[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Bellmawr as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Littering — See Ch. 270.
Numbering of buildings — See Ch. 301.
Peddling and soliciting — See Ch. 328.
Property maintenance — See Ch. 341.
Signs — See Ch. 368.
Stormwater control — See Ch. 393.
Taxicabs — See Ch. 411.
Trailers — See Ch. 422.
Abandoned vehicles and equipment — See Ch. 433.
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 440.
[Adopted 3-16-1972 by Ord. No. 4-72 as Ch. 87 of the 1972
Code]
In and on any public street, highway, avenue or alley in the
Borough of Bellmawr, the grade of which has been lawfully established
or which hereafter may be established, gutters, curbs and sidewalks
shall be set or reset, laid or relaid, altered, repaired, constructed
and maintained at the expense of the abutting property owner as provided
by law.
All gutters, curbs and sidewalks hereafter set, reset, laid,
relaid, altered, repaired or constructed shall be done in compliance
with the regulations of the Department of Public Works of the Borough
of Bellmawr and under the supervision of such officer or employee
as the Director of Public Works may designate.
Whenever any gutter, curb and/or sidewalk is required to be
set, reset, laid, relaid, repaired or constructed in the Borough of
Bellmawr, application by the owner of the abutting lands, or his contractor,
for a permit shall first be made to the Department of Public Works,
specifying grade, dimensions, mix materials and the method of construction
or repair to be used. The Director of Public Works or such officer
or agent as he shall designate shall examine said specifications and
register his approval or disapproval thereof. Upon approval thereof,
a permit shall be issued to the applicant for such construction and/or
repairs.
All grades and specifications shall be furnished by the Borough
Engineer at the expense of the adjoining landowner.
The owners of lots, tracts and parcels of land fronting or abutting
on any public street, highway, avenue or alley in the Borough of Bellmawr
shall, at his, her or their own cost and expense, set, reset, lay,
relay, alter, repair, construct and maintain gutters, curbs and sidewalks
in front of or adjoining the same when notified so to do by the Director
of Public Works, pursuant to a resolution adopted by the Mayor and
Council of the Borough of Bellmawr.
Whenever the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Bellmawr shall
deem necessary the construction, repair, alteration or relaying of
any gutters, curb or sidewalk in the Borough of Bellmawr, they shall,
by resolution, specify the improvements to be made. Upon the adoption
of such resolution by the Mayor and Council, they shall cause a notice,
in writing, to be served upon the owners or occupiers of the lands
so designated, requiring the necessary specified work to said gutters,
sidewalks and/or curbs to be done by the owners or occupiers within
a period of not less than 30 nor more than 90 days from the date of
service of such notice.
A.
Service of such notice upon owners or occupiers of said lands shall
be made as follows:
(1)
If residents in the Borough of Bellmawr, either personally or by
leaving the same at their usual place of residence with a member of
the family above the age of 14 years, or by leaving the same at their
usual place of business with a member of their business staff above
the age of 14 years.
(2)
If such lands are occupied, a copy of such notice may be attached
to the improvements thereon in a conspicuous place.
(3)
If such lands are unoccupied and the owners are not residents of
the Borough of Bellmawr, said notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid,
to his, her or their last known post office address.
(4)
If the owners are nonresidents of the Borough of Bellmawr and his,
her or their post office address cannot be ascertained with reasonable
certainty, then said notice shall be published in a newspaper circulating
in the Borough of Bellmawr at least twice and not less than 40 days
before the improvements and/or repairs are made by the Borough.
B.
Each such notice shall contain a description of the property affected
thereby, sufficiently definite to identify the same; the plate, block
and lot by which said property is designated on the Official Tax Map
of the Borough; the name or names of the owner and/or owners as recorded
in the tax records of the Borough; and a brief description of the
required improvements and/or repairs.
C.
Proof of service of any such notice shall be filed within 10 days
thereafter with the Borough Clerk of the Borough of Bellmawr and with
the Collector of Taxes of said Borough.
If the owners or occupants of such lands shall not comply with
the requirements of such notice, it shall be lawful for the Director
of Public Works to cause the required work to be done by direction
of himself and under his jurisdiction. Upon its completion, the cost
thereof shall be certified by him under oath to the Borough Clerk.
