[Derived from Ch. 8, Art. III, of the 1971 Code]
A. 
The Uniform Fire Safety Act (P.L. 1983 c. 383; N.J.S.A. 52:27D-192 et seq.) was enacted for the purpose of establishing a system for the enforcement of minimum fire safety standards throughout the State of New Jersey.
B. 
The Uniform Fire Safety Act authorizes municipalities to adopt local amendments to the Uniform Fire Safety Code and the Township has determined that such amendments will improve fire safety and fire service operations. The Uniform Fire Safety Code shall be amended as follows:
[Amended 9-7-2010 by Ord. No. 2062-10]
F-4000 Construction Activities.
F-4000.1. General. All construction requiring a construction permit under N.J.A.C. 5:23, the Uniform Construction Code, shall comply with the requirements of the Fire Prevention Code and this section as shall be applicable. The term construction activities which require a permit under the Uniform Construction Code.
F-4000.2 Refuse Containers: All active construction sites and locations shall be provided with noncombustible refuse container(s) in such numbers as shall be necessary to contain all combustible refuse generated by the construction activities.
All combustible refuse, rubbish and debris shall be collected up and deposited in the container(s) on a daily basis. Refuse container(s) shall be located a minimum of 20 feet away from any building, structure, lot line or combustible material storage location.
F-4000.3 Extinguishers: While construction activities are in progress, fire extinguishers shall be provided by the builder in accordance with the following subsections, and shall be maintained in a location approved by the Fire Official. Personnel normally on the construction site shall be instructed in the use of the fire extinguishers provided.
F-4000.3.1 Industrial, Commercial: At construction sites for new industrial or commercial structures, at least four portable fire extinguishers having a rating of at least 10-A, 60-BC shall be provided.
F-4000.3.2 Multi Unit Residential: At construction sites for new residential structures where more than three buildings or buildings containing four or more dwelling units are under construction, at least four portable fire extinguishers having a rating of at least 10-A, 60-BC shall be provided, and in addition, one extinguisher with similar rating shall be provided for each site supervisor.
F-4000.3.3 All Other Locations: In locations other than those specified in F-4000.3.2. and F-4000.3.3, at least one portable fire extinguisher having a rating of at least 4-A, 30-BC shall be within a travel distance of 75 feet or less to any point of the structure under construction.
F-4000.4 Liquids and Gases: Flammable or combustible liquids and gases shall be stored, handled, or used in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Fire Prevention Code and the standards of the National Fire Protection Association.
F-4000.5 Occupied Buildings: When construction activities take place in occupied buildings special fire safety precautions shall be taken as required by the Fire Official in accordance with the Fire Prevention Code.
F-4000.5.1 Egress: The means of egress for building occupants shall be properly maintained and readily available. In cases where construction activities block existing exits, provisions shall be made for alternate means of egress or for a protected path of travel. Means of egress shall also be provided for building trades workers in the construction areas.
F-4000.5.2 Fire Protection Equipment: When fire suppression, detection or alarm systems or devices are affected by construction activities, their down time shall be kept to a minimum. When possible, isolation of system components shall occur to ensure operation in unaffected areas.
Whenever fire protection systems or devices are removed from service, a fire watch shall be posted if deemed necessary by the Fire Official. When the area affected is of a high hazard use, normal operations and occupancy of the area may be required to be suspended by the Fire Official until protection is restored.
F-4000.6 Access: Temporary all-weather surface access roads, gravel or equivalent, capable of supporting a 30 ton emergency vehicle, shall be provided at all times for fire department vehicular access to all structures under construction and storage of combustible construction materials. Access to such locations shall be within 125 unobstructed feet at all times.
Every dead-end roadway more than 300 feet in length shall be provided at the closed end with a temporary turn around acceptable to the Fire Official.
F-4000.7 Water Supply: The fire protection water supply system, including fire hydrants shown on the approved site plan, shall be installed and in service prior to placing combustible building materials on the project site or utilizing them in the construction of building structures. If phased construction is approved, coordination phased installation of the fire protection water system shall be permitted as approved by the Fire Official.
F-4000.8 Buildings Markings: All buildings shall display number or letters of unit before occupancy. Numbers or letters will be of contrasting color from the building and will be sized as listed in following sections.
