[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Hamilton
7-6-1936 by Ord. No. 63. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Any building, wall or structure which is or may become dangerous to
life or health or which might tend to extend a conflagration shall be removed
or destroyed, and the cost thereof shall be assessed as a municipal lien against
said premises.
The Building Inspector of said township shall be the officer whose duty
it shall be to file a written complaint with the Township Committee concerning
any building, wall or structure in said township which is or may become dangerous
to life or health, or which might tend to extend a conflagration.
A.
Before any proceeding is taken pursuant to the provisions
hereof and pursuant to the complaint of the Building Inspector, the Township
Committee shall, by resolution, cause notice of the contemplated removal or
destruction of any such building, wall or structure to be given to the owner
or owners of any land affected thereby; such notice shall contain a description
of the property affected sufficiently definite in terms to identify the same,
as well as a description of the manner in which such removal or destruction
is to be carried out, and a notice that unless such building, wall or structure
is removed or destroyed within 30 days after the service of such notice, the
township will proceed with such removal or destruction or cause the same to
be proceeded with pursuant to the authority of Chapter 152, P.L. New Jersey,
1917, page 319, Article 14, Subsection (g), as amended by Chapter 87, P.L.
New Jersey, 1932, page 151. Such notice may be served upon the owner or owner's
resident in the Township of Hamilton, in person, or by leaving the same at
his or her usual place of residence with a member of his or her family above
the age of 14 years; in case any such owner shall not reside in the Township
of Hamilton, notice may be served upon him or her personally or mailed to
his or her last known post office address, or it may be served upon the occupant
of the property or upon the agent of the owner in charge thereof; in case
the owner of any such property is unknown or service cannot for any reason
be made as above directed, notice thereof shall be published at least once,
not less than 30 days before the proposed removal or destruction, in a newspaper
circulating in the Township of Hamilton; there may be inserted in said advertisement
notice to the owner or owners of several different parcels of land. Notice
to infant owners, or owner or owners of unsound mind, shall be served upon
their guardians. Where lands are held in trust, service shall be made upon
the trustee. Where lands are held by two or more joint tenants, tenants in
common or tenants by the entirety, service upon one of such owners shall be
sufficient and shall be deemed and taken as notice to all.
B.
Proof of service of such notice shall be filed within
10 days thereafter with the officer having charge of the record of tax liens
in such township, but failure to file the same shall not invalidate the proceedings
if service has actually been made as herein provided.
When any such removal or destruction shall have been undertaken and
completed by the Township of Hamilton, an accurate account of the cost and
expense thereof shall be kept, and a true statement under oath or affirmation
shall be filed by the officer of said township in charge of such removal or
destruction with the Township Clerk. The Township Committee shall examine
the same, and if the same is properly made, shall confirm it and file such
report with the Township Clerk, who shall record the same in a book to be
kept for that purpose. Any such assessment shall be made on notice by the
Assessment Commissioners in the same manner as other improvement assessments
are now made.
The Building Inspector is hereby designated as the officer charged with
the supervision of the removal or destruction of any building, wall or structure
which is or may become dangerous to life or health, or which might tend to
extend a conflagration.
Any owner or owners, occupant or other person having any lien or claim
upon the premises on which is situate any such building, wall or structure
desiring to contest the right of the township to remove or destroy any such
building, wall or structure because he or she contends it is not or may not
become dangerous to life or health or might not tend to extend a conflagration
may file a written protest against such contemplated removal or destruction
with the Township Clerk before the time has expired in the notice as hereinabove
provided, setting forth his or her objection and his or her post office address,
in which case the Township Clerk shall present the matter to the Township
Committee and to the Building Inspector of said township, and the Township
Committee shall thereafter, on not less than 10 days' written notice mailed
by the Township Clerk to such person or person's post office address designated
in said written objection, fix a time and place for the hearing of said objection,
and after said hearing the Township Committee shall either pass a resolution
to proceed with the destruction or removal of any such building, wall or structure,
or a resolution discontinuing such proceedings, and if the Township Committee
by its resolution has ordered the removal or destruction of any such building,
wall or structure which is or may become dangerous to life or health, or which
might tend to extend a conflagration, the Building Inspector, upon the expiration
of the time prescribed in the original notice hereinabove provided, shall
proceed forthwith with the removal or destruction of the same.
