[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township
of Long Beach 11-6-2017 by Ord.
No. 17-38C. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The Township Code Enforcement Officer or designee.
All native and nonnative plants, vines, and vegetation which
grow out of place and are competitive, persistent, and pernicious.
The plants may damage trees, other vegetation, or structures. Examples
of invasive plants include, but are not limited to, the following:
bamboo (including the clumping and running types), kudzu-vine, multiflora
rose, ragweed, poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak, as well as
other invasive plants with spreading or running-type root systems.
All property owners and tenants shall control the growth of
invasive plants and ensure that the growth of invasive plants does
not spread to, encroach upon, or otherwise invade or intrude upon
adjoining private or public properties, or public rights-of-way. Failure
to control the spread of such vegetation beyond the boundaries of
the property is a violation of this chapter.
All places and premises shall be subject to inspection by the
enforcement officer. Such inspections shall be performed by such person,
persons, or agency duly authorized and appointed. Such inspections
shall be made if that official has reason to believe that any section
of this chapter is being violated.
All new in-ground plantings of invasive plants are strictly
prohibited. All existing invasive plants shall be contained with the
boundaries of a property by appropriate physical barriers to prevent
the growth and/or spread of the invasive plants beyond the boundaries
of the property.
A.
Whenever an invasive plant is found on any plot of land, lot, or
any other premises, or place, and is found to lack appropriate physical
barriers to prevent its spread or growth, or is found to have spread
beyond the boundaries of a property, a violation shall be given to
the owner of the property from which the invasive plants originated,
in writing, to remove or abate the same within 30 days. The costs
of all remedies, including the removal of the invasive plants, shall
be borne by the property owner of where the invasive plants originated.
If the property owner fails to abate the violation, a municipal summons/complaint
may be issued charging the property owner with violating the provisions
of this chapter.
B.
Notwithstanding any other penalty or fine that may be imposed under
this chapter, if a property owner fails to comply with the removal
or abatement of an invasive plant, the Township may thereafter remove
or otherwise abate the invasive plant(s) and recover the costs of
such removal and/or abatement from the property owner by placing a
lien against the property.
