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Atlantic City, NJ
Atlantic County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (11) Index
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners (now City Council) of the City of Atlantic City 4-19-1962 by Ord. No. 6-1962. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Anti-Litter Ordinance of the City of Atlantic City."
A. 
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein:
AIRCRAFT
Any contrivance now known or hereafter invented, used or designated for navigation or for flight in the air. The word "aircraft" shall include helicopters and lighter-than-air dirigibles and balloons.
AUTHORIZED PRIVATE RECEPTACLE
A litter storage and collection receptacle.
CITY
The City of Atlantic City.
COMMERCIAL HANDBILL
Any printed or written matter, any sample or device, dodger, circular, leaflet, pamphlet, paper, booklet or any other printed or otherwise reproduced original or copies of any matter of literature which:
(1) 
Advertises for sale any merchandise, product, commodity or thing;
(2) 
Directs attention to any business or mercantile or commercial establishment or other activity for the purpose of either directly or indirectly promoting the interest thereof by sales;
(3) 
Directs attention to or advertises any meeting, theatrical performance, exhibition or event of any kind for which an admission fee is charged for the purpose of private gain or profit, but the terms of this subsection shall not apply where an admission fee is charged or a collection is taken up for the purpose of defraying the expenses incident to such meeting, theatrical performance, exhibition or event of any kind when either of the same is held, given or takes place in connection with the dissemination of information which is not restricted under the ordinary rules of decency, good morals, public peace, safety and good order, provided that nothing contained in this subsection shall be deemed to authorize the holding, giving or taking place of any meeting, theatrical performance, exhibition or event of any kind without a license where such license is or may be required by any law of this state or under any ordinance of this City; or
(4) 
While containing reading matter other than advertising matter, is predominantly and essentially an advertisement and is distributed or circulated for advertising purposes or for the private benefit and gain of any person so engaged as advertiser or distributor.
GARBAGE
Putrescible animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
LITTER
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, newspapers, magazines, glass, metal, plastic or paper containers or other packaging or construction material.
[Amended 4-6-2005 by Ord. No. 26-2005]
NEWSPAPER
Any newspaper of general circulation as defined by general law, any newspaper duly entered with the Post Office Department of the United States 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 include any periodical or current magazine regularly published, with not less than four issues per year, and sold to the public.
NONCOMMERCIAL HANDBILL
Any printed or written matter, any sample or device, dodger, circular, leaflet, pamphlet, newspaper, magazine, paper, booklet or any other printed or otherwise reproduced original or copies of any matter of literature not included in the aforesaid definitions of a commercial handbill or newspaper.
PARK
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.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.
PRIVATE PREMISES
Any dwelling, house, buildings or other structure designed or used, either in whole or in part, for private residential purposes, whether inhabited or temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant, and shall include any yard, grounds, walk, driveway, porch, steps, vestibule or mailbox belonging or appurtenant to such dwelling, house, building or other structure.
PUBLIC PLACE
Any and all streets, sidewalks, beach, boardwalk, boulevards, alleys or other public ways and any and all public parks, squares, spaces, grounds and buildings.
REFUSE
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes except body wastes, including garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles and solid market and industrial wastes.
RUBBISH
Nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and noncombustible wastes, such as paper, wrappings, cigarettes, cardboard, tin cans, yard clippings, leaves, wood, glass, bedding, crockery and similar materials.
VEHICLE
Every 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.
B. 
When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future; words used in the plural number include the singular number; and words used in the singular number include the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in or upon any street, sidewalk, beach, boardwalk or other public place within the City, except in public receptacles, in authorized private receptacles for collection or in official City dumps.
Persons placing litter in public receptacles or in authorized private receptacles shall do so in such a manner as to prevent it from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public place or upon private property.
No person shall sweep into or deposit in any gutter, street or other public place within the City the accumulation of litter from any building or lot or from any public or private sidewalk or driveway. Persons owning or occupying property shall keep the sidewalk in front of their premises free of litter.
A. 
No person owning or occupying a place of business shall sweep into or deposit in any gutter, street or other public place within the City the accumulation of litter from any building or lot or from any public or private sidewalk or driveway. Persons owning or occupying places of business within the City shall keep the sidewalk in front of their business premises free of litter.
B. 
It shall also be the responsibility of persons owning or occupying places of business within the City to keep shrubbery and tree areas on the sidewalk in front of their business premises free of litter.
[Added 10-9-1980 by Ord. No. 89-1980]
C. 
It shall also be the responsibility of persons owning or occupying places of business on the boardwalk to keep the boardwalk in front of their business premises free of litter.
[Added 8-31-1994 by Ord. No. 59-1994]
[Amended 4-6-2005 by Ord. No. 26-2005]
A. 
