[Adopted 3-9-1989 by Ord. No. 3-1989]
This article shall be known and may be cited
as the "1989 Clean Community Ordinance of the City of Somers Point."
A.
When not inconsistent with the context, words used
in the present tense include the future, words used in the plural
number include the singular, and words used in the singular number
include the plural. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely
directory.
B.
AIRCRAFT
CITY
HANDBILL
LITTER
LITTER RECEPTACLE
NEWSPAPER
PARK
PERSON
PRIVATE PREMISES and PRIVATE PROPERTY
PUBLIC PLACE and PUBLIC PROPERTY
VEHICLE
For the purposes of this article, the following terms,
phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given
herein:
Any contrivance now known or hereafter invented, used or
designed for flight in the air, including, without limitation, helicopters
and lighter-than-air dirigibles and balloons.
The City of Somers Point, New Jersey.
Any printed or written card, circular, leaflet, pamphlet,
paper, booklet or any other medium, such as but not limited to a sample
or device with writing or printing on it, which advertises or directs
attention to any person, place, thing, activity or event for the purpose
of either directly or indirectly encouraging, aiding and/or promoting
or for discouraging and/or opposing the interest of such person, place,
thing, activity or event. For purposes of this article, there is no
distinction as to whether such interest is commercial or noncommercial.
Any used or unconsumed substance or waste material which
has been discarded, whether made of aluminum, glass, plastic, rubber,
paper or other natural or synthetic material, or any combination thereof,
including but not limited to any bottle, jar or can or any top, cap
or detachable tab of any bottle, jar or can, any unlighted cigarette,
cigar, match or any flaming or glowing material or any garbage, trash,
refuse, debris, rubbish, grass clippings or other lawn or garden waste,
commercial or noncommercial handbill, newspapers, magazines, glass,
metal, plastic or paper containers or other packaging or construction
material, but does not include the waste of the primary processes
of mining or other extraction processes, logging, sawmilling, farming
or manufacturing.
A container suitable for the depositing of litter. If located
outdoors, a container is suitable if it is of sturdy construction
and has a top or lid which can be closed, so as to contain and confine
litter and prevent the litter from being carried or deposited by animals
and/or the elements upon any other property.
Any newspaper of general circulation, as defined by general
law, any newspaper duly entered with the United States Postal Service
in accordance with federal statute or regulation and any newspaper
filed and recorded with any recording officer, as provided by general
law; and, in addition thereto, shall mean and include any periodical
or current magazine regularly published with not less than four issues
per year and sold to the public. Such a "newspaper" is not a handbill
within the meaning of this chapter.
A park, reservation, playground, boardwalk, beach, recreation
center or any other public area in the City, owned or used by the
City and devoted to active or passive recreation.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
Any dwelling, house, building or other structure, designed
or used, either wholly or in part, for private residential and/or
commercial purposes, whether occupied or temporarily or continuously
unoccupied or vacant, and shall include any yard, grounds, walk, driveway,
porch, steps, vestibule and/or mailbox belonging or appurtenant to
such dwelling, house or building or other structure.
Any street, sidewalk, beach, boardwalk, boulevard, alley
or other public way and any public park, square, space, grounds or
building and any area that is used or held out for use by the public,
whether owned or operated by public or private interests.
Any device in, upon or by which any person or property is
or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, including devices used
exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
A.
Litter receptacles shall be provided and serviced
at the following public places which exist in the City:
(1)
Sidewalks used by pedestrians in active, commercially
zoned areas, such that, at a minimum, there shall be no single linear
1/4 mile without a receptacle.
(2)
Buildings held out for use by the public, including
schools, government buildings and railroad and bus stations.
(3)
Parks.
(4)
Drive-in restaurants.
(5)
All street vendor locations.
(6)
Self-service refreshment areas.
(7)
Construction sites.
(8)
Gasoline service station islands.
(9)
Shopping centers.
(10)
Parking lots.
(11)
Campgrounds and trailer parks.
(12)
Marinas, boat moorage and fueling stations.
(13)
Boat launching areas.
(14)
Public and private piers operated for public
use.
(15)
Beaches and bathing areas.
(16)
Special events to which the public is invited,
including sporting events, parades, carnivals, circuses and festivals.
B.
The proprietors of these places and/or the sponsors
of these events shall be responsible for providing and servicing the
litter receptacles such that adequate containerization is available.
A.
No person shall throw, drop, discard or otherwise
place any litter of any nature upon public or private property within
the City other than in a litter receptacle.
B.
No person shall throw, drop, discard or otherwise
place any litter of any nature in any fountain, pond, bay, stream
or any other body of water within the City.
