete statement of the offense, the Court wherein and the time
when the conviction was had.
(11) If the applicant is a corporation it shall
also disclose its authority to do business in Texas, the amount
of its capital stock, the amount subscribed and fully paid in,
its home office, and the names and addresses of its officers.
(12) If the applicant is a partnership, association,
society, unincorporated joint stock company or trust, all of the
information herein required to be furnished shall be furnished
as to each person interested in or a member of applicant' s business.
(13) Such other and additional information as may
be required by the City Council from time .to time.
SECTIOT; III: _ERRING OF AND ACTIOIi ON ArFLICATION.
1. At a regular meeting or at a meeting called for
-such purpose, the City Council shall hear and pass upon all appli-
cations filed hereunder. The Council shall first determine whether
the public convenience and necessity requires the operation of
such taxis or cabs, and shall investigate the fitness of the
applicant to operate such business, and in so doing, among other
things, shall give weight and due regard to the following:
(1) The probable permanence and quality of the
service to be furnished by the applicant.
(2) The financial ability and responsibility
of the applicant.
(3) The character and condition of the vehicles
to be used by the applicant.
(4) The experience of the applicant in the trans-
portation of passengers for hire in automobiles or motor vehicles.
{5) The adequacy of the taxi or cab service and
other forms of transportation for passengers already existing in
the City.
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(b) The physical, moral and mental fitness of
the applicant.
2. The City Council shall have authority to either
grant a permit for which an application is made or to grant a permit
to the applicant for a lesser number of vehicles than specified
in the application, provided the City Council first finds and
determines that the public convenience and necessity demands the
granting of said permit and that the applicant is a fit and proper
person to conduct such business; provided further that if the
City Council determines and finds that the public convenience
and necessity does not require the operation of any of such
vehicles specified in the application, or that the applicant is
not a fit and proper person to conduct such business it shall forth-
with refuse such application and no permit shall be issued to such
applicant; and provided further, that th✓ burden shall be upon the
applicant to establish the existence of a public convenience and
necessity for the operation of the vehicles designated in the appli-
cation and that he is a fit and proper person to operate such business.
J. Should the City Council determine and find that
the public convenience and necessity requires the issuance of a perrait
and that the ap,-licant is a fit and groper person to operate such
business, then after the applicant has furnished all the information
required by the Council and paid all inspection fees and other charges
required hereunder and has complied with all of the provisions of
Section VI of this Ordinance, the Council shall order the issuance
of a permit which shall state the number of vehicles ,ermitted to
be operated thereunder.
SECTION N: ISSUANCE OF PEFd,.rIIT, DURATION AND RENEWAL
1. Within thirty days after the granting of such
permit by the City Council, the Mayor shall issue to the applicant
a permit which shall state the number of vehicles authorized to
be operated thereunder, and ithich permit shall be countersigned
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by the City Secretary and shall have the seal of the City of Hunts-
ville impressed thereon; provided that no such permit or renewal
thereof shall ever be issued until authorized by the City Council
and until the applicant shall have paid all fees and other charges
required hereunder, shall have provided the bond or insurance in
lieu thereof, as hereinafter provided, and shall have shown that
all taxes levied and assessed by the City against the vehicle or
vehicles, if due, have been paid, and that said vehicle or vehicles
have been rendered by the applicant to the City Assessor and
Collector of Taxes for the current year for which such permit or
renewal thereof is sought.
2. All permits and renewals thereof authorized to
be issued hereunder shall be effective for the remainder of the
calendar year only and shall terminate, cease and be of no further
force and effect after the 31st day of December of the year of their
issuance unless renewed as here-'Ma'ter provided.
3. All permits or renewal permits issued hereunder
shall be non-transferable without the consent and approval of the
City Cou?.cil and without the prior payment by the transferror to
the City of the sum o.L$ ,6 0° Dollars per car for each car authorized
to be operated under such permit, and no transferree small be per-
mitted to operate under such ypermit until the City Comptroller has
endorsed thereon under her hand and seal of the City a certificate
showing that permission for the transfer has been granted by the
City Council and that all fees and other charges required for such
transfer have been paid to the City.
4. Should the holder of any permit, his agents,
servants or employees, violate any of the provisions of this
Ordinance the City Council may immediately cancel such permit
so issued to such applicant and same small immediately cease, be
inoperative, become null and void and be of no further force and
effect.
