[Adopted 10-26-1977 by Ord. No. 1418 (Ch. 87, Art. I, of the 1975 Borough
Code)]
This article shall be known as the "Commercial Maintenance Code
of the Borough of Roselle" and is referred to in this article in the
short form as "this code."
The purpose of this code is to protect the public health, safety
and welfare by establishing minimum standards for the maintenance
of commercial premises, to fix responsibilities and duties upon owners,
operators and occupants, to authorize and establish procedures for
the inspection of commercial premises, to fix penalties for the violations
of this code and to provide for the right to access to permit repairs
when necessary. This code is hereby declared to be remedial and essential
for the public interest, and it is intended that this code be liberally
construed to effectuate the purpose as stated herein.
The following terms, wherever used herein, shall have the following
meanings unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
A lot or tract of land on which or on any part of which commercial
activity shall include but is not limited to gasoline stations; retail
sales, professional activities, including but not limited to medical,
dental, legal, architectural, accounting, etc.; personal services,
including real estate, insurance, barbershops, hairdressers, etc.;
repair shops of all kinds; and amusements, including but not limited
to movies, skating rinks, bowling alleys, etc., whether part of a
shopping area or not.
Those portions of a building which are exposed to public
view and the open space of any premises outside of any building erected
thereon.
Any condition, man-made or natural, which affords a breeding
place or hiding place for harmful rodents, insects or other pests.
Any common law nuisance or as provided by the laws of the State
of New Jersey or the ordinances of the Borough of Roselle.
Any attractive nuisance which may prove detrimental to the health
or safety of children, whether in a building or upon a lot. This includes
but is not limited to any structurally unsound fences or structures,
lumber, trash, fences, debris or vegetation, such as poison ivy, poison
oak or poison sumac, which may prove a hazard for inquisitive minors.
Physical conditions dangerous to human life or detrimental to
the health of persons on or near the premises where the conditions
exist.
Unsanitary conditions or anything unreasonably offensive to
the senses or dangerous to health in violation of this code.
Whatever renders air, food or drink unwholesome or detrimental
to the health of human beings.
Fire hazards.
Any person having actual possession of the premises or any
part thereof.
Any person who has charge, care or control of the commercial
premises or any part thereof, whether with or without the consent
of the owner.
Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others,
shall have legal or equitable title to any commercial premises, with
or without accompanying actual possession thereof, or shall have charge,
care or control of any commercial premises as owner or agent of the
owner, or as fiduciary, including but not limited to executor, executrix,
administrator, administratrix, trustee, receiver or guardian of the
estate, or as a mortgagee in possession, regardless of how such possession
was obtained. Any person who is a lessee subletting or reassigning
any part or all of any commercial premises shall be deemed to be a
co-owner with the lessor and shall have joint responsibility over
the portion of the premises sublet or assigned by said lessee.
One or more buildings or parts thereof designed as a unit,
to be occupied by one or more businesses for the conduct of business
and conducted as an integrated planned area development.
A.
Every commercial premises and any building situated thereon in the
Borough of Roselle, used or intended to be used for commercial occupancy,
shall comply with the provisions of this code, whether or not such
building shall have been constructed, altered or repaired before or
after the enactment of this code. This code establishes minimum standards
for the initial and continued occupancy and use of all such commercial
buildings and does not replace or modify standards otherwise established
for the construction, repair, alteration or use of such commercial
buildings or premises contained therein. Where there is mixed occupancy
with commercial and other uses on the same premises, all such uses
shall be nevertheless regulated by and subject to the provisions of
this code.
B.
In any case where the provisions of this code impose a higher standard
than is set forth in any other ordinance of the Borough of Roselle
or under the laws of the State of New Jersey, then the standards as
set forth herein shall prevail, but if the provisions of this code
impose a lower standard than any other ordinance of the Borough of
Roselle or the laws of the State of New Jersey, then the higher standard
contained in any other such ordinance or law shall prevail.
Owners and operators shall have all the duties and responsibilities
prescribed in this code, and no owner or operator shall be relieved
from any such duty and responsibility, nor be entitled to defend against
any charge or violation thereof, by reason of the fact that the occupant
is also responsible therefor and in violation thereof.
Occupants shall have all the duties and responsibilities as prescribed in §§ 595-11 through 595-16 of this article, and the occupant shall not be relieved from any such duty and responsibility, nor be entitled to defend against any charge of violation thereof, by reason of the fact that the owner or operator is also responsible therefor and in violation thereof.
The exterior of the premises and all structures thereon shall
be kept free of all nuisances; any hazards to the safety of occupants,
pedestrians and other persons utilizing the premises; and unsanitary
conditions, and any of the foregoing shall be promptly removed and
abated by the owner or operator. It shall be the duty of the owner
or operator to keep the premises free of hazards, which include but
are not limited to the following:
A.
Refuse: broken glass, filth, garbage, trash, litter and debris.
B.
Natural growth: brush, weeds, ragweeds, stumps, roots and obnoxious
growths, dead and dying trees and limbs or other natural growth which,
by reason of rotting or deteriorating conditions or storm damage,
constitute a hazard to persons in the vicinity thereof. Trees shall
be kept pruned and trimmed to prevent such conditions.
