In interpreting and applying Part 3, Zoning, the requirements
contained herein and therein are declared to be the minimum requirements
for the protection of the health, safety and general welfare of the
public and for the preservation and improvement of the value and aesthetics
of the land.
A.Â
Grant of authority, responsibility. The Construction Code Official
is hereby authorized to and shall administer and enforce the provisions
of this Part 1.
B.Â
Issuance of permits and certificates. In no case shall a building
permit or certificate of occupancy be issued by the Construction Code
Official for any construction, erection, alteration or use of any
building, other structure, lot or area of land that would be in violation
of any provision of this Part 1.
C.Â
Inspection of premises. The Construction Code Official or his/her
duly authorized agent, and, in the case of excavations for or demolition
of commercial properties, the Health Officer, shall have the right
to enter and inspect any building, other structure, lot or area of
land at all reasonable times, whether already constructed, erected,
altered or put into use, or during the course of construction, erection,
alteration, excavation, demolition or putting into use, for the purpose
of determining whether or not the provisions of Part 3, Zoning, are
being complied with.
D.Â
Records and reports. The Construction Code Official shall keep a
record of all applications for building permits and certificates of
occupancy and a record of all permits issued, together with all notations
of all special conditions involved. The Construction Code Official
shall file and safely keep copies of all plans submitted, and the
same shall form a part of the records of his/her office and shall
be available for the use of the Township Council, the Zoning Board
of Adjustment, the Planning Board and other officials of the Township.
The Construction Code Official shall prepare a monthly report for
the Township Council summarizing for the period since his/her last
previous report all permits issued and all complaints of violations
and the action taken by him/her consequent thereon. A copy of each
such report shall be filed with the Township Tax Assessor at the same
time it is filed with the Township Council.
E.Â
Cases of doubt. Should the Construction Code Official be in doubt
as to the meaning or intent of any provision of Part 3, Zoning, as
to the location of a district boundary line on the Zoning Map[1] or as to the propriety of issuing any permit in a particular
case, he/she shall appeal the matter to the Zoning Board of Adjustment
for interpretation and decision. Any proposed use which is not clearly
identified in Part 3, Zoning, as being a permitted use in a district
shall be prohibited, subject to clarification by the Zoning Board
of Adjustment, and no permit shall be issued by the Construction Code
Official authorizing the proposed use.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Zoning Map is on file in the Township offices.
A.Â
No building, other structure, lot or area of land shall be hereafter
used, nor shall any building or other structure be hereafter constructed,
erected, or altered, and no excavation for any building or other structure
shall be hereafter begun without the issuance of a building permit
by the Construction Code Official indicating that such construction,
erection, alteration or use of such building, other structure, lot
or area of land conforms in every respect to the provisions of Part
3, Zoning.
B.Â
All applications for a building permit shall be made by the owner
or authorized agent on forms provided by the Construction Code Official
in the required number of copies. Each such application shall be supplemented
with a plot plan prepared in triplicate and drawn to such scale as
the Construction Code Official may require, showing the exact dimensions
and locations of all buildings, other structures, yards, lot lines,
off-street parking facilities and such other appropriate details and
information as may be necessary to provide for the enforcement of
Part 3, Zoning. All dimensions shown on these plans, relating to the
location and size of the lot or area of land to be used or built upon,
shall be based upon actual survey or deed description or on an officially
recorded subdivision plat.
C.Â
No application for a building permit shall be accepted by the Construction
Code Official unless all of the information required has been furnished
by the applicant.
D.Â
The construction, erection or alteration of any building or other
structure for which a building permit was issued must begin within
six months after the date of issuance of such permit, and such construction,
erection or alteration of any building or other structure or use of
a lot or area of land must be completed or fully effected within two
years after the date of issuance of such permit, after which time
such permit becomes void. The Construction Code Official, at his/her
discretion, may issue a new permit granting a continuation of time
where unavoidable conditions prevented the effectuation or completion
of all construction, erection, alteration or use within the time periods
hereinabove prescribed.
E.Â
The lot or area of land and the location of all buildings or other
structures to be constructed, erected, altered or used thereon shall
be staked out on the ground, and an inspection thereof shall be made
by the Construction Code Official before work is started.
A.Â
Required.
(1)Â
No building or other structure hereafter constructed, erected or
altered and no lot or area of land hereafter put into use shall be
occupied or used, in whole or in part, for any use whatsoever, no
change of use of any building or other structure, lot or area of land,
or part thereof, and no sale, transfer or conveyance of any building
or other structure, irrespective of the purpose for which such building
or other structure may be used, shall hereafter be made until a certificate
of occupancy shall have been issued by the Construction Code Official
certifying that such building, other structure, lot or area of land,
or part thereof, complies with all applicable provisions of this Part
1, Part 3, Zoning, and all federal, state and local building, fire,
electrical, plumbing and health codes.
