[HISTORY: Adopted by the governing body of
the Township of Little Falls as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 12-18-1995 by Ord. No. 753 as Ch.
I of the 1995 Revised General Ordinances; amended in its entirety 12-20-2004 by Ord. No.
952]
For the purpose of the Code of the Township
of Little Falls, and in the interpretation and application of all
other ordinances heretofore or hereafter adopted, except as the context
may otherwise require, the following definitions shall be used in
the Code:
The Township Clerk duly appointed pursuant to law.
The County of Passaic.
The calendar days.
An organizational unit of the government established or designated
by ordinance or otherwise, together with any agency or instrumentality
of the government assigned to such organizational unit by the governing
body.
Licensed in accordance with the appropriate section or chapter
of this Code.
A calendar month unless otherwise specifically provided.
Includes an affirmation where an affirmation may be substituted
for an oath. In such cases the words "swear" and "sworn" shall be
construed to be equivalent to the words "affirm" and "affirmed."
See "tenant."
Construed as if the words "of the Township of Little Falls"
followed it.
Any act of local legislation heretofore or hereafter adopted,
and including this Code, so long as it is adopted by the procedure
required for the adoption of an ordinance and so long as it remains
in force and effect pursuant to law.
When applied to a building or land includes any part owner,
any corporation, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership,
joint tenant or tenant by the entirety, of the whole or of a part
of such building or land.
Any individual, natural persons, partnerships, joint ventures,
societies, associations, clubs, trustees, trusts, corporations or
unincorporated groups; or any officers, agents, employees, servants,
factors of any kind or personal representatives of any kind thereof
in any capacity, acting either for himself or for any other person,
under either personal appointment or pursuant to law.
Next before and next after, respectively.
Real and personal property.
Any and every public ground, public square, public park or
other public place within the Township.
Any portion of a street between the curbline and the adjacent
property line, intended for the use of pedestrians, excluding parkways.
Includes an avenue, road, alley, lane, highway, boulevard,
concourse, driveway, culvert, sidewalk, and crosswalk, and every class
of road, square, place or municipal parking field used by the general
public. Street shall be considered to include a sidewalk or footpath,
unless the contrary is expressed or unless such construction is inconsistent
with the apparent intent.
Applied to a building or land, shall include any person who
occupies the whole or part of such building or land, whether alone
or with others.
The Township of Little Falls in the County of Passaic and
State of New Jersey.
The governing body of the Township, constituted and elected
pursuant to law.
Seven days.
A calendar year unless otherwise specifically provided.
For the purpose of this Code and any other ordinances
heretofore or hereafter adopted, except as the context may otherwise
require:
A.
The present tense includes the past and future tenses
and the future, the present.
B.
The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.
C.
The singular number includes the plural and the plural
the singular.
D.
"Shall" is mandatory, and "may" is permissive.
E.
The time within which an act is to be done shall be
computed by excluding the first and including the last day and if
the last day be a Sunday, a legal holiday, or a day on which the offices
of the Township are closed, that day shall be excluded.
F.
Writing and written shall include printing, typewriting
and any other mode of communication using paper or similar material
which is in general use, as well as legible handwriting.
G.
And may be construed as meaning or, and or as and,
if the sense requires and indicates such meaning.
H.
Whenever a specific time is used in this Code, it
shall mean the prevailing and established time in effect in the State
of New Jersey during any day in any year.
I.
Any citation of a statute, law or ordinance contained
in this Code shall be deemed to refer to such statute, law or ordinance
as amended, whether or not such designation is included in the citation.
A.
Maximum penalty. Any person who shall violate any
provision of this Code or other ordinance of the Township, where no
specific penalty is provided regarding the section violated, shall,
upon conviction thereof, be punishable by one or more of the following:
a fine not exceeding $2,000 or imprisonment in the county jail or
in any place provided by the Township for the detention of prisoners
for any term not exceeding 90 days at the discretion of the Judge
of the Municipal Court. However, in the event that the Judge of the
Municipal Court determines to impose a fine in an amount greater than
$1,250 upon an owner for violations of housing or zoning codes, said
owner shall first be afforded a thirty-day period of time to cure
and/or abate the condition and shall further be afforded an opportunity
for a hearing before a court of competent jurisdiction for an independent
determination concerning the violation. Subsequent to the expiration
of the thirty-day period, a fine greater than $1,250 may be imposed
if a court has not determined otherwise or, upon reinspection of the
property, it is determined that the abatement has not been substantially
completed. (N.J.S.A. 40:49-5 and N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29)
[Amended 4-10-2006 by Ord. No. 984]
B.
