[Ord. No. 2006-9 § 4;
New; Ord. No. 2015-7 § 1]
Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 21, P.L. 1946 as amended
(N.J.S.A. 40:49-5.1) the "International Property Maintenance Code,
2012, and as subsequently amended and revised" is hereby accepted,
adopted and established as standards to be used as a guide in determining
the fitness of a building for human habitation, occupancy or use.
Copies of the "International Property Maintenance Code, 2012, and
as subsequently amended and revised" are annexed to this section and
three copies of the same have been placed on file in the office of
the Borough Clerk and are available to all persons desiring to use
and examine the same.
[Ord. No. 2006-9 § 4;
New; Ord. No. 2015-7 § 1]
No person shall occupy as owner occupant or rent to another
for occupancy any dwelling or dwelling unit for the purpose of living
therein which does not conform to the provisions of the "International
Property Maintenance Code, 2012, and as subsequently amended and revised"
and established hereby as the standards to be used in determining
whether a dwelling is safe, sanitary and fit for human habitation.
[Ord. No. 2006-9 § 2; Ord. No. 2017-3 § 1]
a.
The Borough of Elmer shall be entitled to receive a fifty ($50.00)
dollar fee for the initial inspection and the first reinspection.
Any failed reinspection shall be a twenty-five ($25.00) dollar fee
for each reinspection.
[Ord. No. 2008-08 § IV]
Shall mean and include the individual, firm, corporation,
association, society, partnership and their agents or employees.
[Ord. No. 2008-8 § V; Ord. No. 2015-7 § 3]
The following matters, things, conditions, or acts and each
of them are hereby declared to be a nuisance and injurious to the
health of the inhabitants of this municipality:
a.
Pollution or existence of a condition or conditions which cause or
threaten pollution, of any waters in this municipality in such manner
as to cause or threaten injury to any of the inhabitants of this municipality
either in their health, comfort or property.
b.
The escape into the open air from any stack, vent, chimney or any
entrance to the open air, or from any fire into the open air of such
quantities of smoke, flyash, dust, fumes, vapors, mists or gases as
to cause injury, detriment, or annoyance to the inhabitants of the
municipality or endanger their comfort, repose, health, or safety.
c.
The growth, existence or presence of ragweed on any plot of land,
lot, highway, right-of-way or other public or private place.
d.
The growth, existence, or presence of poison ivy within 20 feet of
any property line.
e.
The existence or presence of any water or other liquid in which mosquito
larvae breed or exist.
f.
The existence or presence of any accumulation of garbage, refuse,
manure, or animal or vegetable matter, which may attract flies, and
to which flies may have access or in which fly larvae or pupae may
breed or exist.
g.
Depositing, accumulation or maintaining and matter or thing which
serves as food for insects or rodents and to which they have access,
or in which serves or constitutes a breeding place or harborage for
insects or rodents in or on any land, premises, building or other
place.
h.
The existence or presence of brush, weed, dead or dying trees, stumps,
roots, construction or demolition, refuse or debris, or lumber, machines,
junk, paper, cloth, glass or combination of them.
i.
To keep, harbor, maintain or possess bees or beehives for any purpose
within the limits of the Borough except as permitted by the Right
to Farm Act, N.J.S.A. 4:1C-1 et seq.
[Ord. No. 2008-8 § VI]
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to commit, maintain,
or allow any nuisance, as declared and described by this section.
[Ord. No. 2008-8 § VII]
It shall be unlawful for any person to make, cause or suffer
or permit to be made or caused upon any premises owned, occupied or
controlled by him or it, or upon any public street, alley or thoroughfare
in this municipality, any unnecessary noises or sounds by means of
the human voice, or by any other means or methods which are physically
annoying to persons, or which are so harsh or unusual in their use,
time, and place as to occasion physical discomfort, or which are injurious
to the lives, health, peace, and comfort of the inhabitants of this
municipality or any number thereof.
[Ord. No. 2008-8 § VIII]
a.
Whenever a nuisance as declared by this section is found on any plot
of land, lot, right-of-way or any other private premises or place,
notice in writing shall be given to owner thereof to remove or abate
the same within such time as shall be specified therein but not less
than five days from the date of service thereof. A duplicate of notice
shall be left with one or more of the tenants or occupants of the
premises or place. If the owner resides out of state or cannot be
so notified speedily, such notice shall be left at that place or premises
with the tenant, or occupant thereof, or posted on the premises and
such action shall be considered proper notification to the owner,
tenant, or occupant thereof.
b.
Whenever a nuisance as declared by this section is found on any public
property or any highway or any other public premises or place, notice
in writing shall be given to the person in charge thereof to remove
or abate the same within such time with such notice within the time
specified as shall be specified therein. If such person fails to comply
with such notice within the time specified therein, the Borough of
Elmer may remove or abate such nuisance in the manner as hereinafter
provided in the case of a like condition existing on a private premises
or place.
c.
