[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of Pemberton 12-20-2006 by Ord. No. 27-2006. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
The Township Council of the Township of Pemberton
finds and resolves that building conditions exist within the Township
of Pemberton rendering certain buildings unfit for human habitation
or occupancy or use and are inimical to the welfare and public health
and safety of the people of the Township of Pemberton. A public necessity
exists for an ordinance to set forth a procedure for the repair, closing,
or demolition of such building or buildings, or parts thereof, and
to provide for remedies in connection with the cost of the demolition,
including, but not limited to, an imposition of a municipal lien against
the real property upon which those costs may have been incurred in
connection with the removal or demolition of a building.
[Amended 3-18-2020 by Ord. No. 5-2020]
The Construction Official of the Township of
Pemberton and the Burlington County Public Health Officer are hereby
designated as the public officers to exercise the powers that are
set forth in this chapter.
Whenever a petition is filed with the enforcement
official by a public authority or by at least five residents of the
Township of Pemberton charging that any building is unfit for human
habitation or occupancy or use or whenever it appears to the enforcement
official on his own motion that any building is unfit for human habitation
or occupancy or use, the enforcement official shall, if his preliminary
investigation discloses a basis for such charges, issue and cause
to be served upon the owner of and parties in interest in such building
a complaint stating the charges in that respect and containing a notice
that a hearing will be held before the enforcement official, or his
designated agent, at a place therein fixed, not less than seven days,
nor more than 30 days, after the serving of said complaint. The owner
and parties in interest shall be given the right to file an answer
to the complaint and to appear in person, or otherwise, and give testimony
at the place and time fixed in the complaint. The rules of evidence
prevailing in the courts shall not be controlling in hearings before
the enforcement official. For purposes of this chapter, the owner
shall mean the holder or holders of the title to the property in fee
simple. The parties in interest shall mean all individuals, associations,
and corporations who have interest of record in a building and any
who are in actual possession thereof.
A complaint or order issued by the enforcement
official pursuant to this chapter shall be served upon the owner of
and the parties in interest in such building personally or by registered
mail. If the whereabouts of such persons are unknown and the same
cannot be ascertained by the enforcement official in the exercise
of reasonable diligence, and the enforcement official shall make an
affidavit to that effect, then the service of such complaint or order
upon such person may be made by publishing the same once each week
for two successive weeks in a newspaper printed and published in the
municipality. A copy of such complaint or order shall be posted in
a conspicuous place on the premises affected by the complaint or order.
A copy of such complaint or order shall be duly recorded or lodged
for record with the Clerk of the Township of Pemberton.
After notice and hearing, if the enforcement
official determines that the building under consideration is unfit
for human habitation or occupancy or use, he shall state in writing
his findings of fact in support of such determination and shall issue
and cause to be served upon the owner thereof and the parties in interest
an order that provides for the following:
A.Â
Requiring the repair, alteration, or improvement of
the building to be made by the owner or parties in interest, within
a reasonable time, which time shall be set forth in the order, or
at the option of the owner or the parties in interest, requiring the
owner or parties in interest to vacate or to have the building vacated
and closed within the time set forth in the order; and
B.Â
If the building is in such a condition as to make
it dangerous to the health and safety of persons on or near the premises,
and the owner or parties in interest fail to repair, alter or improve
the building within the time specified in the order, then the owner
or parties in interest shall be required to remove or demolish the
building within a reasonable time as specified in the order of removal.
A.Â
If the owner or the parties in interest fail to comply
with the order to repair, alter, or improve, or, at the option of
the owner or parties in interest, to vacate and close the building,
the enforcement official may cause such building to be repaired, altered,
or improved, or to be vacated and closed. The enforcement official
may cause to be posted on the main entrance of any building so closed
a placard with the following words: "This building is unfit for human
habitation or occupancy or use. The use or occupancy of this building
is prohibited and unlawful."
B.Â
If the owner or parties in interest fail to comply
with an order to remove or demolish the building, the enforcement
official may cause such building to be removed or demolished or may
contract for the removal or demolition thereof after advertisement
for, and receipt of, bids therefor.
C.Â
The amount of the cost of the filing of legal papers,
expert witness fees, search fees and advertising charges, incurred
in the course of any proceeding taken under this chapter, determined
in favor of the municipality and such cost of such repairs, alterations,
or improvements, or vacating and closing, or removal or demolition,
if any, or the amount of the balance thereof remaining after the deduction
of the sum, if any, realized from the sale of materials derived from
such building or from any contract for removal or demolition thereof,
shall be a municipal lien against the real property upon which such
cost was incurred. If the building is removed or demolished by the
enforcement official, he shall sell the materials of such building.
There shall be credited against the cost of the removal or demolition
thereof, including the clearance and, if necessary, leveling of the
site, the proceeds of any sale of such materials or any sum derived
from any contract for the removal or demolition of the building. If
there are no such credits or if the sum total of such cost exceeds
the total amount of such credits, a detailed statement of the aforesaid
costs and the amounts so due shall be filed with the municipal Tax
Assessor or other custodian of the records of tax liens and a copy
thereof shall be forthwith forwarded to the owner and the parties
in interest by registered mail. If the total of the credits exceeds
such costs, the balance remaining shall be deposited in Superior Court
by the enforcement official, shall be secured in such manner as may
be directed by such Court, and shall be disbursed according to the
order or judgment of the Court to the persons found to be entitled
thereto by final order or judgment of such Court. Any owner or party
in interest may, within 30 days from the date of the filing of the
lien certificate, proceed in a summary manner in the Superior Court
to contest reasonableness of the amount or the accuracy of the costs
set forth in the municipal lien certificate.
D.Â
If an actual and immediate danger to life is posed
by threatened collapse of any fire-damaged or other structurally unsafe
building, the enforcement official may, after taking such measures
as may be necessary to make such building temporarily safe, seek a
judgment in summary proceedings for the demolition thereof.
E.Â
Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair
or limit in any way the power of the municipality to define and declare
nuisances and cause their removal by abatement, by summary proceeding
or otherwise, nor is anything in this chapter intended to limit the
authority of the enforcing agency or Construction Official under the
State Uniform Construction Code Act or any rules or regulations adopted
thereunder.