No person, while a driver or passenger in a vehicle, shall throw or deposit litter upon any street or other public place within the City or upon private property.
B. 
Whenever any litter is thrown or discarded or allowed to fall from a vehicle or boat in violation of this chapter, the operator or owner, or both, of the motor vehicle or boat shall also be deemed to have violated this chapter.
No person shall drive or move any truck or other vehicle within the City unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded as to prevent any load, contents or litter from being blown or deposited upon any street, alley or other public place, nor shall any person drive or move any vehicle or truck within the City, the wheels or tires of which carry onto or deposit in any street, alley or other public place mud, dirt, sticky substances, litter or foreign matter of any kind.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any park within the City except in public receptacles and in such a manner that the litter will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any part of the park or upon any street or other public place. Where public receptacles are not provided, all such litter shall be carried away from the park by the person responsible for its presence and properly disposed of elsewhere as provided herein.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any fountain, pond, ocean, stream, bay or any other body of water in a park or elsewhere within the City.
[Amended 5-23-1984 by Ord. No. 32-1984; 8-14-1985 by Ord. No. 55-1985; 7-23-1986 by Ord. No. 40-1986; 7-22-1992 by Ord. No. 71-1992]
A. 
No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon any sidewalk, street, Boardwalk or other public place within the City. Nor shall any person hand out or distribute or sell any commercial handbill in any public place unless the terms and conditions of Subsection B shall first be satisfied; provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful on any sidewalk, street or other public place within the City for any person to hand out or distribute, without charge to the receiver thereof, any noncommercial handbill to any person willing to accept it.
B. 
Commercial handbills may be handed out or distributed, without charge to the receiver thereof, in public places only by persons duly authorized and licensed by the City to do so. Licensees desiring to hand out or distribute commercial handbills must first post a bond for security with the Director of the Mercantile Division, in the face amount of $10,000. If any person's activities under this chapter result in the creation of litter in the City, that person shall dispose of the litter, within 48 hours of receiving the notification provided by § 173-21. If within 48 hours the litter is not disposed of, the City shall dispose of the litter, and the person licensed under this subsection shall bear the cost of this cleanup upon receiving notice of the cost of such cleanup as provided by § 173-21. Failure to either dispose of the litter or bear the cost of cleanup shall result in a forfeiture of the bond, the proceeds of which shall be used to complete any necessary cleanup. Any cleanup cost in excess of the face amount of the bond shall be charged to the person's tax bill, pursuant to § 173-21D.
C. 
License required; regulations.
(1) 
Each applicant desiring to hand out or distribute commercial handbills must also secure a mercantile license from the City to be renewed annually at a fee of $500. The commercial handbill license shall be issued in the business name of the applicant (whether corporation, partnerships or sole proprietorship) and not in the name of any individual employee and shall expire on October 31 of each year. No applicant shall have more than three Boardwalk commercial handbill permits and three off-Boardwalk commercial handbill permits, regardless of the number of mercantile licenses an applicant may hold. The applicant shall designate a maximum of 10 individuals authorized to hand out or distribute commercial handbills in the City. Said individuals must register their names and addresses with the mercantile licensing bureau, which bureau will issue identification badges to said individuals. The individual identification badge will indicate the name of the applicant (licensee) designating the individual. Said individual must wear his or her identification badge and the applicant's permit badge at all times when commercial handbills are being distributed upon the Boardwalk or off the Boardwalk.
[Amended 11-29-2006 by Ord. No. 84-2006]
(2) 
Regulations for the Boardwalk.
(a) 
When an individual is distributing commercial handbills on the Boardwalk, said individual must remain in the middle area of the Boardwalk so as not to obstruct free passage of pedestrians to adjacent stores. For purposes of clarification, "middle of the Boardwalk" shall mean 20 feet or further from any store front.
(b) 
Any individual distributing commercial handbills on the Boardwalk may only do so at street ends within the area bounded by the curblines of said streets as if extended onto the Boardwalk. No contact with pedestrians may be initiated by a permittee outside of the area so designated. However, where an applicant is either the owner in fee or the lessee in possession of property having unobstructed Boardwalk level frontage from street end to street end, all three of that applicant's permittees may distribute commercial handbills within that area bounded by the street ends. For purposes of this exception, only those street ends having an adjacent address divisible equally by 100 qualifies for this exception.
(c) 
No more than four permittees, including no more than two permittees of any one license holder, may operate in any street end at any one time. The police and/or mercantile inspectors are authorized to issue summonses to all permittees at any one location found in violation of either provision of this subsection.
(d) 
A permit holder may accompany an individual and/or individuals to his/her place of business only with permission of the individual and following an initial contact pursuant to Subsection C(2)(a) and (b) herein.