A.
Persons placing litter in any litter receptacle within
the City shall do so in such a manner as to prevent the litter from
being carried or deposited by animals and/or the elements upon any
other public or private property. Where a litter receptacle is not
present or is too full, all new litter shall be carried away by the
person responsible for its presence and properly disposed of elsewhere.
Open or overflowing commercial, industrial and/or residential litter
receptacles located outdoors are prohibited within the City, and the
owner(s) thereof as well as the person(s) responsible for causing
any such condition may be found to be in violation of this provision.
B.
All litter which is generated at or upon private property
is to be disposed of within the City only in accordance with laws
regulating the same in connection with the City of Somers Point Solid
Waste Management Ordinance, Ordinance No. 18-1988.[1] No person shall dispose of any such litter at any litter
receptacle maintained on public property within the City.
A.
No person, while a driver or passenger in a vehicle,
shall throw or deposit litter upon any street or other public or private
property within the City.
B.
No person shall drive or move any truck or other vehicle
within the City unless such vehicle is so constructed, loaded and
covered as to prevent any load, contents or litter from dropping,
shifting, leaking, being blown or otherwise escaping upon any public
or private property within the City; nor shall any person drive or
move any vehicle or truck within the City, the wheels or tires of
which carry into or deposit in any street, alley or other public place
mud, dirt, sticky substances, litter or foreign matter of any kind.
Persons owning or occupying or in charge of
property within the City shall keep the sidewalks and curbs abutting
the property free from obstruction and nuisances of every kind and
shall keep the sidewalks, areaways, yards, courts and alleys free
from litter and other offensive material. This section does not prohibit
the storage of litter in litter receptacles for collection.
No person shall sweep into or deposit in any
gutter, street or other public place within the City any accumulation
of litter from any building or lot or from any public or private sidewalk
or driveway. All sweepings shall be collected and properly containerized
for disposal.
In areas zoned residential within the City,
the storage outdoors of tires and/or any bulky household items, such
as appliances, furniture or mattresses, for a period of more than
seven days, whether or not consecutive, is prohibited. The intent
of this provision is to allow the placement of such items outdoors
until the next day designated for the collection of bulky items but
otherwise to prohibit accumulation and storage of such items outdoors
in residential zones.
No person shall discard or dump any household
or commercial solid waste in any place within the City not specifically
designated for the purposes of solid waste storage or disposal.
The accumulation or storage of debris on or
around construction sites within the City in such a manner that it
is likely to be removed by the elements onto adjacent property is
prohibited.
The placement and keeping of inoperable or unregistered
vehicles on any public property or on any private vacant lot within
the City, except as instructed by City police, is prohibited. The
parking of any vehicle on any residential lawn is prohibited.
No person shall cause or willfully allow the
release of any balloon within the City so as to allow it to float,
drift, be carried or blown untethered over or into any natural body
of water. Any person who, within the City, willfully or negligently
causes or allows any balloon to fall, land or otherwise be placed
or deposited in any natural body of water shall retrieve each such
balloon from the water and dispose of it properly.
A.
Loose and/or discarded handbills constitute litter
within the meaning of this chapter.
B.
In order to control and prevent litter, no person
shall place, throw, deposit, hand out or distribute within the City,
whether or not by or in connection with any transaction of sale, any
handbill:
(1)
In any public place except by handing or transmitting
it directly to another person who is willing to accept it.
(2)
On or in any unoccupied vehicle, whether in a public
or private place.
(3)
On or in any private property which is temporarily
or continuously unoccupied.
(4)
On or in any occupied private property if requested
by anyone thereon not to do so or if there is placed thereon in a
conspicuous place any sign or other notice indicating "No Trespassing,"
"No Peddlers or Agents," "No Advertisement" or any similar notice
indicating in any manner that the owner or occupant of the property
does not desire to have the right of privacy disturbed or to have
handbills left on the property.
(5)
On or in any occupied private property unless such
handbill is placed so as to secure or prevent such handbill from being
blown or drifted about such property or onto any sidewalk, street
or other public or private property.
(6)
In any mailbox in violation of federal postal law
or regulation.
C.
Each person actually distributing any handbill in
any public or private place shall make reasonable inspection of the
general area in which the distribution occurs, during and immediately
after the time such handbill is distributed, and shall exercise reasonable
care and effort to retrieve and properly dispose of any loose or discarded
handbill which is on any public or private property in the area, which
handbill is the same as that which such person distributed.
D.
Each person directing or requesting or otherwise directly
or indirectly responsible for the distribution of any handbill in
any public or private place shall assure that every person who actually
distributes any such handbill complies with the cleanup provisions
of the foregoing subsection. The conviction under the foregoing subsection
of a person who actually distributed a handbill shall constitute prima
facie evidence of a separate violation of this subsection by any such
other responsible person.
