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Ocean City, NJ
Cape May County
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[1972 Code, § 1-1; New]
This book shall be known and may be cited as "The Revised General Ordinances of the City of Ocean City, 1985," and is herein referred to as the "Revision" or the "Code."
[1972 Code, § 1-2, New]
For the purpose of this Revision, and in the interpretation and application of all other ordinances heretofore or hereafter adopted, except as the context may otherwise require, the definitions contained in this section shall apply:
CITY
Shall mean the City of Ocean City in the County of Cape May and State of New Jersey.
COUNCIL OR CITY COUNCIL
Shall mean the governing body of the City of Ocean City.
CLERK OR CITY CLERK
Shall mean the Municipal Clerk duly appointed pursuant to law.
COUNTY
Shall mean the County of Cape May, State of New Jersey.
DEPARTMENT
Shall mean an organizational unit of the City government established or designated by ordinance or this Revision as a department, together with any agency or instrumentality of the City government assigned to such organizational unit by the City Council.
LAWS
Shall mean laws of the State of New Jersey.
LICENSED
Shall mean licensed in accordance with the appropriate section or Chapter of this Revision.
MONTH
Shall mean a calendar month unless otherwise specifically provided.
OATH
Shall mean and include an affirmation in all cases in which, by law, an affirmation may be substituted for an oath, and, in such cases, the words "swear" and "sworn" shall be equivalent to the words "affirm" and "affirmed".
ORDINANCE
Shall mean any act of local legislation heretofore or hereafter adopted, and including this Revision, so long as it shall have been adopted by the procedure required for the adoption of an ordinance and so long as it shall remain in force and effect pursuant to law.
OWNER, AS APPLIED TO A BUILDING OR LAND
Shall mean and include 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 such building or land.
PERSON
Shall mean any individual, natural persons, partnerships, joint ventures, societies, associations, clubs, trustees, trusts, corporations or unincorporated groups; or any officers, agents, employees, servants, factors or any kind of personal representatives of any thereof in any capacity, acting either for himself or for any other person, under either personal appointment or pursuant to law.
PROPERTY
Shall mean and include real and personal property.
PUBLIC PLACE
Shall mean any park, cemetery, school yard or open space adjacent thereto, and all rivers or other waterways.
SEAL: WHENEVER THE WORD "SEAL" IS USED IT
Shall mean the City or corporate seal.
SIDEWALK
Shall mean any portion of a street between the curb line and the adjacent property line, intended for the use of pedestrians, excluding parkways.
SIGNATURE, SUBSCRIPTION OF A PERSON
Shall include a mark when the person cannot write.
STATE, THE STATE OR THIS STATE
Shall mean the State of New Jersey.
STREET
Shall include a street, avenue, road, alley, lane, highway, boulevard, concourse, driveway, culvert, sidewalk and crosswalk, and every class of road, square, place or municipal parking field used by the general public.
TENANT, OCCUPANT, WHEN APPLIED TO A BUILDING OR LAND
Shall mean and include any person holding a written or oral lease or who occupies the whole or a part of such buildings or lands, either alone or with others.
WEEK
Shall mean seven (7) days.
YEAR
Shall mean a calendar year unless otherwise specifically provided.
[1972 Code, § 1-3; New]
a. 
General. For the purpose of this Revision and any other ordinances heretofore or hereafter adopted, the following definitions and rules of construction shall be observed, except as the context may otherwise require:
The present tense includes the past and future tenses and the future, the present.
The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.
The singular number includes the plural and the plural, the singular.
"Shall" is mandatory and "may" is permissive.
The time within which an act is to be done shall be computed by excluding the first and including the last day and if the last day be a Sunday, a legal holiday, or a day on which the offices of the City are closed, that day shall be excluded.
"Writing" and "written" shall include printing, typewriting and any other mode of communication using paper or similar material which is in general use, as well as legible handwriting.
Whenever a specific time is used in this Revision, it shall mean the prevailing and established time in effect in the State of New Jersey during any day in any year.
"And" may be read as "or" and "or" may be read as "and" where the sense requires it.
All words giving a joint authority to three (3) or more persons or officers shall be construed as giving such authority to a majority of such persons or officers.
Any citation of a statute, law or ordinance contained in this Revision shall be deemed to refer to such statute, law or ordinance as amended, whether or not such designation is included in the citation.
Delegation of authority. Whenever a provision appears requiring the head of a department of the City to do some act or make certain inspections it shall be construed to authorize the head of the department to designate, delegate and authorize subordinates to perform the required act or make the required inspection unless the terms of the provision or section designate otherwise.
Interpretation. In the interpretation and application of any provision of this Revision, it shall be held to be the minimum requirements adopted for the promotion of the public health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare. Where any provision of this Revision imposes greater restrictions upon the subject matter than the general provision imposed by the Revision, the provision imposing the greater restriction or regulation shall be deemed to be controlling.
Name of official or officer. Whenever reference is made to an official, board, commission, department, etc., by title only, it shall be construed as though the words "of the City of Ocean City" were added.
Nontechnical and technical words. Words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved usage of the language; but technical words and phrases and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law shall be construed and understood according to such meaning.
Preceding, following. The words "preceding" and "following" shall mean next before and next after, respectively.
b. 
Divisions of the Revision.
"Chapter" shall mean one of the major divisions of the Revision identified by Arabic numbers and divided by subject matter.
"Section" shall mean a major subdivision of a Chapter.
"Subsection" shall mean a subdivision of a section, identified by a decimal number.
"Paragraph" shall mean a subdivision under a subsection, identified by an alphabetical letter or Arabic number.
[1972 Code, § 1-4]
If any Chapter, section, subsection or paragraph of this Revision shall be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid or inoperative, in whole or in part, by a court of competent jurisdiction, such Chapter, section, subsection or paragraph shall, to the extent that it is not unconstitutional, invalid or inoperative, remain in full force and effect, and no such determination shall be deemed to invalidate the remaining Chapters, sections, subsections or paragraphs of this Revision.
[New]
It shall be the duty of the Clerk or someone authorized and directed by the Clerk to keep up-to-date the certified copy of the book containing "The General Ordinances of the City of Ocean City, 1985" required to be filed in the office of the Clerk for the use of the public. All changes in the Revision and all ordinances adopted by the City Council subsequent to the adoption of the Revision, which the City Council shall adopt specifically as a part of the Revision, shall, when finally adopted, be included therein by reference until such change or new ordinances are printed as supplements to the general ordinances, at which time such supplements shall be inserted therein.
[1972 Code, § 5-25.1; N.J.S.A. 40:49-5]
For violation of any provision of this Chapter, any other Chapter of this Revision, or any other ordinance of the City where no specific penalty is provided regarding the section or sections violated, the maxi-mum penalty shall, upon conviction of a violation, be one or more of the following: a fine not exceeding one thousand two hundred fifty ($1,250.00) dollars or imprisonment for a period not exceeding ninety (90) days, or to a period of community service not exceeding ninety (90) days at the discretion of the Municipal Court Judge.
[1972 Code, § 5-25.2]
Except as otherwise provided, each and every day in which a violation of any provision of this Chapter or any other ordinance of the City exists shall constitute a separate violation.
[1972 Code, § 5-25.3; N.J.S.A. 40:49-5]
The maximum penalty stated in this section is not intended to state an appropriate penalty for each and every violation. Any lesser penalty, including a nominal penalty or no penalty at all, may be appropriate for a particular case or a particular violation.