(3) 
For purposes of this chapter, an "applicant" or a "licensee" includes all corporations, partnerships, proprietorships, individuals or any other form of enterprise advertising or otherwise commercially publicizing any establishment, premises, location or business, regardless of the number of different corporations, partnerships, proprietorships, individuals or other forms of enterprises related to or having any interest in the establishment, premises, location or business. The test is product (i.e., handbill) specific.
(4) 
It shall be unlawful for any person to stand or walk or cause or permit any person to stand or walk on the Boardwalk, on a sidewalk or street or in the entrance of any store or building for the purpose of calling attention of passersby to business or commercial activity or solicit for any such business or commercial activity or attempt by the use of mechanical or sound making devices to entice or persuade passersby to enter any location where a business or commercial enterprise is being conducted.
D. 
In addition to the penalties provided under §§ 173-22 and 170-15 through 170-17, any person violating the licensing, identification badge, location or cleanup cost provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction in the Municipal Court of Atlantic City, be punished by an additional fine not to exceed $100. In addition to the above-described penalties and the penalties provided by § 173-22, any person convicted in the Municipal Court of the City of Atlantic City or refusing to clean up litter created by that person or his representatives, upon proper notification by the City, shall be denied a mercantile license to distribute commercial handbills under this subsection for the five years following such conviction.
No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon any vehicle; provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful in any public place for a person to hand out or distribute, without charge to the receiver thereof, a noncommercial handbill to any occupant of a vehicle who is willing to accept it.
No person shall throw or deposit any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon any private premises which are temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant.
No person shall throw, deposit or distribute any commercial or noncommercial handbill upon any private premises if requested by anyone thereon not to do so or if there is placed on said premises in a conspicuous position near the entrance thereof a sign bearing the words "No Trespassing," "No Peddlers or Agents," "No Advertisement" or any similar notice indicating in any manner that the occupants of said premises do not desire to be molested or have their right of privacy disturbed or to have any such handbills left upon such premises.
A. 
No person shall throw, deposit or distribute any commercial or noncommercial handbill in or upon private premises which are inhabited, except by handing or transmitting any such handbill directly to the owner, occupant or other person then present in or upon such private premises; provided, however, that in case of inhabited private premises which are not posted, as provided in this chapter, such person, unless requested by anyone upon such premises not to do so, may place or deposit any such handbill in or upon such inhabited private premises if such handbill is so placed or deposited as to secure or prevent such handbill from being blown or drifted about such premises or sidewalks, streets or other public places, and except that mailboxes may not be so used when so prohibited by federal postal law or regulations.
B. 
The provisions of this section shall not apply to the distribution of mail by the United States nor to newspapers as defined herein, 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 place or upon private property.
No person in an aircraft shall throw out, drop or deposit within the City any litter, handbill or any other object.
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 shall throw or deposit litter on any occupied private property within the City, whether owned by such person or not, except that the owner or person in control of private property may maintain authorized private receptacles for collection in such a manner that litter will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public place or upon any private property.
The owner or person in control of any private property shall at all times maintain the premises free of litter; provided, however, that this section shall not prohibit the storage of litter in authorized private receptacles for collection.
No person shall throw or deposit litter on any open or vacant private property within the City, whether owned by such person or not.
A. 
Notice to remove. The Health Department 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 the public health, safety or welfare. Such notice shall be by registered mail, addressed to said owner at his last known address. The Health Department is hereby authorized and empowered to notify any person or persons duly authorized and licensed to hand out and/or distribute commercial handbills to dispose of any litter created as a result of the handout or distribution of commercial handbills.
[Amended 5-23-1984 by Ord. No. 32-1984]
B. 
Action upon noncompliance. Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any person, 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 that the same is returned to the City Post Office Department because of its inability to make delivery thereof, provided that the same was properly addressed to the last known address of such person, owner or agent, the Health Department is hereby authorized and empowered to pay for the disposing of such litter or to order its disposal by the City.
[Amended 5-23-1984 by Ord. No. 32-1984]
C. 
Payment of costs. When the City has effected the removal of such dangerous litter or has paid for its removal, the actual cost 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 Health Department 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, if 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.
[Amended 7-29-1971 by Ord. No. 27-1971; 7-22-1992 by Ord. No. 71-1992; 11-25-2008 by Ord. No. 104-2008; 5-25-2011 by Ord. No. 39-2011; 6-22-2022 by Ord. No. 27-2022]
Any person violating the provisions of this chapter, upon conviction thereof before the Municipal Judge or other officer having jurisdiction, shall be subject to a fine of $1,000 for a first offense and $2,000 and a period of community service in the discretion of the Court for each subsequent offense. Upon conviction of a third and subsequent offenses, the Court may impose a period of incarceration not to exceed 90 days for each offense.