The purpose of this chapter is to protect the public health,
safety and general welfare in or upon premises in the Borough of Kenilworth,
as hereinafter set forth, by:
A.
Establishing minimum maintenance standards for premises in the Borough
of Kenilworth.
B.
Affixing the responsibilities of owners, tenants, operators and occupants
of such premises.
C.
Providing for proper notification for violation of this chapter.
D.
Providing for collection of costs incurred by the municipality.
E.
Providing for penalties for violations of this chapter.
A.
All definitions of the latest editions of the International Property
Maintenance Code published by the International Code Council (ICC)
and the New Jersey State Uniform Construction Code are incorporated
by reference to this chapter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
B.
ABANDONED VEHICLE
COMMERCIAL PREMISES
DEFACE
DETERIORATION
DWELLING UNIT
EXPOSED TO PUBLIC VIEW
EXTERIOR OF THE PREMISES
EXTERMINATION
GARBAGE
GRAFFITI
HABITABLE ROOMS
HARBORAGE
INFESTATION
MAINTENANCE
MIXED OCCUPANCY
MULTIPLE DWELLING
NUISANCE
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
OCCUPANT
OPERATOR
OWNER
PARTIES IN INTEREST
PERSON
PREMISES
PUBLIC AUTHORITY
REFUSE
RUBBISH
SHOPPING CENTER
STRUCTURE
The following terms, wherever used herein or referred to in this
chapter, shall have the meaning assigned to them, unless a different
meaning clearly appears from the context:
Any vehicle, including a trailer, which is without a currently
valid license plate and is in either a rusted, wrecked, discarded,
dismantled, partially dismantled, inoperative or an abandoned condition.
A building or buildings or any part thereof and the lot or
tract of land upon which the building or buildings are situated where
commercial activity of any kind takes place. Commercial activity shall
include but is not limited to gasoline service stations; stores for
retail sales; liquor stores, taverns and inns; restaurants, including
but not limited to drive-in restaurants, snack bars or hot dog, hamburger
or ice cream stands; professional activities, including but not limited
to medical, dental, legal, architectural and accounting; personal
services, including but not limited to real estate, insurance, barbershops
and hairdressers; repair shops of all kinds; and amusements, including
but not limited to movies, skating rinks and bowling alleys; whether
part of a shopping area or not. Commercial activity shall not include
sale of agricultural products produced on the premises.
To cover, mark, write on, paint, color or otherwise mar,
disfigure or draw whatsoever on any private property of any nature
without the express consent of the owner.
[Added 9-12-2007 by Ord.
No. 2007-10]
The condition of a building or structure or part thereof
characterized by holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling,
rusting or other evidence of physical decay or neglect, lack of maintenance
or excessive use.
A room or group of rooms located within a dwelling and forming
a single habitable unit with facilities which are used or intended
to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating.
Any premises, building or structure, or part thereof, which
may be lawfully viewed by the public.
Open space on the premises outside of any building located
thereon.
The control and elimination of insects, rodents and vermin.
Putrescible animal and vegetable waste resulting from the
handling, preparation, cooking and/or consumption of food. (See also
"refuse" and "rubbish.")
Any form of inscription, word, figure, marking or design
that is marked, etched, scratched, drawn on or painted on any building,
structure, fixture or other improvement, whether permanent or temporary,
including, by way of example only and without limitation, fencing
surrounding construction sites, whether public or private, without
the consent of the owner of the property, or the owner's authorized
agent, which is visible from the private right-of-way.
[Added 9-12-2007 by Ord.
No. 2007-10]
Rooms used or designed for use by one or more persons for
living or sleeping or cooking and eating, but not including bathrooms,
water closet compartments, home laundries, serving and storage pantries,
corridors, foyers, vestibules, cellars, heater rooms, boiler rooms
or utility rooms. Other rooms or spaces that are not used frequently
or for an extended period of time or have less than 50 square feet
of interior floor area shall not be considered as "habitable rooms."
Any condition, man-made or natural, which affords a breeding
or hiding place for rodents, insects or other pests.
The presence of insects, rodents, vermin or other pests on
the premises which constitute a health hazard either to the occupants
of the premises and/or to surrounding properties and/or residents.
The general upkeep, replacement or mending of existing grounds,
structures and appurtenances as are required in the interest of public
safety, health and welfare.
Any building containing one or more dwelling units or rooming
units and also having a portion thereof devoted to nondwelling uses
or as a motel.
Any building or structure and land appurtenant thereto, or
any portion thereof, in which three or more units of dwelling space
are occupied or intended to be occupied by three or more persons living
independently of each other, provided that motels, hotels and boardinghouses
are excluded from this definition.
Any public nuisance recognized in common law or in equity jurisprudence
or as provided by the statutes or the State of New Jersey or the ordinances
of the Borough of Kenilworth.
Any attractive nuisance which may prove detrimental to the health
or safety of children, whether in a building, on the exterior of premises
or upon an unoccupied lot. Attractive nuisances include but are not
limited to abandoned wells, shafts, basements, excavations, abandoned
swimming pools, abandoned iceboxes and/or refrigerators, motor vehicles,
any structurally unsound fences or structures, lumber, trash, fences,
debris or vegetation, such as poison ivy, oak or sumac, which may
prove hazardous for inquisitive minors.
