[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Atlantic
City as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 6-20-2001 by Ord. No. 33-2001]
When used in these regulations, the following words or terms
shall have the following meaning:
Any person 10 years of age or younger.
The Atlantic City Department of Code Enforcement.
Proper installation and maintenance of window guards in a
manner approved by the Department.
The owner, lessee, agent or other person who manages or controls
a multiple dwelling or dwelling unit.
Any structure with three or more residential dwelling units
in it.
The lessee or other occupant regularly residing within a
dwelling unit regardless of whether said occupant is a party to a
lease agreement.
A.
The owner, lessee, agent or other person who manages or controls
a multiple dwelling shall provide, install and maintain a window guard
of a type deemed acceptable by the Department, on the windows of each
apartment in which a child or children 10 years of age and under resides
and on the windows, if any, in the public halls of a multiple dwelling
in which such children reside, except that this section shall not
apply to windows giving access to fire escapes or to a window on the
first floor that is a required means of egress from the dwelling unit.
It shall be the duty of each such person who manages or controls a
multiple dwelling to ascertain whether such a child resides therein.
B.
The provision of Subsection A shall not apply to the window(s) of any unit for which a tenant requests in writing that window guards not be installed or be removed.
C.
No owner, lessee or other person who manages or controls a multiple dwelling shall refuse a written request of a tenant or occupant of a multiple dwelling unit to install window guards regardless of whether such is required by Subsection A, except that this section shall not apply to windows giving access to fire escapes.
A.
Each year, the landlord shall deliver to each dwelling unit a notice,
the form and content of which shall be in English and Spanish as specified
in Appendix B,[1] no earlier than January 1 and no later than January 30
of the year for which the notice is delivered. In addition, said notice
shall be so delivered within 30 days of a change in occupancy not
involving a written lease.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said Appendix B is on file in the city
offices.
C.
If by March 1 a landlord who has fully complied with Subsections A and B of this section has been unable to ascertain the need or desire for window guards in any dwelling unit or units, then he shall write to the Atlantic City Code Enforcement Office, 1301 Bacharach Boulevard, Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401, informing that Department of his attempts.
A.
No communication from a landlord to a tenant shall indicate that
the installation of window guards is in any manner dependent upon
payments by the tenant.
B.
The City of Atlantic City has established the following scale of
a pass-along fee which may be imposed a month after the installation
of window guards: a one-time $10 per window guard maximum fee which
may be prorated or amortized over a period of one year, two years
or three years, in equal monthly payments according to the option
elected by the tenant. This is a fee permitted to compensate the landlord
for the installation of the window guard(s). The window guards themselves
remain the property of the landlord.
A.
No tenant in a dwelling unit shall refuse or unreasonably fail to
provide accurate and truthful information regarding the residency
of children therein or refuse, prevent or obstruct any inspection
required by this article.
B.
A landlord who has been denied access to a dwelling unit for the
purpose of installing window guards required by this article, shall
write to the Atlantic City Code Enforcement Office, 1301 Bacharach
Boulevard, Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401. Said statement shall specify
the landlord's efforts to gain access and the circumstances of
the denial thereof.
C.
Tenants or occupants must respond to mandated inquiries by the landlord
as to their window guard needs or desires. It is a violation of the
law to fail to do this. Tenants or occupants must also provide access
and permit installation of guards where required.
A.
Window guards may be installed selectively at the written request
of the tenant. They are not required to be installed in fire escape
access windows and secondary egress windows in a first floor apartment.
B.
Public hallway windows on all floors must be guarded, even if only
one family in the building has children, unless all tenants with children
request otherwise.
C.
Air conditioner window units are acceptable as alternatives to window
guards while they are securely in place. However, they cannot allow
any greater than a four-inch opening on the sides of the unit.
A.
All requests for variances must be submitted in writing for review
by the Atlantic City Code Enforcement Office.
B.
Requests for variances will be entertained only if submitted by a
tenant, owner or management of a building or by an authorized representative.
C.
Requests for variances will be entertained when the installation
of a window guard proves to be impossible for structural reasons or
infeasible.
D.
A letter of application shall be submitted to the Atlantic City Code
Enforcement Office, 1301 Bacharach Boulevard, Atlantic City, New Jersey
08401.
