Borough of Woodbury Heights, NJ Chapter 87 Sanitary Sewer Grease Traps

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Woodbury Heights 8-6-80 as Ord. No. 7-1980. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 87-1 Where required.

Sanitary sewer grease traps shall be required to be installed on all existing and proposed commercial restaurants, cafes, tearooms, taverns, catering services, school cafeterias or any establishment that dispenses cooked or preprocessed food or any establishment that packages, cuts or processes raw meat.

§ 87-2 Requirements for existing establishments.

Existing establishments shall have an approved outside grease trap installed and functional, to the satisfaction of the Engineer, within one year [365 days] following the official passage of this chapter. Plans and specifications for the grease trap installation shall be submitted to the Borough Clerk's office within six months following the official passage of this chapter. Denial or approval of said plans shall be made by notification from the Clerk's office within 45 days following submission. If said plans are denied, revisions are to be submitted within 60 days.

§ 87-3 Requirements for new establishments.

Before the issuance of any certification of occupancy by the Borough of Woodbury Heights for any new food-dispensing establishment, there shall be installed and operational, to the satisfaction of the Municipal Engineer, an outside grease trap conforming to the requirements of this chapter. Before the issuance of any building permit by the Borough of Woodbury Heights for any new food-dispensing establishment, there shall be shown on the approved development (site) plan an outside grease trap installation as approved by the Municipal Engineer.

§ 87-4 Trap specifications.

A. A grease trap shall be precast concrete with minimum size requirements as follows:

Business With Number of Seats	Business With Number of Patrons	Required Size of Grease Trap (gallons)
10 - 24	30 - 99	500
25 - 74	100 - 199	1,000
75 - 99	200 -349	1,250
100 - 199	350 - 999	2,000
	1,000 - 1,999	3,000
	2,000 - 2,999	4,000
	3,000 or more	Special design

B. Grease trap size for businesses with drive-in windows shall be based on the number of daily patrons.

C. Grease traps shall be installed in a separate line serving that part of the plumbing system into which the grease will be discharged. Traps so installed shall be located and constructed in a manner that will reduce the temperature of sewage to permit congealing or separation of grease. They shall also be located and constructed in a manner that will permit easy access for cleaning. Offset clearances to other structures shall follow, as a minimum, the schedule established by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for septic tanks; greater clearance, where necessary, shall be specified by the Engineer.

D. Plans and specifications are to be drawn and designed by a New Jersey registered professional engineer. Four copies of all design documents for review are to be submitted to the Borough Clerk's office. At the time of approval, a copy marked "approved" and signed by the Borough Clerk. Engineer and Sewer Superintendent will be returned to the applicant with an approved permit.

§ 87-5 Permits; fees.

A. Permit for operation. Permits for the operation of grease traps will be issued and will only be valid for a period of one year.

B. Initial construction and operation permit. Application for a permit to construct a sanitary sewer grease trap for either an existing or proposed (new) food-dispensing establishment shall be made to the Borough Clerk's office on forms provided by that office. Permit fees to cover processing of application and engineering review and initial inspection shall be as follows:

(1) Permit processing fee.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: The fee provisions were removed at the request of the borough. Current fees are on file in the office of the Borough Clerk.

(2) Engineering review fee.[2]

[2] Editor's Note: The fee provisions were removed at the request of the borough. Current fees are on file in the office of the Borough Clerk.

C. Application for a grease trap permit renewal shall be made to the Borough Clerk's office 11 months following the date of previous permit issuance. Provided that the applicant has satisfactorily complied with the provisions of this chapter, a permit renewal will be issued within 20 days from the date of application. Failure of the applicant to have satisfactorily complied with this chapter during the previous permit period will result in denial by the borough of the sanitary sewer grease trap permit, and the applicant will be so notified by the Clerk's office within 20 days following the date of application.

D. Three consecutive nonsatisfactory reports filed in the Clerk's office by the Borough Inspector shall be construed as failure to comply with this chapter for the purposes of permit renewal.

E. Application processing and municipal inspection fees shall be as follows:

(1) Permit processing fee.[3]

[3] Editor's Note: The fee provisions were removed at the request of the borough. Current fees are on file in the office of the Borough Clerk.

(2) Municipal inspection fee.[4]

[4] Editor's Note: The fee provisions were removed at the request of the borough. Current fees are on file in the office of the Borough Clerk.

F. Any commercial food-dispensing establishment required to have a sanitary sewer grease trap permit and operating without said permit shall be penalized an amount of $300 per day for each day of operating past the time limits and schedules set forth in this chapter.

G. Operation of a food-dispensing business past the above 10 days without a valid permit will result in a closing of the sanitary sewer lateral leading from the place of business to the municipal sanitary sewer drainpipe located in a street or easement.

§ 87-6 Inspection.

Inspection of the approved grease trap installation, following the initial inspection by the Engineer, shall be conducted by the borough on a random and/or periodic basis, each inspection to be followed by an inspection report to be forwarded and filed in the Borough Clerk's office.

§ 87-7 Maintenance.

The approved grease traps shall be cleaned out at a minimum of once every 90 days. Validation of the routine cleaning shall be done on forms supplied and available at the Borough Clerk's office, said forms to be completed and forwarded to the Clerk's office within five days following the cleaning of the grease trap. Failure to comply with the above time schedule for submission of forms validating periodic [90 days maximum] grease trap cleaning shall result in a penalty of $100 per day for 30 days commencing on the 95th day. Failure to comply shall result in a closing of the sanitary sewer lateral leading from the place of business to the municipal sanitary sewer drainpipe located in a street or easement Should inspection reveal that the grease traps require more frequent cleaning than the minimum ninety-day period, the particular commercial operation shall be notified by the Clerk's office of a more stringent cleaning schedule required.

§ 87-8 Liability for costs.

[Added 8-16-95 by Ord. No. 16-95]

Upon determination that the borough has or will incur direct costs in the maintenance, repair, replacement, rehabilitation or modification of it's sanitary sewer mains, laterals, manholes or appurtenances as a result of the failure of any property owner to properly maintain, repair, operate or establish a grease trap contemplated within this chapter, the borough shall assess such property owner all such direct costs incurred or anticipated by the Borough by reason thereof including, but not limited to, all costs of contractors, employee wages, equipment rental value, insurances, administrative expenses, professional expenses, legal expenses and all legal expenses incurred in enforcement of this chapter. This provision shall be enforceable by the borough by an action, at law or equity, in the Superior Court of New Jersey.