Physical conditions dangerous to human life or detrimental to
the health of persons on or near the premises where the conditions
exist.
Overcrowding of a room with occupants in violation of the State
Fire Code.
Inadequate or unsanitary sewage or plumbing facilities in violation
of this chapter or the provisions of the State Uniform Construction
Code.
Unsanitary conditions or anything offensive to the senses or
dangerous to health in violation of this chapter.
Fire hazards, which shall include but not be limited to the
maintenance and/or storage of combustible materials, the maintenance
and/or storage of flammable chemicals and/or the maintenance of an
uncontrolled open fire.
Insufficient ventilation or illumination in violation of this
chapter.
Any person having actual possession of the premises or any
part thereof.
Any person who has charge, care or control of a dwelling
or premises or any part thereof, whether with or without the knowledge
and consent of the owner.
Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others,
shall have legal or equitable title to any premises, with or without
actual possession thereof, or who shall have charge, care or control
of any dwelling unit as owner or agent of the owner, or as executor,
executrix, administrator, administratrix, trustee, receiver or guardian
of the estate or as a mortgagee in possession, regardless of how such
possession was obtained. Any person who is a lessee subletting or
assigning any part of any dwelling or dwelling unit shall be deemed
to be a co-owner with the lessor and shall have joint responsibility
over the portion of the premises sublet or assigned by said lessee.
All individuals, associations and corporations who have interest
of record in a building and any who are in actual possession thereof.
Includes all manner of corporations and commercial entities
as well as individuals.
A lot, plot or parcel of land, including the buildings or
structures thereon.
Any officer who is in charge of any department or branch
of the government of the Borough of Kenilworth, County of Union or
State of New Jersey relating to health, fire, building regulations
or to other activities concerning buildings in the municipality.[1]
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid waste (except body
waste), including but not limited to garbage, rubbish, ashes, street
cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles and solid market and
industrial wastes (See also "garbage" and "rubbish.")
Nonputrescible solid waste 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. (See also "garbage" and "refuse.")
One or more buildings or parts thereof designed or existing
as a unit, occupied or to be occupied by one or more businesses for
the conduct of retail sales, including parking lots.
A combination of materials to form a construction for occupancy,
use or ornamentation, whether installed on, above or below the surface
of a parcel of land. Unless the context clearly requires a different
meaning, the word "structure" shall be construed when used herein
as though followed by the words " or part or parts thereof and all
equipment therein."
Every residential and nonresidential building, structure and
lot and the premises or part of the premises on which it is situated
in the Borough of Kenilworth, previously or presently used or intended
to be used for dwelling, commercial, business, recreational, service,
transportation, institutional, religious, charitable, quasi-public,
professional, warehousing or industrial occupancy and uses accessory
thereto, shall comply with the provisions of this chapter, whether
or not any such building or structure or use of the premises shall
have been constructed, altered or repaired before or after the enactment
of this chapter and irrespective of any permits or licenses which
may have been issued for the use or occupancy of such building or
for the installation or repair of equipment or facilities prior to
the effective date of this chapter. Vacant lots, lands and premises
are also required to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. II)]
In any case where the provisions of this chapter impose a higher
or stricter standard than those set forth in any other ordinance or
regulation of the Borough of Kenilworth or under the laws or regulations
of the State of New Jersey or any of its agencies, then the standards
as set forth herein shall prevail. If the provisions of this chapter
impose a lower or lesser standard than any other regulation or ordinance
of the Borough of Kenilworth or the State of New Jersey or any of
its agencies, then the higher standard contained in any such other
ordinance, regulation or law shall prevail. All of the terms and provisions
of the International Property Maintenance Code as published by the
International Code Council (ICC) are incorporated herein, and, to
the extent such terms and provisions impose a higher or stricter standard
than the terms contained herein, the terms of the International Property
Maintenance Code shall be applied.
Compliance with this chapter shall not constitute a defense
against any violation of any other ordinance of the Borough of Kenilworth
applicable to any structure or premises, nor shall any one act of
compliance constitute a defense against any subsequent or other violation
of this chapter.
Owners, operators and occupants shall have all the duties, obligations
and responsibilities prescribed in this chapter, and no such person
or entity shall be relieved of any such duty, obligation or responsibility
hereunder nor be entitled to assert as a defense against any charge
made against him or them for violation of this chapter the fact that
another owner, operator or occupant or any other third person or entity
is also responsible therefor and in violation thereof.
Any alterations to buildings, structures or appurtenances thereto
or changes of use therein, which may be caused directly or indirectly
by the enforcement of this chapter, shall be done in accordance with
all applicable sections of the State Uniform Construction Code.
Nothing contained in this chapter or any requirement of compliance
herewith shall be deemed to alter, impair or affect the application
of the Land Use Ordinance or zoning laws of the municipality.[1]
Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to abolish or impair
existing remedies of the municipality or its officers or agencies
relating to the removal or demolition of any buildings or structures
which are deemed to be dangerous, unsafe or unsanitary.[1]