5. Should t-e holder of any uermit or renewal
permit desire to operate thereunder after the 31st day of December
of t_-Ie year of its issuance, he shall file an application for
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the renewal of such permit or renewal permit on or before the lst
day of December of such year of its expiration, and shall pay the
inspection fees and other charges herein required, make proof of
payment of all taxes as herein provided and provided the bond or
insurance in lieu thereof as herein required for original permits,
which said application need not contain the requirements herein
provided under iSection II hereof for original applications for
permits unless required by the City Council; provided, however,
that the City Council may without cause cancel any or all permits
or renewal per;2its effective as of the 31st day of December of
the year in which such permit or rene,?al permit was granted, and
in such event the holder of such per:. it or renewal permit as may
have been cancelled, should he desire to continue the operation
of the taxi or cab business shall make application for a permit
to operate such business the same as if no permit or renewal
permit had ever been issued to him.
SECTION V; CHAUFFEUR'S LICEP SE FOR OPERATION OF TAXI:
1. No person shall be permitted to drive or operate
a taxi or cab within the corporate limits of the City of Huntsville,
Texas, whether such person is the holder of a permit or is an agent,
servant or employee of the holder of a -permit, without first having
filed an application for and procured a chauffeur' s license from the
City Counicil cfthe City of Huntsville, Texas.
2. Any person desiring a chauffeur' s license for
the operation of a taxi or cab within the corporate limits of the
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City of Huntsville shall file an application for such license
with the City Councilcf the City of Huntsville, Texas, and pay all
fees and charges required by this Ordinance, which said application
shall contain, among other things, the following information:
(1) 4 showing that said applicant is the holder of
a chauffeur' s license issued by the State of Texas and the number
thereof.
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(2) The name, age, business and residential address
of the applicant.
(3) The experience of the applicant in the driving
of taxis or cabs and in 'the driving of passenger automobiles.
(4) The place or places of residence of the appli-
cant for the five years next preceding the filing of the application.
(5) The business or businesses engaged in by the
applicant for the five years next preceding the filing of the
application.
(6) Tfhether the applicant is addicted to the use of
intoxicating liquor, morphine, cocaine or opiate, or any other kind
of drug calculated to affect the physical or mental condition or
strength of applicant.
(7) Whether applicant is .deaf, partially deaf,
near-sighted, or is laboring under any other physical or mental
deformities, or is affected with any contagious or infectious
diseases.
(8) Whether applicant has ever been convicted
of a felony or a misdemeanor in this or any other State, if so, a
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complete statement of the offense, the Court wherein and the time
when the convictior :-as had.
3. Should the City Council determine that such
applicant is a fit and proper person to drive a taxi or cab within
the corporate limits of the City of Huntsville, Texas, such
chauffeur's license shall be granted. Said license shall be in
writing signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Secretary
and have the corporate seal of the City impressed thereon, and
shall be effective for the remainder of the calendar yeap in
which it is issued.
4. No person. shall drive or operate a taxi or
cab without having his Chauffeur' s License on his person or in his cab
or taxi, and the City Council may, without other cause shown, revoke
and cancel the Chauffeur's License of any person violating this section
of this Ordinance.
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SECTION VI: FEES, CHARGES AND BOND REQUIREIM T8
I. No permit or renewal permit shall ever be issued
to any applicant permitting the operation of any taxi or cab
business within the corporate limits of the City of Huntsville,
Texas, until such applicant shall have procured and deposited with
the City Comptroller of the City of Huntsville, Texas, a good
and sufficient bond subject to the approval 'of the City Comptroller
and payable to the City of Huntsville, Texas, for the use and benefit
of any person or persons who may suffer injury to their person or
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property by reason of the negligence of the holder of such permit,
his agents, servants or employees, in the operation of any taxi
or cab within said City, which said bond shall be in the penal
sum of not less than Five Thousand ($5,000.00) Dollars covering
TV,'0 TH017S LND FI'a' Et'r DIED ($2,500.00)
property damage, and not less Dollars
F l'TE (" 5,00o.00)
for one person and/ Thousand Dollars for all
persons injured in the sane accident, and which said bond shall
be subject to the approval of the City Comptroller as to its form
and the sufficiency of the sureties, provided, however, that
in lieu of such bond said applicant may procure and deposit with
the City Comptroller an insurance policy issued by a company
acceptable to the City Comptroller in the amounts provided for-
in said bond and providing substantially for the same coverage,
which said insurance policy shall not be approved or accepted
by the City Comptroller unless and until satisfactory proof has been
made that all premiums due thereon have been paid for the duration
of such permit or renewal permit.