E.
No person receiving any handbill shall dispose of the same in violation of § 169-5 or any other provision of this chapter.
F.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to
the distribution of mail by the United States, nor to newspapers,
as defined in this chapter, except that newspapers shall be placed
on private property in such a manner as to prevent their being carried
or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public
property or upon another private property.
No person shall post or affix any notice, poster
or other paper or device calculated to attract the attention of the
public to any lamppost, public utility pole or shade tree or upon
any public structure or building, except as may be authorized or required
by law.
No person in an aircraft will throw out, drop
or deposit within the City any litter, handbill or any other object.
A.
Notice to remove. The City Code Enforcement Officer
is hereby authorized and empowered to notify the owner of any open
or vacant private property within the City, or the agent of such owner,
to properly dispose of litter located on such owner's property which
is dangerous to public health, safety or welfare. Such notice shall
be by registered mail, addressed to said owner at his last known address.
B.
Action upon noncompliance. Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any owner or agent so notified to properly dispose of litter dangerous to the public health, safety or welfare, within 10 days after receipt of written notice provided for in Subsection A above or within 15 days after the date of such notice in the event the same is returned to the City by the post office because of its inability to make delivery thereof, provided that the same was properly addressed to the last known address of such owner or agent, the City Code Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized and empowered to pay for the disposing of such litter or to order its disposal by the City.
C.
Charge included in tax bill. When the City has effected
the removal of such dangerous litter or has paid for its removal,
the actual costs thereof, plus accrued interest at the rate of 6%
per annum from the date of the completion of the work, if not paid
by such owner prior thereto, shall be charged to the owner of such
property on the next regular tax bill forwarded to such owner by the
City, and said charge shall be due and payable by said owner at the
time of payment of such bill.
D.
Recorded statement constitutes lien. Where the full amount due the City is not paid by such owner within 30 days after the disposal of such litter, as provided for in Subsections A and B above, then and in that case the City Code Enforcement Officer shall cause to be recorded in the Tax Collector's office of the City a sworn statement showing the cost and expense incurred for the work, the date the work was done and the location of the property on which said work was done. The recordation of such sworn statement shall constitute a lien and privilege on the property and shall remain in full force and effect for the amount due in principal and interest, plus costs of court, in any, for collection, until final payment has been made. Said costs and expenses shall be collected in the manner fixed by law for the collection of taxes and, further, shall be subject to a delinquent penalty of 8% in the event that the same is not paid in full on or before the date the tax bill upon which said charge appears becomes delinquent. Sworn statements recorded in accordance with the provisions hereof shall be prima facie evidence that all legal formalities have been complied with and that the work has been done properly and satisfactorily and shall be full notice to every person concerned that the amount of the statement, plus interest, constitutes a charge against the property designated or described in the statement and that the same is due and collectible as provided by law. Said lien may be sold and assigned or foreclosed upon by the City in the same manner and to the same extent as a lien for unpaid taxes assessed on said property.
[Amended 3-14-1991 by Ord. No. 6-1991]
A code declaring ragweed and poison ivy to be a nuisance, providing for removal or abatement thereof and recovery of expenses incurred by the Board of Health in removing or abating such nuisance and prescribing penalties for violations was previously adopted by the City in Ordinance No. 13-1969, passed May 22, 1969, adopting state law embodied in Chapter 188 of the Laws of 1950, commonly known as the "Weed Control Code of New Jersey (1953)." That previous Ordinance No. 13-1969 is repealed by this article, but the provisions of said Weed Control Code of New Jersey (1953) are continued hereby in this article. Three copies of said Weed Control Code of New Jersey (1953) were placed on file in the office of the Chairman of the local Board of Health upon the introduction of Ordinance No. 13-1969 and will remain on file there for the use and examination of the public so long as this article is in effect.
A.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this
article shall, upon conviction in the Municipal Court of Somers Point,
be punished for each offense by a fine of not less than $50 and not
more than $100 or by imprisonment for any term not exceeding 90 days
in the county jail or in any place provided by the municipality for
the detention of prisoners, or both. The Municipal Court Judge, before
whom any person is convicted of violating this article, shall have
the power to impose any fine or term of imprisonment within the foregoing
limits fixed in this article.
B.
In default of the payment of any fine imposed hereunder,
any person convicted of any violation may, in the discretion of the
Municipal Court Judge by whom he was convicted, be imprisoned in the
county jail or a place of detention provided by the municipality,
for any term not exceeding 90 days.