The Director of Public Works shall keep an accurate account of the
cost thereof and shall submit the same to the Mayor and Council at
a regular meeting. Said Mayor and Council shall examine such report
and the proof of service of notice requiring said work to be done,
and if properly made and satisfied of the correctness thereof, said
Mayor and Council shall approve and confirm such report and direct
that it be filed with the Borough Clerk and the Collector of Taxes
of the Borough, who shall record the amount of such costs as a sidewalk,
water and/or curb assessment in the book in which other assessments
of the Borough of Bellmawr are recorded. Before confirming the report,
the Mayor and Council shall give notice to the owner or owners named
therein of the time and place fixed for examination of the report.
The notice shall be served in the same manner as required for service
of notices before consideration by the Mayor and Council of assessments
for benefits for local improvements. Said costs shall thereupon be
and become a lien upon the abutting lands adjacent to which said work
was done, to the extent that assessments for such improvements are
liens, and shall bear interest from the date of such certification
and confirmation at the same rate which other unpaid liens held by
the Borough of Bellmawr bear.
The cost of any such improvement, if it becomes a lien as set
forth herein, shall be collected in the manner provided by law for
the collection of other assessments or liens. In addition thereto,
the Borough of Bellmawr, at its option, may maintain an action to
recover the amount thereof against the owner of said lands in any
court of competent jurisdiction.
The Mayor and Council may each year include in its annual budget
or tax ordinance an appropriation for gutter, curb and/or sidewalk
repairs in addition to any existing maintenance fund, out of which
appropriation all costs of construction and/or repairs of gutters,
curbs and sidewalks during the year may be charged when it becomes
necessary for the Director of Public Works to make such repairs and/or
construction pursuant hereto. All moneys recovered or paid to the
Borough under the provisions of this article, other than penalties
as hereinafter set forth, shall be credited to the account out of
which such work was paid.
The failure of any applicant, owner, his contractor, servant
or agent to construct or repair such gutters, curbs and/or sidewalks
in accordance with the specifications filed by him for the purpose
of securing a permit under the terms of this article shall be and
constitute a violation hereof.
Any person violating any provision of this article shall, upon
conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or imprisonment
in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days or a period of
community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination thereof,
in the discretion of a court of competent jurisdiction. Each and every
day that such violation shall continue shall be a further and separate
offense under the terms of this article, subject to the penalties
herein prescribed.
[Adopted 3-16-1972 by Ord. No. 4-72 as Ch. 92 of the 1972
Code; amended in its entirety at time of adoption of Code (see Ch.
1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A.
No person (defined to mean any corporation, company, association,
firm, partnership or individual) shall make an excavation in or tunnel
under any street for the laying of gas, water or sewer or for any
other purpose without first obtaining a permit from the Director of
Public Works.
B.
A tunnel or excavation may be commenced without a permit where an
emergency has arisen which makes it necessary to start work immediately,
provided that the application for permit is made as soon thereafter
as is practical. The permit shall be retroactive to the date on which
the work was begun.
C.
The Director of Public Works may issue permits to municipal public
bodies without fee.
A.
Applications for a permit shall be made to the Director of Public
Works and shall contain the following information:
(1)
The name and address of the applicant.
(2)
The name of the street where the opening is to be made and the street
number, if any, of the abutting property.
(3)
The nature of the surface in which the opening is to be made (whether
sewer, water or gas and whether new construction or the repair of
an existing street).
(4)
The character and purpose of the work proposed.
(5)
The date when the work is to be commenced and date when work is to
be completed.
B.
Each application shall state the identity and address of the applicant,
the company performing such construction, the location where the excavation
or tunnel is to be made, the approximate dimensions of the opening
and the period during which the permit shall be valid. The original
of each permit shall remain on file with the Director of Public Works
with a copy to remain on file with the Department of Public Works.
B.
Refunds of deposits will be made upon satisfactory completion of
street opening restoration.
C.
Qualified utilities.
(1)
Qualified utilities shall be exempt from the individual permit schedule.
In lieu of individual permits, a company/security bond shall serve
as a guaranty of fee payments. Such bonds shall have a duration of
one year.
(2)
"Qualified utilities" are defined as utilities regulated by the New
Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
(3)
Qualified utilities shall make payment to the Director of Public
Works on a quarterly basis for all permits obtained in the preceding
quarter.