C.
Overhangings: loose and overhanging objects and accumulations of
ice and snow which, by reason of location above ground level, constitute
a danger of falling on persons in the vicinity thereof.
D.
Ground surface hazards or unsanitary conditions: holes, broken or
missing pavement, loose stone, excavations, breaks, projections, obstructions,
ice, uncleared snow and excretion of pets and other animals on paths,
walks, driveways, parking lots and parking areas and other parts of
the premises which are accessible to and used by persons on the premises.
All such holes and excavations shall be filled and repaired, walks
and steps repaired and other conditions removed where necessary to
eliminate hazards or unsanitary conditions with reasonable dispatch
upon their discovery. It shall be the responsibility of owners and
operators to take reasonable steps to discover any such hazards or
unsanitary conditions which may exist on their premises.
E.
Recurring accumulations of stormwater. Adequate runoff drains shall
be provided and maintained to eliminate any recurrent or excessive
accumulation of stormwater.
F.
Sources of infestation.
Premises shall be kept landscaped, and lawns, hedges and bushes
shall be kept trimmed and kept from becoming overgrown. Plantings
required by site plan approval shall be replaced when the same have
died.
All signs, pavement markings and printed matter and pictures
or illustrations contained thereon, permitted by reason of other regulations
or as a lawful nonconforming use, shall be maintained in good repair.
The exterior of every structure or accessory structure, including
fences, signs and store fronts, shall be maintained in good repair.
All structural surfaces shall be maintained free of safety hazards
and fire hazards, such as broken windows, loose and falling shingles
and crumbling and falling stone or brick.
The owner, operator and occupant shall have the duty and responsibility
of removing refuse and garbage at least twice per week, but if pickup
twice weekly is not sufficient to remove all garbage that accumulates,
removal more often shall be required.
Every day that the premises is open for business, the occupant
shall be responsible for removing litter from the sidewalk or other
pedestrian areas, if any, in front of the occupant's commercial premises.
The area shall be swept as often as necessary to maintain it free
of litter, spillage and other debris.
[Amended 9-15-2021 by Ord. No. 2665-21]
Upon discovery by an occupant of any condition of the premises
which constitutes a violation of this article by the owner or operator,
the occupant shall report same to the Police Department, Fire Department,
Building Inspector, Division of Code Enforcement or Health Officer
who shall be responsible for enforcement of the provisions of this
article.
All parts of the premises under the control of the occupant
shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition, and the occupant
shall refrain from performing any acts which would render other parts
of the premises unclean or unsanitary or which would obstruct the
owner or operator from performing any duty required hereunder or maintaining
the premises in a clean and sanitary condition.
Every operator and occupant shall be responsible for the elimination
of infestation in and on the premises subject to his control.
All buildings and premises subject to this code are subject
to inspection from time to time by the Building Inspector, Health
Officer, Police Department, Fire Department or any other Borough official
charged with the duty of enforcing regulations governing any aspect
or conduct of the activity housed in the said premises. At the time
of such inspections, all parts of the premises must be available and
accessible for such inspections, and the owner, operator and occupant
are required to provide the necessary arrangements to facilitate such
inspections. Such inspections shall be made during open hours of the
business occupying the said premises unless there is reason to believe
a violation exists of a character which is an immediate threat to
health or safety requiring inspection and abatement without delay.
Where the violation or condition existing on the premises is
of such a nature as to constitute an immediate threat to life and
limb unless abated without delay, the Police Department, Fire Department,
Building Inspector or Health Officer may order the owner, operator
or occupant to correct the violation or condition within the period
of time consistent with the hazard involved and with the measures
necessary to remove the hazard; and upon the failure of the operator,
owner or occupant to correct said condition, the Police Department,
Fire Department, Building Inspector or Health Officer shall abate
said condition immediately thereafter.
Where abatement of any nuisance, as defined herein, or correction
of a defect on the premises or the maintenance of the premises in
a proper condition to conform to applicable ordinances of the Borough
of Roselle or the laws of the State of New Jersey requires expenditure
of Borough of Roselle moneys therefor, either by the supplying of
labor by Borough employees, the furnishing of material by the Borough
or the hiring of outside contractors, the Police Department, the Building
Inspector, the Fire Department or the Health Officer shall present
a report of the work accomplished to the governing body of the Borough
of Roselle, along with a summary of the proceedings undertaken to
secure compliance, including notice served upon owners, operators,
occupants or their agents, as the case may be, by telephone, telegram,
etc. The governing body shall then approve the expenditures made and
assess the same against the premises, collectible as provided by law.
A copy of the resolution approving the said expenses shall be certified
by the Borough Clerk and filed with the Tax Collector of the Borough
of Roselle, who shall be responsible for the collection thereof, and
a copy of the report and resolution shall be sent by certified mail,
return receipt requested, to the owner.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article on
or after the effective date of this article may, upon conviction thereof,
be punished by a fine not exceeding $200. Each day's continued violation
of this article shall constitute a separate and distinct offense of
the provisions hereof.
