The ordinances embraced in this and the following chapters constituted
and shall be known as the "Revised Ordinances of the Borough of Morris
Plains, New Jersey, 1972" and may be so cited, or may be cited as
the "Revised Ordinances of Morris Plains."
In the construction of the Revised Ordinances of Morris Plains,
and of all other ordinances of the Borough, words and phrases shall
be read and construed with their context, and shall, unless inconsistent
with the manifest intent of the council or unless another or different
meaning is expressly indicated, be given their generally accepted
meaning, according to the approved usage of the language. Technical
words and phrases, and words and phrases having a special or accepted
meaning in the law, shall be construed in accordance with such technical
or special and accepted meaning.
Unless otherwise expressly provided, or unless there is something
in the subject or context repugnant to such construction, or unless
inconsistent with the manifest intent of the council, the following
words and phrases when used in the Revised Ordinances of Morris Plains
or in any other ordinances of the Borough, shall have the meanings
herein given:
"And" may be construed as meaning "or," and "or" as "and,"
if the sense requires it.
The Borough of Morris Plains.
The governing body of the Borough of Morris Plains.
The county of Morris.
The county jail of the county of Morris.
Words importing the masculine gender shall apply to females
as well as to males, and to partnerships, limited partnerships, associations,
bodies corporate, and other artificial persons.
The mayor and councilmen of the Borough of Morris Plains
or such other duly authorized legislative body as shall be charged
with governing the Borough.
A calendar month.
Of or pertaining to the Borough of Morris Plains.
The Borough of Morris Plains.
That body of statutory law containing revisions of the Revised
Statutes of New Jersey and known as the New Jersey Statutes, as amended
and supplemented.
Words used in the singular number include the plural, and
words used in the plural include the singular number.
Includes "affirmation"; and "swear" and "sworn" include "affirm"
and "affirmed."
See "Tenant," infra.
And the title of an officer or official, shall be construed
as if the words "of the Borough of Morris Plains" followed it.
See "And."
Includes sole owner and any part owner, joint owner, tenant
in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant, or tenant by the entirety,
of the whole or of a part of a building or land, and personal property.
Includes corporations, companies, societies, firms, partnerships,
associations, organizations and any other group or entity acting as
a unit, as well as an individual.
Includes goods and chattels, rights and credits, moneys and
effects, evidences of debt, choses in action and all written instruments
by which any right to, interest in, lien or encumbrance upon, property
or any debt or financial obligation is created, acknowledged, evidenced,
transferred, discharged or defeated, in whole or in part, and every
thing, except real property as herein defined, which may be the subject
of ownership.
Next before and next after, respectively.
Includes real and personal property.
Any and every public ground, public square, public park or
other public place within the Borough which is within the jurisdiction
and control of the Borough, and which is or may be in general use
by all citizens, and in which all have an equal right of passage and
repassage at will.[1]
Includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto
and interests therein.
The Revised Ordinances of the Borough of Morris Plains, New
Jersey.
That body of statutory law known as the Revised Statutes
of New Jersey (1937) containing the general and permanent laws of
the state adopted on December 20, 1937, as amended and supplemented.
Any portion of a street or highway between the curb line
or the lateral line of a shoulder, or, if none, the lateral line of
the roadway and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of
pedestrians.
The state of New Jersey.
Includes highways, roads, avenues, boulevards, courts, public
lanes, alleys, sidewalks, footpaths and all other public highways
for vehicular or pedestrian travel.
Applied to a building or land, includes any person who occupies
the whole or part of such building or land, whether alone or with
others.
7 days.
Except as to signatures, "writing" and "written" include
printing and any other mode of representing words, letters and figures.
A calendar year.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Pamoplas v. Marinos, 98 N. J. L. 665,
121 A. 727 (Sup. Ct. 1923); State v. Gross, 96 N. J. L. 406, 115 A.
743 (Sup. Ct. 1921).
The provisions of the Revised Ordinances not inconsistent with
prior ordinances in effect at the adoption of the Revised Ordinances
shall be construed as a continuation thereof, rather than as new enactments.
All references in the Revised Ordinances to chapters, articles
or sections are to chapters, articles or sections of the Revised Ordinances.