Minimum penalty. The governing body may prescribe
that for the violation of any particular provision of the Code or
of any particular ordinance at least a minimum penalty shall be imposed
which shall consist of a fine which may be fixed at an amount not
exceeding $100. The Court before which any person is convicted of
violating any ordinance or Code provision shall have power to impose
any fine, term of punishment, or period of community service not less
than the minimum and not exceeding the maximum fixed in the Code or
such ordinance.
C.
Additional
fine for repeat offenders. Any person who is convicted of violating
this Code or an ordinance within one year of the date of a previous
violation of the same provision of this Code or of the same ordinance
and who was fined for the previous violation shall be sentenced by
a court to an additional fine as a repeat offender or shall be assessed
an additional fine as may be provided in the applicable ordinance.
Where any ordinance is silent on the imposition of additional fines
for multiple offenses, the additional fine imposed by the court upon
a person for a repeated offense shall not be less than the minimum
or exceed the maximum fine fixed for a violation of the ordinance
or Code provision but shall be calculated separately from the fine
imposed for the violation of the ordinance or Code provision. For
purposes of any ordinance that provides for graduated penalties for
multiple offenses, multiple offenses shall be considered only within
the same calendar year.
[Amended 5-20-2013 by Ord. No. 1176]
D.
Default of payment of fine. Any person convicted of
the violation of any provision of this Code or any ordinance may,
in the discretion of the Court by which he was convicted, and in default
of the payment of any fine imposed therefor, be imprisoned in the
County jail or place of detention provided by the Township for any
term not exceeding 90 days, or be required to perform community service
for a period not exceeding 90 days.
E.
Separate violations. Except as otherwise provided,
each and every day in which a violation of any provision of this Code
or any other ordinance of the Township exists shall constitute a separate
violation.
F.
Application. The maximum penalty stated in this section
is not intended to state an appropriate penalty for each and every
violation. At the discretion of the Judge of the Municipal Court,
any lesser penalty, including a nominal penalty or no penalty at all,
may be appropriate for a particular case or violation.
The provisions appearing in this Code, so far
as they are the same in substance as those of ordinances existing
at the time of the effective date of this Code, shall be considered
continuations thereof and not as new enactments.
[Adopted 12-20-2004 by Ord. No. 952]
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-4, the ordinances of the Township of Little Falls of a general and permanent nature adopted by the governing body of the Township of Little Falls, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters and sections by General Code Publishers Corp., and consisting of Chapters 1 through 280, together with an Appendix, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Code of the Township of Little Falls," hereinafter known and referred to as the "Code."
This ordinance and the Code shall supersede
the 1995 Revised General Ordinances of the Township of Little Falls
and all other general and permanent ordinances enacted prior to the
enactment of this Code, except such ordinances as are hereinafter
expressly saved from repeal or continued in force.
All of the provisions of the Code shall be in
full force and effect on and after the effective date of this ordinance.
A copy of the Code in loose-leaf form has been
filed in the office of the Township Clerk and shall remain there for
use and examination by the public until final action is taken on this
ordinance; and, if this ordinance shall be adopted, such copy shall
be certified to by the Clerk of the Township of Little Falls by impressing
thereon the Seal of the Township, as provided by law, and such certified
copy shall remain on file in the office of the Clerk of the Township,
to be made available to persons desiring to examine the same during
all times while said Code is in effect.
Any and all additions, amendments or supplements
to the Code, when passed and adopted in such form as to indicate the
intent of the governing body to make them a part thereof, shall be
deemed to be incorporated into such Code so that reference to the
"Code of the Township of Little Falls" shall be understood and intended
to include such additions and amendments. Whenever such additions,
amendments or supplements to the Code shall be adopted, they shall
thereafter be printed and, as provided hereunder, inserted in the
loose-leaf book containing said Code as amendments and supplements
thereto.
The Clerk of the Township of Little Falls, pursuant
to law, shall cause this Adopting Ordinance to be published, in the
manner required, in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township.
Sufficient copies of the Code shall be maintained in the office of
the Clerk for inspection by the public at all times during regular
office hours. The enactment and publication of this Adopting Ordinance,
coupled with availability of copies of the Code for inspection by
the public, shall be deemed, held and considered to be due and legal
publication of all provisions of the Code for all purposes.
It shall be the duty of the Clerk or someone
authorized and directed by the Clerk to keep up-to-date the certified
copy of the book containing the Code required to be filed in his or
her office for the use of the public. All changes in said Code and
all ordinances adopted subsequent to the effective date of this codification
which shall be adopted specifically as part of the Code shall, when
finally adopted, be included therein by reference until such changes
or new ordinances are printed as supplements to said Code book, at
which time such supplements shall be inserted therein.
Copies of the Code, or any chapter or portion
of it, may be purchased from the Clerk, or an authorized agent of
the Clerk, upon the payment of a fee to be set by the governing body.
