[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners
of the Township of Long Beach as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-2-1974 as § 3-4
of the 1974 Code]
The term "group of minors" as used in this section
shall be construed to mean a unit of two or more individual persons
each under the age of 18 years.
No room, apartment, cottage or house in this
Township shall be rented to, by or for any group of minors unless
and until the following regulations have been complied with:
A.
Every group of minors, when occupying a room, apartment,
cottage or house shall be under the direct, immediate and personal
supervision of a parent or guardian of one of the minors in the group
or a competent adult person having charge of and being responsible
for the proper conduct of the minors.
B.
Before any room, apartment, cottage or house shall be occupied by a group of minors, the parent, guardian or adult person (as the case may be) referred to in Subsection A, of this section, shall report to the police department of the Township and register for the group of minors in his or her custody, and register with the name and address of the parent, guardian or adult person having charge of the group of minors.
D.
No landlord, realtor or owner of any room, apartment,
cottage or house shall permit same to be occupied by or used for any
group of minors unless and until the lease is signed by a parent or
guardian of one of the minors in the group or by a a competent adult
person having charge of the group of minors and being responsible
for their proper conduct.
E.
No such lease shall be sublet or assigned for use
by another group of minors unless and until the same provisions are
made and carried out as to the subletting or assignment as provided
above for the original lease.
F.
No parent, guardian, or adult person shall have charge
of a group of minors for the purpose stated herein who shall have
a criminal record.
[Added 7-18-1997 by Ord. No. 97-16C]
[Adopted 7-2-1993 by Ord. No. 93-12C]
For the purposes of this article, the following
meanings shall apply:
A person designated pursuant to § 148-7 herein to hear and determine proceedings under this article.
Person or persons who own or purport to own, or exercise
control of, any building in which there is rented or offered for rent,
housing space for living or dwelling under either a written or oral
lease, including but not limited to any building subject to the "Hotel
and Motel Dwelling Law" P.L. 1967 C. 76, and owner-occupied two-unit
premises. In the case of a mobile home park, "landlord" shall mean
the owner of an individual dwelling unit within the mobile home park.
Any rental or residential accommodations for a term of lease
for a term of less than one year and including any part of the period
extending from May 15 to September 15.
A complaint which may form the basis for proceedings in accordance with § 148-5A.
A.
If any one year, three complaints, on separate occasions,
of disorderly, indecent, tumultuous, or riotous conduct upon in or
proximity to any seasonal rental premises, and attributable to the
acts or incitements of any of the tenants of those premises, have
been substantiated by prosecution and conviction in any court of competent
jurisdiction, the Board of Commissioners or any officer or employee
of the municipality so designated by the governing body for the purpose,
may institute proceedings to require the landlord of the premises
to post a bond against the consequences of future incidents of the
same character.
B.
The Governing Body or a person designated pursuant to Subsection A hereof shall cause to be served upon the landlord, in person or by registered mail to the address appearing on the tax records of the municipality, notice advising institution of such proceedings, together with particulars of the substantiated complaints upon which those proceedings are based, and the time and place at which a hearing will be held in the matter, which shall be in the municipal building. Municipal Court or other place within the municipality, and which shall be no sooner than 30 days from the date upon which notice is served or mailed.
C.
At the Hearing pursuant to Subsection B the Hearing Officer shall give full hearing both to the complaint of the municipality and to any evidence and contradiction or mitigation that the landlord, if presented or represented, and offering such evidence, may present. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Hearing Officer shall determine whether the landlord shall be required to post a bond in accordance with the terms of the Article.
D.
Any bond required to be posted shall be in accordance
with the judgment of the Hearing Officer, in light of the nature and
extent of the offenses indicated in the substantiated complaints upon
which the proceedings are based, to be adequate in the case of subsequent
offenses to make reparation for:
(1)
damages likely to be caused to public or private property
and damages consequent upon disruption of affected residents rights
of fair use and quiet possession of their premises;
(2)
securing the payment of fines and penalties likely
to be levied for such offenses, and
(3)
compensating the municipality for the cost of reprossing
and prosecuting such incidents of disorderly behavior; but no such
bond shall be in an amount less than $500 nor more than $5,000. The
municipality may enforce the bond thus required by action in the Superior
Court and shall be entitled to an injunction prohibiting the landlord
from making or renewing any lease of the affected premises for residential
purposes until that bond or equivalent security, in satisfactory form
and amount has been deposited with the municipality.
E.
A bond or other security deposit in compliance with Subsection D hereof shall be in force for a period of four years. Upon the lapse of the specified period, the landlord shall be entitled to the discharge thereof, unless prior thereto further proceedings leading to the forfeiture or partial forfeiture of the bond or other security shall have been had under § 148-6 herein, in which case the security shall be renewed in an amount and for a period that shall be specified by the hearing officer. Transfer of ownership or control of the property shall not void a requirement for security imposed under this Act. The person or persons to whom ownership or control is transferred shall maintain that security, and shall be subject to injunctive proceedings as authorized by Subsection D of this section in the same manner as the landlord upon whom the requirement was originally imposed; provided, however, that the Board of Commissioners may by Resolution shorten the period for which security is required to not less than one year to the date of the transfer of ownership or control, if during that year no substantiated complaints are recorded with respect to the property in question.
A.
If during the period for which a landlord is required to give security pursuant to § 148-5, a substantiated complaint is recorded against the property in question, the Board of Commissioners or its designee may institute proceedings against the landlord for the forfeiture or partial forfeiture of the security, for an extension as provided in § 148-5, of the period for which security is required, or for increase in the amount of security, or for any or all those purposes.
B.
Any forfeiture or partial forfeiture of security shall be determined by the hearing officer solely in accordance with the amount deemed necessary to provide for the compensatory purposes set forth in § 148-5. Any decision by the Hearing Officer to increase the amount or extent of the period of the required security shall be determined in light of the same factors set forth in § 148-5D herein, and shall be taken only to the extent that the nature of the substantiated complaint or complaints out of which proceedings arise under this Section indicates the appropriateness of such change in order to carry out the purposes of this Act effectually. The decision of the Hearing Officer in such circumstances shall be enforceable in the same manner as provided in § 148-5.
Any hearing pursuant to § 148-5 shall be before a licensed attorney of the State of New Jersey named by the governing body. The hearing officer named shall not own or lease any real property within the Township of Long Beach, nor hold any interest in the assets of or profits arising from the ownership or lease of such property.