Such references to chapters or articles shall be construed to refer
to all the sections within the chapters or articles to which such
references are made, unless otherwise expressly provided.
In the construction of the Revised Ordinances or any part thereof,
no analysis of any chapter or part thereof, no cross-reference or
cross-reference note, no indication of a source by parenthetical material
after a section, no note, no footnote, no index, and no section heading,
shall be deemed to be part of the Revised Ordinances.
Whenever an ordinance that repeals an earlier ordinance or part
thereof is itself repealed, such repeal shall not revive the former
ordinance or part thereof, unless specific provision is made therefor.
The seal provided and used by and for the Borough is hereby
established as the seal of the Borough.
[Ord. No. 19-69, § 1.; No. 22-2208, § 1]
(a)Â
Whenever no specific penalty is provided in these Revised Ordinances
or in any other ordinance of the Borough for the punishment of an
act which is prohibited or which is declared to be unlawful or an
offense, or for the nonperformance of an act which is required to
be done, the violation of any such provision shall be punished by
a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding
90 days, or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days.
In addition, the violation of any ordinance pertaining to unlawful
solid waste disposal shall be punished by a fine ranging from a minimum
of $250 to a maximum fine not exceeding $10,000.
(b)Â
A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or
on which a violation of these Revised Ordinances or of any other ordinance
of the Borough, punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, occurs
or continues.
(c)Â
The imposition of fine or imprisonment as punishment for a violation
of these Revised Ordinances or of any other ordinances of the Borough
shall not be deemed to be in lieu of any other provision therein providing
for revocation or suspension of any license or permit issued thereunder.
(d)Â
Any person who is convicted of violating any provision of the Revised
Ordinances within one year of the date of a previous violation of
the same provision of the Revised Ordinances and who was fined for
the previous violation shall be sentenced by a court of competent
jurisdiction to an additional fine as a repeat offender. The additional
fine imposed by the court upon a person for a repeated offense shall
not be less than the minimum fine, if any, or exceed the maximum fine,
if any, fixed for a violation of the Revised Ordinance provision,
but shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed for the violation
of the Revised Ordinance provision.
[Ord. No. 20-2014, § 1]
If any section, article or chapter of the Revised Ordinances
or of any other ordinance of the Borough or any part thereof, or the
application thereof to any person or circumstances, shall be declared
to be invalid or inoperative by a court of competent jurisdiction,
such chapter, article or section, to the extent that it is not invalid
or inoperative, shall not be affected thereby, and shall be enforced
and effectuated. No such determination shall invalidate the remaining
chapters, articles or sections.
[Ord. No. 6-2020, § 1]
(a)Â
Purpose.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a fluid and ever-changing landscape
of orders, regulations, directives and recommendations issued by the
state and federal government agencies designed to project the public
health and safety of the residents of the United States and this state
from this contagious, and at times fatal, respiratory disease. The
purpose of this section is to provide the Borough with the flexibility
to quickly react to, adopt and adapt to the multitude of orders, regulations,
directives and recommendations issued by the local, county, state
and federal governments during COVID-19 or any future declaration
of a disaster, emergency, public health emergency and/or state of
emergency in furtherance of the public health and welfare of the Borough's
residents, businesses and visitors by creating a mechanism by which
the Mayor and Borough Council may more quickly act by resolution to
provide temporary emergency relief from the provisions of local ordinances,
policies, programs and initiatives.
(b)Â
The Mayor
and Borough Council may implement temporary policies, programs, and
initiatives, and, in their sole discretion, may provide temporary
relief from certain provisions of the Revised Ordinances in order
to quickly react to, adopt and/or adapt to temporary orders, regulations,
directives and recommendations of the local, county, state and/or
federal governments during a declaration of a disaster, emergency,
public health emergency and/or state of emergency to protect the health,
safety, and economic welfare of the Borough residents, businesses
and visitors. By way of example, and not limitation, the governing
body may authorize and permit temporary deviations from approved site
plans, or permit outdoor dining to enhance social distancing during
COVID-19. Any such resolution shall not conflict with any existing
executive order issued by the Governor of the State of New Jersey
and shall be for a limited duration to be set forth in the resolution.