F-4000.8.1 Single units including dwellings, individual apartments, townhouses, offices, and condominiums shall have numbers or letters on front door and must be a minimum of four inches high.
F-4000.8.2 All buildings in complexes including apartments, educational uses, townhouses, condominiums, office and commercial shall have numbers, names or letters to designate each building. Numbers shall be a minimum of 18 inches high.
F-4001.0 Water Supplies
F-4001.1 General: Public and private fire hydrants, connections and appliances shall be installed and maintained in accordance with this section.
F-4001.2 Blocking hydrants or connections: No person shall obscure from view, damage, deface, obstruct or restrict the access to any fire hydrant or any fire department connection for the pressurization of fire suppression systems, including fire hydrants of fire department connections that are located on public or private streets and access lanes, or on private property.
F-4001.3 Use of appliances: A person shall not obstruct, remove, tamper with or otherwise disturb any fire hydrant or fire appliance required to be installed or maintained under the provisions of this code except for the purpose of extinguishing fire, training or testing purposes, recharging or making necessary repairs, or when permitted by the Fire Official. In all cases other than fire extinguishment, notification and approval of the Fire Official shall be required prior to such activity. Whenever a fire appliance is removed as prior to such activity. Whenever a fire appliance is removed as herein permitted, it shall be replaced or reinstalled as soon as the purpose of which it was removed has been accomplished. Defective and non-approved fire appliances or equipment shall be replaced or repaired as directed by the Fire Official.
F-4002.0 Street Obstruction
F-4002.1 Street Obstruction: A person or persons shall not erect, construct, place or maintain any bumps, fences, gates, chains, bars, pipes, wood or metal horses or any other type of obstruction in or on any street within the boundaries of the municipality. The word street as used in the ordinance, shall mean any roadway accessible to the public for vehicular traffic, including, but not limited to private streets or access lanes, as well as all public streets and highways within the boundaries of the municipality.
Prior to the closing of any street, notification shall be made to the Fire Official and the fire company in whose area the street is located. Such notice shall include why the street is to be closed, when the street is to be closed, and how long such a closing shall last. Notification shall also be made upon the reopening of the street.
F-4002.1.1 Exception: The Fire Official may approve the installation of road bumps on private lanes or roadways within residential developments or on Board of Education property due to the density of children and/or elderly residents.
F-4002.1.2 Definition Section: Private lanes or roadways shall mean:
a.
Private lanes or roadways within a residential development.
b.
Roadways on property owned by the Lawrence Township Board of Education.
c.
Roadways maintained by Lawrence Township where all abutting property is owned by Lawrence Township.
F-4002.1.3 Policy Guidelines: Road bumps shall be used in accordance with the following guidelines:
a.
The private lane or roadway shall either have a high incidence of speed related accidents or be a lane or roadway that is intended to primarily provide access to the abutting land use.
b.
The private lane or roadway shall have a maximum speed limit of 25 m.p.h. as determined in accordance with State law.
c.
The private lane or roadway shall be no more than one lane in each direction.
d.
The private lane or roadway shall not be a truck route or a transit route.
e.
The private lane or roadway shall not have grades greater than 5%.
F-4002.1.4 Installation/Construction:
a.
The shape and dimensions of road bumps shall be as follows:
In Profile View - generally circular, 12 feet in length and with a maximum height at its midpoint of four inches, with an allowable tolerance of 1/2 inch.
In Plan View - across the roadway to a point near the edge of the main traveled portion or roadway with the last one to three feet tapered so that it is flush with the roadway.
b.
There shall be a firm adherence between the bump and the roadway, the shape and tolerance of the bump shall be achieved and the bump shall be compacted to reduce the probability of deformation.
c.
Road bumps shall be placed singly with a maximum distance between bumps along the roadway of 500 feet and a minimum distance of 400 feet.
d.
Road bumps shall not be located within 200 feet of an intersection or sharp horizontal curve. They shall be clearly visible for a distance of at least 200 feet.
e.
The specific positioning of road bumps shall consider access to utilities in the roadway, driveway locations, existing illumination of the roadway and the impact on the abutting.
f.
Warning signs and markings shall be installed as follows:
1.
Warning signs shall be installed 200 feet before the road bumps with the wording Road bump ahead 15 mph, four-inch minimum black letters on a yellow background with dimensions of 24 inches by 24 inches.
2.
