[Adopted 9-28-2011 by Ord. No. 589]
No owner, tenant or occupant, or any agent, servant, representative
or employee of such owner, tenant or occupant of any occupied or unoccupied
lot or land, or part or parts thereof in the Borough of Medford Lakes
shall permit or maintain thereon:
A.
Any overgrowing brush, weeds, dead or dying trees, stumps, roots,
obnoxious growths, filth, garbage, trash, debris or junk; or
B.
Refuse or debris resulting from construction activities or the demolishing
of a building or buildings for a period of more than one month after
construction or demolition activity has ceased at the subject property.
A.
Upon complaint
of any resident or officer or employee of the Borough of any violation
of the above provisions, or upon his own motion, the Code Enforcement
Officer or the Building Inspector, as the case may be, or his designated
agent shall make an investigation of the conditions indicated in the
complaint or observed. Upon a finding that prohibited conditions exist,
the Code Enforcement Officer or Inspector is authorized and empowered
to notify by written notice the owner of the subject property or the
agent of the owner to remedy the violation located on such owner's
property within 10 days after receipt of the notice. Such notice shall
be by certified mail addressed to the owner or owner's agent at the
last known address.
B.
The ten-day notice provision shall not be applicable to a second
or subsequent offense within a three-year period involving the same
property and the same or similar subject matter as the first offense.
Such second or subsequent violation will be considered a repeat offense.
For such repeat offenses, a violation may be cited without prior notice.
If the owner, tenant or occupant, or any agent, servant, representative
or employee of such owner, tenant or occupant, to whom notice of violation
of any of the foregoing provisions is sent, neglects or refuses to
abate or remedy the said violation within 10 days after notice thereof,
the Code Enforcement Officer or the Building Inspector, as the case
may be, or his designated agent, shall cause the violation to be abated
and remedied and certify the cost thereof to the Borough Council,
which after examination of the certificate and determination of its
accuracy, shall cause the cost thereof to be charged against the lot
or land on which the violation exists. The amount so charged shall
become a lien upon such lot or land and shall be added to and become
and form part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon such
lot or land, the same to bear interest at the same rate as taxes,
and to be collected and enforced by the same officers responsible
for the collection of taxes and in the same manner as taxes.
[Amended 4-23-2014 by Ord. No. 615]
Any person, firm, corporation, association or legal party whatsoever who or which shall violate, or authorize or procure a violation, or cause to be violated, any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable as provided under the general penalty provisions found at § 1-15 of this Code. This, however, shall not apply against any municipal employee or officer that authorizes action by permit or otherwise in the ordinary course of their duties.
