In accordance with and pursuant to the authority of P.L. 1997, c. 327
(N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1), the Drug-Free Public Area Zone Map produced on or about
March 23, 1998, by Robert P. Guerin, P.E., of Guerin Engineering, Inc., the
Borough Engineer, is hereby approved and adopted as an official finding and
record of the location and areas within the Borough of Netcong of property
which is used for a public park, public building or public housing facility
as those facilities are defined in the above-referenced statute and of the
areas on or within 500 feet of such properties.
The Drug-Free Public Area Zone Map approved and adopted pursuant to §
149-1 shall continue to constitute an official finding and record as to the location and boundaries of areas on or within 500 feet of such property owned by or leased to a public entity which is used for a public park, public building or public housing facility until such time, if any, that this chapter shall be amended to reflect any additions or deletions with respect to the location and boundaries of such properties and the Drug-Free Public Area Zones.
The municipal governing body or the entity responsible for the operation
of any public park, public building or public housing facility are hereby
directed and shall have the continuing obligation to promptly notify the Borough
Engineer and the Borough Attorney of any changes or contemplated changes in
the location and boundaries of any public areas designated on said Map.
The Borough Clerk is hereby directed to receive and to keep on file the original of the Map approved and adopted pursuant to §
149-1 of this chapter and to provide at a reasonable cost a true copy thereof to any person, agency or court which may from time to time request such a copy, along with a certification that such copy is a true copy of the map approved and adopted herein and kept on file. It is hereby further directed that a true copy of such map and of this chapter shall be provided without cost to the County Clerk and to the office of the Morris County Prosecutor.
The following additional matters are hereby determined, declared, recited
and stated:
A. It is understood that the map approved and adopted pursuant to §
149-1 of this chapter was prepared and is intended to be used as evidence in prosecutions arising under the criminal laws of this state, and that pursuant to state law, such map shall constitute prima facie evidence of the following:
(1) The location of public parks, public buildings and public
housing facilities within the Borough of Netcong;
(2) The boundaries of the real property which is owned by
or leased to a public entity;
(3) That such property is and continues to be used for public
purposes; and
(4) The location and boundaries of areas which are on or
within 500 feet of such public property.
B. Except as otherwise expressly noted on the face of the
approved and adopted map, all of the property depicted on the map approved
and adopted herein as public areas was owned by or leased to a public entity
and was being used for public purposes as of the effective date of P.L. 1997,
c. 327.
C. Pursuant to the provisions of P.L 1988, c. 44, a prosecutor is not precluded from introducing or relying upon any other evidence or testimony to establish a violation of the offenses defined in that statute, including use of a map or diagram other than the one approved and adopted pursuant to §
149-1 of this chapter. The failure of the map approved herein to depict the location and boundaries of any property which is, in fact, used for a public park, public building or public housing facility and which is owned by or leased to any public entity, whether the absence of such depiction is the result of inadvertent omission or the result of any changes in the location and boundaries of such property which have not yet been incorporated into a revised approved map, shall not be deemed to be an official finding and record that such property is not owned by or leased to a public entity, or that such property is not used for public purposes.
D. All of the requirements set forth in P.L. 1997, c. 327, concerning the preparation, approval and adoption of a Drug-Free
Public Area Zone map have been complied with.