Warning signs shall be installed at the road bump with the wording "Road bump," four inch minimum black letters on a yellow background with dimensions of 24 inches by 24 inches.
3.
The words "Road bump" shall be painted on the private lane or roadway five feet prior to the road bump with 24 inches yellow letters.
F-4002.1.5 Permit and Approval Required: The installation of a road bump or bumps shall require approval of, and the issuance of a permit by the Fire Official. Application for approval and permit issuance shall be accompanied by a review fee of $150. No application shall be deemed complete without the required fee.
The application shall also be accompanied by an engineering traffic study justifying the need for the road bumps. The study shall include information on pedestrian traffic, number of dwelling units, traffic flow and speeds, accidents, possibility of diversion of traffic from one roadway to another and delays to emergency equipment. Submitted with the study shall be two copies of a site plan drawn to scale showing all site details and the location of the proposed road bumps, as well as a construction detail of the road bumps and markings. The drawings shall be sealed by a N.J. licensed architect or engineer.
The Fire Official shall have 60 days to review an application once accepted as complete.
F-4002.1.6 Maintenance: Road bumps, when installed, shall be maintained as constructed. The Fire Official shall have the authority to order the repair or removal of an existing road bump and its associated markings if not maintained in good condition.
F-4002. 1.7. Exception: Road bumps approved by the Fire Official prior to the adoption of this code shall comply with Sections F-4002.1.4, a., b., e., and f. and Section F-4002.1.6.
F-4003.0 Fire Lanes.
F-4003.1 Requirement, designation: The Fire Official may require and designate public or private fire lanes as deemed necessary for the efficient and effective use of fire apparatus, access for firefighting, or the egress of occupants.
F-4003.2 Markings: The owner shall, within 30 days of being given a notice to do so by the Fire Official, mark the lane as follows:
a.
Signs constructed of metal and with red letters a minimum of two inches in size on a white background with the wording "No parking fire lane" shall be posted. Spacing of the signs shall be even, with a minimum of one sign for every 100 feet of fire lane or part thereof, or as ordered by the Fire Official.
b.
The area of the fire lane on improved areas shall be delineated along its entire circumference with yellow lines four inches in width. Within the yellow lines shall be marked "No Parking Fire Lane" in yellow letters 18 inches in height. The number of times this wording is to be repeated shall be at the discretion of the Fire Official. The inside of the fire lane shall be further marked with diagonal striping yellow in color and four inches in width spaced at intervals of five feet. If the designated fire lane abuts a curb, the curbing shall be yellow in color where it abuts the fire lane.
F-4003.3 Size: Fire lanes for vehicle access shall be a minimum of 18 feet in width. Fire lanes for egress of occupants shall be a minimum of at least the width of the exitway served.
F-4003.4 Notification: Once a fire lane has been designated by the Fire Official and properly marked by the owner of the premises, the Fire Official shall notify the Police Department, Construction Code Agency and Municipal Court Clerk in writing of the existence and location of the designated fire lane.
F-4003.6 Restricted Access: Gates, chains or other methods utilized to prevent unauthorized access to fire lanes shall be approved by the Fire Official prior to installation.
F-4003.7 Installation, Maintenance: Fire lanes shall be installed and maintained by the owner of the premises in conformance with the provisions of this article. Fire lanes in existence prior to the enactment of this article shall be required to conform to the provisions herein at the discretion of the Fire Official.
F-4003.8 Obstructions: Designated fire lanes shall be maintained free of obstruction and vehicles at all times.
F-4003.9 Parking, Stopping or Obstruction: No person, firm or corporation shall park or stop any vehicle or place any obstruction in or upon any fire lane.
F-4003.10 Removal: The Fire Official shall have the authority to remove or have removed such obstructions or vehicles as may violate Section 4003.9 at the expense of the owner of the premises in the case of obstructions or at the expense of the owner of the vehicle.
F-4003.11 Existing Lanes: All fire lanes in existence prior to the adoption of this section shall be properly maintained and shall be enforceable under Sections F-4003.7 of this section. For the purpose of this section, the terms "fire zone" and "fire lane" shall be interchangeable.
F-4003.12 Violations and Penalties: Any person, firm or corporation in violation of this section shall be subject to penalties as provided in the Uniform Fire Code (N.J.A.C. 5:70, Subchapter 2).