2. Concurrently with the filing of all applications
for a permit to operate a taxi or cab business within the City of
Huntsville, Texas, and all renewals thereof, the applicant shall
file therewith proof of the payment of all taxes levied and assessed
by the City against the vehicle or velYcles for the operation of which
a permit is sought, if due, and that said vehicle or vehicles have
been rendered by the applicant to the City Assessor and Colledtor of
Tees for the current year for which such permit or renewal permit is
sought,
3. All applicants for a permit to operate a taxi
or cab business within the City of Huntsville, Texas, shall pay
to the City Comptroller concurrently with the filing of such
application the sum of S.OD Dollars per car for each car or
vehicle for the operation of which as a taxi or cab the permit is
sought, which said sum.shall be an inspection fee to cover the cost
of inspecting the vehicle or vehicles.
4. All applicants for a chauffeur's license
to drive a taxi or cab within the corporate limits of the City of
Huntsville, under authority of a permit issued to such applicants,
or their employer, shall pay to the City Comptroller concurrently
with the filing of such application. the sum of One ($1.00) Dollar
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which shall be a fee or charge to cover the cost of an investigation.
of the character and fitness of such applicant.
SECTIOIv VII: GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. The City Council shall d esir�nate such number
of garages or mechanics as it deems necessary and advisable as
official garages or mechanics authorized to inspect and examine
taxis or cabs operating hereunder. The City Council may from time
to time, as it deems advisable, not more often than at thirty day
intervals, require the holder of any permit issued hereunder for
the operation of a taxi or cab business to have all taxis or cars
operated by the holder of such hermit thereunder to be mechanically
examined and inspected at an officially designated garage or by
an officially designated mechanic at the cost and expense of the
holder of such permit and to furnish to said Council the report of
such official garage or official mechanic as to the mechanical con-
dition of said taxi or cab. For all taxis or cabs found to be in
good mechanical condition and to be safe for use as a taxi or cab
the City Comptroller shall issue a certificate of inspection showing
that said cab or taxi may be operated under the permit issued to
the ovrner thereof and such certificate shall be plainly displayed
in said taxi or cab at all times; provided that any taxi or cab not
shown to be in a good mechanical condition and not shown_ to be
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safe for use as a taxi or cab within the City of Huntsville shall
not be operated under such permit until such time as said cab is
put in good mechanical condition and made safe for such operation
and until such time as a certificate showing such facts shall have
been issued by the said City Comptroller; provided, however v that
should the holder of anypermit issued hereunder fail at any time to
have plainly displayed in all taxis or cabs operating under such
permit said certificate showing said cab or cabs to be in good
mechanical condition and safe for use within the City for such
purposes, the City Council may, without further or other proof,
j revoke and cancel such permit or renewal permit theretofore issued
to such owner.
SECTION VIII: IiTENTION
1. If any section, sub-section, sentence, clause
or phrase of this Ordinance is, for any reason, held to be un-
constitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of
the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each section,
sub-section, sentence, clause or phrase thereof irrespective
of the fact that any one or more of the sections, sub-sections,
sentences, clauses or phrases are declared unconstitutional.
SECTIOIt IX: LLiITATION
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1. The provisions of t--.,is Ordinance shall not apply
to persons operating bus lines passing through the City of
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Huntsville, Texas, having apermit from the Railroad Commission of
the State of Texas, nor tothe operation of buses hauling or carrying
school children to and from the schools operqted within the City
of Huntsville, Texas
SECTION X: PENALTY
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L. Any person violating or failing or refusing
to comply with any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be
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guilty of a misdemeanor and upon coviction thereof shall be pun-
ished by a fine not less than One ($1.00) Dollar nor more than
One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars
2. Each and every act constituting a violation
of this Ordinance and each and every failure or refusal to comply
with any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be a separate
offense and shall be punishable as such.
3. In addition to the other remedies provided,
the City reserves the right to file in the proper Court of this
State having jurisdiction of the subject matter a suit for
injunction and to enjoin the use of the streets of the City of
Huntsville by any person operating a taxi or cab business in
violation of any of the terms and provisions hereof and without
having procured the permits or licenses herein provided for.
SECTION XI: EMERGENCY
The fact that the City of Huntsville now has no
adequate Ordinance regulating the use of the streets in the operation
of a taxi or cab business creates an emergency and this Ordinance
is hereby declared to be an emergency Ordinance and shall take
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effect immediately after its passage, approval and publication.
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The above and foregoing Ordinance was duly sub-
mitted to the Committee on Ordinances for its investigation: and
recommendation on this day of September, 1941.
ATTEST: MAYOR, CITY OF HU : ILLE,, TEXAb.
CITY SECRETARY
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-We, your Committee of Ordinances, to whom the above
and foregoing Ordinance was referred, have examined the same and
made an investigation thereof, do hereby return the same, and
recommend its passage and approval this __Z_ day of September, 1941.
EE ON ORDINANCES-
Passed and approved this day of September, 1941.
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MAYOR, CITY Or I3u1�_T
ATTEST;
CITY SECRETARY
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gill
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