It is the intent of this chapter to regulate the installation and use of ice-retardant systems on waterfront properties within the Township of Jefferson for the protection of persons and property and to provide for the public health, safety and welfare of the Township of Jefferson and its inhabitants.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AFFECTED AREA OF ICE The area of the water body or ice surface disturbed by the operation of an ice-retardant system. Said disturbed or affected area includes open water, weakened ice (excessively cracked), thin ice (less than four inches in depth) and areas where adjacent ice is covered by a film of water.
BULKHEAD LINE The high-water mark of 10.30 feet above the dam as recorded at Lake Hopatcong State Park or the line established by the Bureau of Navigation, State Department of Environmental Protection, defining the lake's permanent shoreline.
ICE-RETARDANT SYSTEM A mechanical device(s) or a series of mechanical devices designed to retard or prevent the formation of ice in or around lakefront structures. Said devices utilize as their mode of operation one or more of the following mechanisms: pumped air, artificial water turbulence or the addition of heat to the water body.
NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS The average winter conditions to be utilized in the design or operation of an ice-retardant system and to be utilized in gauging compliance with the terms of this chapter. Said "normal operating conditions" are defined as an average of four or more inches of ice on the applicable water body. Such term excludes any time period characterized by unseasonably warm temperature (average daily temperature above 40° F. for three or more consecutive days) or rainfall (greater than 1/2 inch of rainfall per day) and the three days immediately thereafter. In any enforcement action under the terms of this chapter, the burden is on the operator of the ice-retardant system to establish that normal operating conditions were not existent on the date of the alleged violation.
OWNER or OPERATOR The owner of record of a tract of land according to the tax rolls of the Township of Jefferson or any person occupying said premises or utilizing the property.
PERSON Any individual, association of individuals, corporation or partnership.
PROTECTED STRUCTURE Any lakefront or within lake structure which the ice-retardant system is designed to protect. Such protected structures include but are not limited to docks, piers, bulkheads, catwalks, seawalls and boathouses.
The Township Council may, by resolution, waive the requirements of this chapter in situations of hardship or exceptional public necessity. Exceptional public necessity shall include but is not limited to a necessity to maintain an open channel of water for ferry service or access to island lakefront homes. In considering such an application, the Township Council may refer the application to the Lake Hopatcong Commission for comment. In adopting the resolution, Council shall specify requirements as to markings and lighting. Such requirements can include but are not limited to requiring buoys to be placed in the frozen water body to clearly mark the approach, requiring nighttime illumination or flashing lights to indicate that open water is present, limiting the size of the affected ice area to the minimal necessary for the use and/or publishing public notice of the condition to specify minimal levels of insurance requirements.
Compliance and/or noncompliance with the requirements of this chapter shall not preclude any civil action for damages arising from injuries incurred through the operation of an ice-retardant system.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as repealing any provision of any other municipal ordinance. In the event that any regulation provided above shall vary from the same or a similar regulation of any other municipal ordinance, the more restrictive provision of such ordinance shall be deemed to control.