If the Supervisor of Roads determines that an excavation for
which a permit has been issued is of greater dimensions than those
stated in the permit, the Supervisor of Roads shall notify the Director
of Public Works, who shall then notify the permittee that an additional
deposit shall be required.
A.
No permit shall be issued until the applicant has furnished the Director
of Public Works with satisfactory proof that he is insured against
injury to persons and damage to property caused by any act or omission
of the applicant, his agents, employees or subcontractors done in
the course of the work to be performed under the permit. The insurance
shall cover all hazards likely to arise in connection with the work,
including but not limited to collapse and explosion, and shall also
insure against liability arising from completed operations. The limits
of the policy of insurance shall be $250,000 for injury to any one
person, $500,000 for injuries to more than one person in the same
accident and an aggregate of $100,000 for property damage for a single
incident.
B.
Qualified utilities, as defined under § 400-15C(2), shall be exempt from this section, provided that proof of liability insurance is on file with the Director of Public Works.
All permits issued under this article shall be subject to the
following rules and regulations:
A.
All excavations shall be kept properly barricaded at all times and,
during the hours of darkness, shall be provided with proper warning
lights. This regulation shall not excuse the permittee from taking
any other precaution reasonably necessary for the protection of persons
or property.
B.
All work shall be done in such a manner as to cause a minimum of
interference with travel on the street affected. No street shall be
closed to traffic unless the closing is approved by the Department
of Public Works. It shall be the responsibility of the Department
of Public Works to notify the Department of Public Safety of any such
street closing. The Department of Public Works shall be informed of
all street closings at least 24 hours in advance when practical.
C.
The Department of Public Works may, upon application by the permittee,
extend the time limit during which the permit shall be valid.
D.
If the Department of Public Works determines that any backfilled
excavation has settled or caved in, it shall so notify the permittee,
who shall promptly continue backfilling with the materials specified
until the Department of Public Works determines that settlement is
complete.
E.
If blasting is required to be done in the course of any excavation,
it shall be done in strict compliance with all applicable state laws
and regulations.
F.
Utilities shall notify the Department of Public Works a minimum of
one week in advance of scheduled street openings.
G.
Street openings shall be straight cut by saw/jackhammer.
H.
All work shall be done in accordance with Borough of Bellmawr standard
details and specifications.
In all cases the permittee shall restore the surface of the
street in accordance with the following rules, regulations and requirements:
A.
No permittee shall commence the restoration of any street foundation
or surface until the Department of Public Works has determined that
settlement of the subsurface is complete and the area is properly
prepared for restoration.
B.
The street surface shall be restored so as to extend nine inches
beyond the excavation on all sides.
C.
When any foundation is restored by the use of portland cement concrete,
the same shall consist of a mixture by volume of one part of portland
cement, two parts of sand and four parts of gravel or stone, so as
to attain a compressive strength of 4,000 pounds per square inch after
28 days.
A.
Transferability. Every permit shall apply only to the person to whom
it is issued and shall not be transferable. Permits issued to utilities
shall show the identity of the utility.
B.
Commencement of work. Work under a permit shall commence with 45
days from the date of issuance of the permit. If work is not commenced
within that time, the permit shall automatically terminate unless
extended, in writing, by the Director of Public Works.
C.
Possession of permit. A copy of the permit must be kept in possession
of the person actually performing the work and shall be exhibited
on demand to any duly authorized employee of the Borough of Bellmawr.
The permit holder shall conform to the requirements in the current
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, Part VI, when required
by the Borough to provide barricades and/or signs.
Before any street is improved or paved, the Department of Public Works shall give notice to all persons owning property abutting on the street and to all public utilities and authorities operating in the Borough that the street is about to be paved or improved. All connections and repairs to utilities in the street and all other work which requires excavation of the street shall be completed within 45 days from receipt of notice. The time for the completion of the work may be extended, in writing, by the Director of the Department of Public Works upon application by the person performing the work. This section shall not excuse any person from the requirement of obtaining a permit as provided in § 400-13.
Any person who shall willfully violate any provision of this
article shall, upon conviction, be punishable by a fine not exceeding
$2,000 or imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding
90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or
any combination thereof, in the discretion of the Judge of the Municipal
Court, and each day's failure to comply with any such provision
shall constitute a separate violation.