The Clerk may also arrange for procedures for the periodic supplementation
of the Code.
It shall be unlawful for anyone to improperly
change or amend, by additions or deletions, any part or portion of
the Code or to alter or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever
which will cause the law of the Township of Little Falls to be misrepresented
thereby. Anyone violating this section or any part of this ordinance
shall be subject, upon conviction, to one or more of the following:
a fine of not more than $1,250, imprisonment for not more than 90
days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, in the
discretion of the Judge imposing the same.
Each section of the Code and every part of each
section is an independent section or part of a section, and the holding
of any section or a part thereof to be unconstitutional, void or ineffective
for any cause shall not be deemed to affect the validity or constitutionality
of any other sections or parts thereof.
Each section of this ordinance is an independent
section, and the holding of any section or part thereof to be unconstitutional,
void or ineffective for any cause shall not be deemed to affect the
validity or constitutionality of any other sections or parts thereof.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances of a general
and permanent nature adopted and in force on the date of the adoption
of this ordinance and not contained in the Code are hereby repealed
as of the effective date of this Adopting Ordinance, except as hereinafter
provided.
The adoption of this Code and the repeal of ordinances provided for in § 1-16 of this ordinance shall not affect the following ordinances, rights and obligations, which are hereby expressly saved from repeal:
A.
Any ordinance adopted subsequent to November 22, 2004.
B.
Any right or liability established, accrued or incurred
under any legislative provision prior to the effective date of this
ordinance or any action or proceeding brought for the enforcement
of such right or liability.
C.
Any offense or act committed or done before the effective
date of this ordinance in violation of any legislative provision or
any penalty, punishment or forfeiture which may result therefrom.
D.
Any prosecution, indictment, action, suit or other
proceeding pending or any judgment rendered, prior to the effective
date of this ordinance, brought pursuant to any legislative provision.
E.
Any franchise, license, right, easement or privilege
heretofore granted or conferred.
F.
Any ordinance providing for the laying out, opening,
altering, widening, relocating, straightening, establishing of grade,
changing of name, improvement, acceptance or vacation of any right-of-way,
easement, street, road, highway, park or other public place or any
portion thereof.
G.
Any ordinance or resolution appropriating money or
transferring funds, promising or guaranteeing the payment of money
or authorizing the issuance and delivery of any bond or other instruments
or evidence of the Township's indebtedness.
H.
Ordinances authorizing the purchase, sale, lease or
transfer of property or any lawful contract, agreement or obligation.
I.
The levy or imposition of taxes, assessments or charges
or the approval of the municipal budget.
J.
The dedication of property or approval of preliminary
or final subdivision plats.
K.
All currently effective ordinances pertaining to the
rate and manner of payment of salaries and compensation of officers
and employees.
L.
Any ordinance adopting or amending the Zoning Map.
M.
Any ordinance relating to or establishing a pension
plan or pension fund for municipal employees.
N.
Chapter II, Administration, of the 1995 Revised General
Ordinances, and any amendments thereto.
O.
The Subdivision of Land Ordinance.
P.
Ordinance No. 871, establishing the alternate members
of the Planning Board.
A.
In compiling and preparing the ordinances for adoption
and revisions as part of the Code pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-4, certain
grammatical changes and other minor changes were made in one or more
of said ordinances. It is the intention of the governing body that
the renumbering and all such changes be adopted as part of the Code
as if the ordinances so changed had been previously formally amended
to read as such.
C.
Violations and penalties: The following penalty sections are added or amended to refer to the General Penalty in Chapter 1, General Provisions: §§ 11-13, 11-18, 11-24, 15-12, 19-39, 31-8, 37-6, 95-3A, 105-4, 114-7, 122-15, 130-14, 143-3, 280-186B, 147-4, 163-4, 163-15, 182-6, 186-13, 214-18, 214-22, 218-9, 223-5, 223-19, 223-26, 231-7, 236-8, 249-9, 253-4, 261-11 and 268-3.
D.
In addition, the following changes, amendments or
revisions are made herewith, to become effective upon the effective
date of this ordinance as set forth in Schedule A[1] attached hereto and made a part hereof (chapter and section
number references are to the ordinances as they have been renumbered
and appear in the Code).
[1]
Editor's Note: In accordance with § 1-18D, the chapters, articles and sections which were amended, added, deleted or adopted by this ordinance are indicated throughout the Code by footnotes or chapter histories referring to Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II. During routine supplementation, footnotes and histories indicating amendments, additions, deletions or adoptions will be replaced with the following history: "Amended (added, deleted, adopted) 12-20-2004 by Ord. No. 952." Schedule A, which contains a complete description of all changes, is on file in the Township offices.