(1)
Letters of application shall include the following:
(a)
Name, address, and phone number of applicant.
(b)
Address of premises or premises for which variance is being
requested and the type and number of windows involved.
(c)
Reason for the request.
(d)
Description of condition or conditions warranting the request,
including a photo and/or mechanical drawing of the windows in question,
depicting the particular structural idiosyncrasy or aberration making
the request necessary.
(e)
The alternative device presented for consideration must meet
the same criteria and standards of safety as the prescribed window
guards.
E.
All variances will be granted on a time-limited basis and will be
subject to review, renewal or retraction at the expiration of the
prescribed period or before should abuse of the procedural requirements
be identified.
A.
Window guards shall be installed in accordance with all applicable
requirements of the State Uniform Construction Code, N.J.A.C. 5:23,
and with manufacturer's instructions.
B.
Any window guard installed on an emergency egress window shall be
releasable or removable from the inside without use of a key, tool
or excessive force. For purposes of this article an "emergency egress
window" is any window in a sleeping room located on the second or
third floor, other than a window providing access to a fire escape.
C.
Any window guard installed on a window that is not an emergency egress
window, including any window in a unit located above the third floor
that is not a sleeping room, shall be designed, constructed and installed
so that it cannot be removed, opened or dislodged without the use
of a key or tool; provided, however, that no window guard shall be
installed on any window giving access to a fire escape.
A.
Window guards shall be so constructed as to reject the passage of
a solid four-inch sphere at every space and interval.
B.
Window guards shall bear a one-hundred-fifty-pound load at centerspan
when extended to maximum width.
C.
Window guards shall be constructed of metal or of other material
of comparable strength and durability. In order to avoid obstruction
of light and air, the diameter or width of metal rods used in window
guards shall not exceed 1/2 inch.
D.
Window guards shall be designed, constructed and installed so as
to serve their intended protective purpose without any risk of collapse,
breakage, spreading of the bars or other malfunction.
E.
In a room, window guards shall be of at least a height sufficient
to allow a total openable window area, for all windows in the room,
of not less than 4% of the floor area of the room. In a public hallway,
window guards shall protect the full openable area of each window.
F.
Window guards shall be securely fastened in order to bear the required
load.
G.
All window guards shall be so designed and installed as to prevent
the lower window from being raised four inches or more above the lowest
section of the top horizontal bar of the window guard. Where necessary,
rigid metal stops shall be installed securely in the upper tracks
of each side of the bottom window.
I.
The coating of window guards shall be unleaded.
J.
Window guards shall be installed only in sound (nonrotting) mountings
or tracks.
A.
Window guards intended for casements, sliders and other types or
combinations of windows in which the height of the openings is not
subject to limitation shall be of such size as to fill the entire
aperture and shall reject passage of a solid four-inch sphere at every
space or interval.
B.
Except as otherwise provided in Subsection C below, sliding windows and vertical pivoting windows may be equipped with stopping devices in place of window guards as follows:
(1)
For sliding windows, solid metal blocks, measuring at least 1/2 the
depth of the window track and 1/2 the width, shall be securely fastened
into the bottom and upper window tracks to prevent the window from
opening four inches or more.
(2)
For vertical pivoting windows, metal stopping devices shall be securely
fastened to the upper and lower window frames so as to prevent the
window from pivoting open four inches or more. The height of the stopping
devices shall extend no less than one inch nor more than two inches
beyond the window frame as needed to stop the window. The protruding
edge of the stopping device shall be smooth and rounded.
C.
Use of such stopping devices in lieu of window guards shall be allowed
within dwelling units only where they do not preclude meeting the
requirement, as per N.J.A.C. 5:10-16.2, that the total openable window
and/or openable skylight area in each room be equal to at least 4%
of the floor area of the room.
[Amended 11-25-2008 by Ord. No. 104]
Any person found guilty before the Municipal Court of the City
of Atlantic City for violating the provisions of this article, whether
individual, partnership or corporate, shall be subject to a fine of
not less than $100 nor more than $2,000, at the discretion of the
Judge. For purposes of this section, any noncompliance within or affecting
one leasehold unit shall be considered a single violation of this
chapter.