[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Mount
Laurel 11-4-1968 as Ord. No. 1968-21.
Sections 146-2, 146-7, 146-8 and 146-9 amended at time of adoption of Code;
see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I. Other amendments noted where applicable.]
It is hereby determined and declared that the abandonment or storage
out-of-doors of any motor vehicle not currently in use for transportation
and not currently licensed or registered, on any public streets or on any
public or private lands within the township, is contrary and inimical to the
public welfare in that such articles so abandoned or stored attract or may
attract persons of tender years who, being so attracted, may play in and about
them and be injured in so doing, and in that such vehicles so abandoned or
stored out-of-doors, exposed to the elements, deteriorate and in themselves
are unsightly and, deteriorating, become more unsightly and are detrimental
to and depreciate the value of properties in the neighborhood where they are
located and in the township as a whole.
The following terms, phrases and words, as used in and for the purpose
of this chapter shall be deemed to have the following meanings:
Includes any motor vehicle, omnibus, road tractor, trailer, truck,
truck-tractor or vehicle which:
Is parked without the current year's registration or identification
markers as required by law;
Has been continuously parked in any public street or on any public land
for a period of 10 days;
Is so disabled as to constitute an obstruction to traffic and the driver
or person owning or in charge thereof neglects or refuses to move the same
to a place where it will not obstruct traffic;
Is found to be mechanically inoperative and is allowed to remain inoperative
for a period of 10 days (said period of time may be extended, for good cause,
by the Police Department);[1] or
Is found without one or more tires.
Any automobile which is no longer in actual use as a motor vehicle
or which is wholly unfit, without rebuilding or reconditioning, for use in
highway transportation or which has been discarded for use as a motor vehicle
or otherwise abandoned.
Are intended to have the meaning stated and defined in N.J.S.A. 39:1-1
et seq.
Any individual, firm, partnership or corporation being the owner
of or having any legal right in or to the motor vehicle or other vehicle as
herein defined.
The Division of Police of the Township of Mount Laurel.[2]
[Amended 11-15-1976 by Ord. No. 1976-11]
It shall be unlawful for any person to abandon or suffer or permit the
abandoning of any motor vehicle, omnibus, road tractor, trailer, truck or
truck-tractor or other vehicle as defined herein out-of-doors upon any public
street or between the right-of-way side lines of any public right-of-way therein
or on any private property. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prohibit
the placing, keeping or storage of any such vehicle in an enclosed garage,
barn or other building.
No person shall place, keep or store any junk automobile or junk automobile
body, as heretofore defined in this chapter, on any public or private property
within the Township of Mount Laurel unless such person fully complies with
the licensing and regulatory provisions of the township and with the requirements
of N.J.S.A. 39:11-3.
If any motor vehicle, omnibus, road tractor, trailer, truck, truck-tractor
or vehicle as defined in this chapter shall be abandoned on private lands
for 10 days or more, it shall be presumed that the owner or tenant in possession
of said land has abandoned it there or permitted or suffered it to be abandoned
there.
If a bona fide resident of the Township of Mount Laurel will be continuously
absent from the township for a period in excess of 10 days on personal business,
including attendance at school, service in the Armed Forces of the United
States or engagement in his business occupation, said resident may be exempted
from the provisions of this chapter by the Chief of Police of the township
upon submission of a written request to the Chief for said exemption. The
resident seeking the exemption must be prepared to present proof of his qualification
for exemption under the terms of this section within 30 days of the submission
of his request therefor. Any exemption referred to in this section shall be
available with reference to private passenger cars not used for public hire.
A.Â
Whenever any officer of the Mount Laurel Township Division
of Police finds any motor vehicle, omnibus, road tractor, trailer, truck,
truck-tractor or vehicle which has been abandoned, kept or stored contrary
to the provisions of this chapter on any public street or highway or on any
public or private property, such member of the Mount Laurel Township Division
of Police shall remove or secure the removal of this vehicle to such garage
or place as may be designated by the Township Council of the Township of Mount
Laurel as a garage and place for the impounding of such vehicles, and such
vehicle shall be retained in impoundment until the person owning the same
shall first pay the reasonable cost of the removal and storage which may result
from such removal before regaining possession of the vehicle.
B.Â
Whenever any vehicle is impounded as provided in this
section, the Chief of Police or some member of the Division of Police shall
notify the registered owner in writing within five days of the date of impoundment,
by certified mail at the last known address of the owner, of the removal of
such vehicle, the reason for its removal and the location of the vehicle.
[Amended 10-17-1983 by Ord. No. 1983-31]
Whenever any vehicle impounded by the Division of Police shall remain
unclaimed for a period of 30 days, the vehicle shall be sold under the direction
of the Director of Public Safety at public auction to the highest bidder.
Such auction held shall take place after notice of such sale has been given
at least five days prior thereto by one publication in the newspaper circulated
in the township and upon the mailing of a copy of said notice to the owner
of the vehicle and to any holder of a security interest filed with the Director
of Motor Vehicles, by certified mail at least five days prior to the sale.
The address of the owner as shown on the records of the State Division of
Motor Vehicles shall be deemed sufficient for the purposes of this section.
[Amended 10-17-1983 by Ord. No. 1983-31]
A.Â
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter
shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or by imprisonment
not exceeding 90 days, or both, at the discretion of the Municipal Judge,
and each day that such violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate
offense.
[Amended 10-1-1984 by Ord. No. 1984-33]
B.Â
A continuance of a violation or a noncompliance with
the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a nuisance and the Township
Council shall have the right to apply to the courts of this state for injunctive
relief or other relief in addition to the penalties provided for herein.