If the owner, tenant or occupant upon being notified as provided
by this section shall not comply with such notice within the time
specified therein and fails to remove or abate such nuisance, the
Borough of Elmer shall proceed to abate the nuisance or may cause
it to be removed or abated in a summary manner by such means as said
Borough shall deem proper.
[Ord. No. 2008-8 § X]
The Borough of Elmer may institute an action at law to recover
costs incurred by it in the removal or abatement of any nuisance as
declared by this section from any person who shall have caused or
allowed such nuisance to exist, or form any owner, tenant, or occupant
of premises who, after notice and notification as herein provided,
shall fail to remove and abate the same within the time specified
in such notice.
[Ord. No. 2008-8 § I;
New]
[Ord. No. 2013-5 § 1]
This section provides for the regulation of property maintenance
in the Borough of Elmer, and shall be entitled Brush and Grass Maintenance
Regulations of the Borough of Elmer.
[Ord. No. 2013-5 § 2]
It is hereby found and declared that there exists, in the Borough
of Elmer, buildings and premises used for residential and nonresidential
purposes which are or may become substandard with respect to the maintenance
of brush and grass, and, further, that such conditions constitute
a menace to the health, welfare and reasonable comfort of the citizens
and inhabitants of the Borough of Elmer.
[Ord. No. 2013-5 § 3]
The purpose of this section is to:
a.
Provide minimum standards for the maintenance of brush and grass.
b.
Fix certain responsibilities and duties upon owners and occupants.
c.
Foster a clean community.
d.
Prevent blighting conditions.
e.
Correct violations or to fix penalties for the violations of this
section.
f.
Preserve the quality, character and property values of the Borough.
g.
Avoid, prevent and eliminate conditions which, if permitted to exist
or continue, will depreciate or tend to depreciate the value of adjacent
or surrounding properties.
[Ord. No. 2013-5 § 4]
Every building and the premises on which it is situated, in
the Borough, used or intended to be used or designed to be used, in
whole or in part, for residential or nonresidential purposes shall
comply with the provisions of this section, whether or not any such
building shall have been constructed, altered or repaired before or
after the enactment of this section.
[Ord. No. 2013-5 § 5]
a.
Responsibilities of owner and occupants. Owners and occupants shall
have all the duties and responsibilities as prescribed in this section
and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, unless specifically
set forth to the contrary, and no owner/occupant shall be relieved
from any such duty and responsibility.
b.
Contract not to alter responsibilities. Unless expressly provided
to the contrary in this section, the respective obligations and responsibilities
of the owner and occupant shall not be altered or affected by any
agreement or contract by and between any other parties.
[Ord. No. 2013-5 § 6]
It shall be the duty of the owner or occupant to keep the premises
free of or remove, abate and correct the premises against the following
conditions, which include but are not limited to:
a.
Prohibited uses and activities:
1.
Dead or diseased trees or shrubbery; dead or diseased limbs still
attached or suspended within trees with a diameter of more than one
inch that because of their location might fall on private or public
property including rights-of-way. The owner or operator shall be responsible
for the removal of vegetation.
2.
Trees and limbs or other natural growth which constitutes a hazard
or may be dangerous to persons in the vicinity thereof.
3.
Grass or weeds of a height of more than 10 inches. Excluded from
this requirement are power line rights-of-way and orchard or farm
lands that are actively being farmed, fields or parts of a premises
that have not heretofore been sown with commercially grown grass seeds
or that heretofore have not been subjected to a regular program of
cutting.
4.
Brush, hedges, other plant life that unreasonably obstructs the view
of a person entering or exiting by motor vehicle from any driveway;
obstructs to any degree the visibility of any children entering an
existing marked crosswalk.
[Ord. No. 2013-5 § 7; Ord. No. 2015-7 § 2]
a.
All premises in the Borough of Elmer are subject to this section,
and any person or business entity holding an interest in any affected
premises shall comply without further notice.
b.
Service of notice of violation. Notice of violation shall be served
upon the owner of record, provided that such notice shall be deemed
to be properly served upon such owner if a copy thereof is delivered
to him personally or, if not found, by leaving a copy thereof at his
usual place of abode with a person of suitable age and discretion,
who shall be informed of the contents thereof, or by sending a copy
thereof by certified mail and regular mail to his last known address
or, if the letter with the copy is returned showing that it has not
been delivered to him, by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous
place in or about the structure affected by the notice.
c.
Notice requirements. Whenever the Housing Officer determines that
there has been or is a violation of any provision of this section,
he shall give notice of such violation or alleged violation to the
person or persons responsible therefor. Such notice shall:
1.
Be in writing.
2.
Include a description of the real estate sufficient for identification.
3.
Specify the violation which exists and the remedial action required.
4.
Specify a reasonable time, not to exceed 10 days, in which the violation
or violations shall be abated, corrected or eliminated. Said ten-day
period may be extended for an additional 10 days by the Enforcement
Officer for good cause.
5.
State the penalty for violation of this section.
d.