(2)Â
A code violation shall be deemed to have occurred in the event that
the inspection by the Construction Code Official reveals that the
structure, building or dwelling is improperly or illegally connected
to the existing sanitary sewer system. No certificate of occupancy
shall be issued until such violation shall have been remedied.
(3)Â
Change of use does not include a change from one conforming use to
another, unless there is a change in the parking requirements or in
other features relating to the site plan.
B.Â
Time for issuance. Certificates of occupancy shall be granted or
denied by the Construction Code Official within 10 days from the date
of application therefor by the owner of the property for which use
or occupancy or change in use is sought, or his/her authorized agent.
In the event that the Construction Code Official shall decline to
issue a certificate of occupancy, his/her reasons for doing so shall
be stated in detail on at least one filed copy of the application,
and that copy returned to the applicant.
C.Â
Preexisting uses. Upon written application by the owner or authorized
agent, the Construction Code Official shall, after inspection, issue
a certificate of occupancy for any building, other structure, lot
or area of land existing and in use at the effective date of Part
3, Zoning, provided that the Construction Code Official shall find
that such building, other structure, lot or area of land is in conformity
with the applicable provisions of Part 3, Zoning.
D.Â
Traffic signs; regulations.
(1)Â
Prior to the issuance of a final certificate of occupancy for any
development which is presented to the Zoning Board of Adjustment or
the Planning Board for commercial property, of whatever nature, and
which provides for private entrance to and exit from such property,
and where such ingress and egress shall have been determined by the
Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment to be one-way only, appropriate
directional signs shall have been erected.
(2)Â
The owners of such property shall, as a condition of issuance of
a certificate of occupancy and of final approval by the Board, be
required to grant to the Township the authority to approve all motor
vehicle laws and regulations on such property.
(3)Â
All signs and traffic control devices required hereunder shall be
in accordance with and shall be of a design and construction as provided
for in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 1988 Edition,
or other regulations of the New Jersey Department of Transportation,
as same shall be amended from time to time.
Nothing in Part 3, Zoning, shall require any change in or otherwise
interfere with any construction, erection, alteration or use of any
building, other structure, lot or area of land for which a building
permit has been issued authorizing such construction, erection, alteration
or use not more than one year prior to the effective date of enactment
of Part 3, Zoning.
A.Â
Any owner or agent and any person or corporation who violates any of the provisions of this Part 1 or Part 3, Zoning, or fails to comply therewith or with any of the requirements thereof, or who shall erect, structurally alter, enlarge, rebuild or move any building or buildings or any other structure, or who shall put into use any lot or land in violation of any detailed statement or plan submitted hereunder, or who shall refuse reasonable opportunity to inspect any property shall, upon conviction thereof, be liable to the penalty stated in Chapter 1, Article III. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
B.Â
The owner of any building or other structure, lot or area of land, or part thereof, where anything in violation of this Part 1 or Part 3, Zoning, shall be placed or shall exist, and any architect, builder, contractor, agent, person or corporation employed in connection therewith and who assists in the commission of such violation, shall each be guilty of a separate violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall each be liable to the fine or imprisonment, or both, specified in Chapter 1, Article III.
C.Â
In case any building, other structure, lot or area of land, or part
thereof, is or is proposed to be constructed, erected, altered, or
used in violation of this Part 1, the Township Council, the Construction
Code Official or any other agency or official, or any owner of or
any person having an interest in adjacent property who would be specifically
damaged by such violation, may institute an action for injunctive
relief or abatement, or any other appropriate action or proceeding,
to prevent, restrain, correct or abate such unlawful construction,
erection, alteration, continuation or use; to prevent the occupancy
of such building, other structure, lot or area of land, or part thereof;
or to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business or use in or about
such building, other structure, lot or area of land or part thereof.
D.Â
All permits and certificates issued under Part 3, Zoning, shall be
revocable, subject to continued compliance with all requirements and
conditions.
Neither this Part 1 nor Part 3, Zoning, shall be deemed to interfere
with, abrogate or annul, or otherwise affect in any manner whatsoever
any ordinances, rules, regulations, easements, covenants or other
agreements between parties; provided, however, that where Part 3,
Zoning, imposes greater restrictions upon the construction, erection,
alteration or use of structures or the use of land than are imposed
or required by other ordinances, rules, regulations, easements, covenants
or agreements, the provisions of Part 3, Zoning, shall prevail.