If the owner or occupant of any lands or buildings in the Borough
shall fail or neglect to remedy any identified deficiency within 10
days after notice to remove the same in the manner and within the
time provided, the Housing Officer may, in addition to such other
remedies provided herein, refer the matter to the Borough Council
with recommendation for removal by the Borough. In such cases the
Zoning Officer or a designee authorized by Council shall certify the
cost thereof to the Borough Council which shall examine the certificate
and, if found correct and reasonable, shall, by resolution, approve
the cost as shown thereon to be charged against said lands. The amount
so charged shall become a lien upon such lands and shall be added
to and become and form part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied
upon such lands; the same to bear interest at the same rate as taxes
and shall be collected and enforced in the same manner as are taxes.
e.
Any Borough resident as well as the Housing Officer may prosecute
a violation of any subsection of this section in the Municipal Court
of Elmer Borough.
[Ord. No. 2013-5 § 8;
New]
b.
Any person who is convicted of violating the same provision of this
section within one year of the date of a previous violation of the
same offense, and who was fined for the previous violation, shall
be sentenced by a court 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 or exceed the maximum fine
fixed for a violation of this section, but shall be calculated separately
from the fine imposed for the prior violation of this section.
[Ord. No. 2013-5 § 9; Ord. No. 2015-7 § 2]
In case any building, structure or land is, or is proposed to
be, used in violation of any provision of this section, the Borough
Council or, with the approval of the Borough Council, the Housing
Officer, may, in addition to the other remedies, institute in the
name of the Borough any appropriate action or proceeding to prevent,
restrain, correct or abate such use; or to prevent, in or about such
premises, any act, conduct, business or use which constitutes a violation.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
As used in this section:
Shall mean an automobile or vehicle of any type which does
not display current license plates or which is unregistered, or any
such vehicle, whether registered or not, that is in an inoperable
condition or unfit for use on any public highway, standing or stored
anywhere outdoors in the Borough of Elmer.
Shall mean any individual, corporation partnership or other
association of persons.
Shall mean a motor vehicle designed to be propelled otherwise
than by muscular power, and as used in this Article, shall also include
any part or parts of a motor vehicle, and any such vehicle, whether
or not the same, by reason of its present condition, is still capable
of self-propulsion.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
No person shall park, abandon, keep, store, locate, suffer or
permit the keeping, abandonment, storage or location without current
license plates and/or registration of any inoperable vehicle or vehicles
outdoors upon any public or private lands in the Borough, including
any public street. A vehicle shall be deemed to be stored, parked
or abandoned if it has been continually on a property for a time period
of at least 10 days. Nothing herein shall be deemed to prohibit the
keeping or storage of a motor vehicle, whether operable or inoperable,
entirely within an enclosed garage, barn or other full enclosed building.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
If any inoperable vehicle or vehicles shall be abandoned, parked,
kept, located or stored on private lands in the Borough, it shall
be presumed that the owner and/or any tenant in possession of said
land or property has abandoned, kept, located or stored the vehicle
upon the subject property or permitted or suffered it to be abandoned,
kept, located or stored on said property, and the owner and such tenant
of said property shall be responsible for the violation of this section.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
a.
Any member of the Borough of Elmer Police Department, Zoning Officer
or Property Maintenance Officer shall enforce the provisions of this
section.
b.
Upon receipt of information showing a violation of this section,
a Borough of Elmer Police Department Officer, Zoning Officer or Property
Maintenance Officer shall serve written notice, either by personal
service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed
to the last known address, on the owner of the property where the
violation has continued to occur and on the owner of the vehicle,
if known, requiring the removal of the vehicle within seven calendar
days following the receipt of notice. The notice shall include notification
that failure to remove the vehicle will result in issuance of a complaint,
summons or other process upon the expiration of the seven calendar
day period.
c.
Nothing herein shall prevent the enforcement by the Borough Police
Department of any provisions of N.J.S.A. 39:1-1, et seq., including,
specifically, but not limited to, the provisions of Title 39 relating
to abandoned, inoperable or unregistered vehicles, particularly N.J.S.A.
39:4-56.1, et seq.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
Each day any such inoperable motor vehicle remains parked in
violation of the provisions of this section shall be deemed a new
offense.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
Any owner or operator who authorizes, permits or suffers an
inoperable vehicle to be brought inside the Borough limits shall be
deemed to have consented to the vehicle being towed or impounded pursuant
to this section.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
The cost of towing shall be payable by the owner, operator,
tenant or authorized agent of the owner or operator of said inoperable
vehicle. All such fees and charges shall be independent of and in
addition to any fines collected by the municipal court for violations
of this section.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
The Borough shall not be responsible for any damage caused to
any inoperable vehicles towed or impounded pursuant to this section,
nor for any theft of personal property in connection therewith.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
In the event of civil enforcement hereof by the Borough or by
any other person, every violator of this section may be required to
remove the vehicle abandoned, kept, stored or located in violation
hereof and to pay all costs and expenses of such removal.
[Ord. No. 2018-16]
Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall,
upon conviction thereof, be subject one or more of the following:
a fine not exceeding $1,250 and/or a period of community service not
exceeding 30 days.
