City of Clifton, NJ Article I Curbs and Sidewalks

[Adopted 8-5-1947 by Ord. No. 2366]

§ 395-1 Curbs, sidewalks and sewer connections to be constructed and maintained at expense of property owner; fees.

[Amended 11-4-1987 by Ord. No. 5215-87; 6-19-2007 by Ord. No. 6669-07]

A. In any public street, avenue, alley and lane in the City of Clifton the grade of which has been established or which may hereafter be established, curbs shall be set or reset and sidewalks shall be laid, relaid, altered, repaired and maintained at the expense of the abutting property owner, as now provided by law and the provisions of this article.

B. Maintenance of the street between the property line and curb. Every owner, occupant or person having charge and control of property in the City on any street that is open shall maintain and be responsible for the proper upkeep of that part of the street between the property line and curb which abuts the property, including corner areas adjacent to corner lots, whether within or without the property line. Such upkeep shall include the proper maintenance and repair of the sidewalk and curb.

C. Installation and repair of connection between property and sewer lines. Every owner, occupant or person having charge and control of property in the City shall be responsible for the proper installation, repair and upkeep of all connections between his property and the main sanitary or industrial sewer line and all connections between his property and the main storm drain, catch basin or gutter into which such connections discharge.

D. Installation of individual connection between property and municipal sewer. Every owner or person having charge and/or control of construction of new buildings in the City shall be required to install an individual sanitary sewer lateral between each building and the municipal sewer. Installation of septic pits is prohibited.

E. Every owner, occupant or person having charge and/or control of existing buildings in the City shall be required to install an individual sanitary sewer lateral for each building if and when it becomes known that a building is connected to a common sanitary sewer lateral with another building or buildings or to a septic pit. The individual connections are to be provided within 30 calendar days of notice.

F. The fee for all sewer lateral repair inspections or connection inspections shall be $75.

§ 395-2 Compliance with regulations required.

All curbs or sidewalks hereafter set, reset, laid, relaid, altered or repaired shall be done in compliance with the regulations of the Municipal Council of the City of Clifton and under the supervision of the City Engineer.

§ 395-3 Permit required for construction or reconstruction.

[Amended 10-7-1947 by Ord. No. 2385; 7-16-1991 by Ord. No. 5519-91]

No existing curbs or sidewalks, nor any curbs or sidewalks hereafter set or laid, shall be constructed, installed, removed, reset, replaced or reconstructed without first obtaining a permit therefor from the City Engineer. Application for such permit shall be made, in writing, upon forms furnished by the City Engineer. Where a curb is to be constructed, set, reset or reconstructed in order to provide a driveway across a sidewalk, the width of which driveway shall be 10 feet or more, application for a permit shall be accompanied by a survey and plan showing the proposed work and shall state the name and address of the person, firm or corporation which is to do the work. No permit shall be issued until such survey and plan have been approved by the City Engineer. The City Engineer shall charge and receive a fee of $25 for every permit issued for the construction or reconstruction of a curb and sidewalk for the purpose of a driveway across a sidewalk where the driveway shall be 10 feet or more in width. No fees shall be charged for permits issued in accordance with this article, except as aforesaid.

§ 395-4 Construction specifications.

[Amended 8-4-87 by Ord. No. 5190-87]

A. All sidewalks, curbs, driveways and aprons in any street, avenue, alley or land, or section thereof, in the City of Clifton, where the grade has been or may hereafter be established, shall be constructed and installed to such width of such material as shall be shown in specifications prepared by the City Engineer, in addition to other specifications prepared or which may have been prepared by the City Engineer, not inconsistent with those herein provided, and approved by the Municipal Council.

B. The ingredients of the concrete of every sidewalk shall be only portland cement, clean sharp sand and clean broken stone or gravel. No cinders or ashes shall be used in concrete. No concrete shall be used that does not contain at least one part portland cement in every six parts of the whole, or as hereinafter specified.

C. Concrete shall be constructed with Type II, air-entrained cement and shall develop a compressive strength of 4,000 pounds per square inch at 28 days. Air-entrainment shall not be less than 3% nor more than 6%.

D. Concrete shall be finished with floats and straightedges. Just before the concrete obtains its initial set, it shall be finished with a wooden float and brushed with a wet soft-haired brush. Surfaces shall drain completely at all times. Concrete sidewalks shall be sloped toward the street at a grade of one-fourth (1/4) inch per foot. All edges shall be finished and rounded with an edging tool having a radius of one-fourth (1/4) inch.

E. Expansion joints shall be one-half (1/2) inch wide placed at intervals of approximately 20 feet and shall be filled with performed expansion joint filler. Traverse construction joints shall be one-eighth (1/8) inch thick placed midway between expansion joints. Blind joints shall cut midway between the expansion and contraction joints. Expansion joints shall be placed between the sidewalk/driveway and all appurtenances, such as manholes, utility poles, curb, etc. An expansion joint shall be placed between sidewalk and concrete apron and/or concrete driveway. Expansion joint filler shall be performed bituminous conforming to AASHTO M33, M153 Type II and M213.

F. Concrete shall be placed on a firm, compacted subgrade. All concrete sidewalks shall be at least four feet wide and shall be four inches thick, except at driveways, in which case sidewalks, aprons and driveways shall be six inches thick.

G. At the intersection of two streets or where required by federal or state statutes or City of Clifton ordinances, handicap ramp curbs and sidewalks shall be constructed in accordance with the prevailing requirements of Subchapter 7 (Barrier Free) of the Uniform Construction Code of New Jersey.

H. Concrete paver driveway aprons shall be constructed as follows: Precast concrete pavers shall be of standard size, approximately four inches wide by eight inches long by 2.375 inches +/- 0.125 inches thick, and reasonably uniform in size and shape, with a minimum compressive strength of 8,000 PSI and a water absorption maximum of 5%. Concrete pavers shall exceed the standards of ASTM C-936-82. No pavers shall be set in the sidewalk.

[Amended 2-4-2020 by Ord. No. 7561-20]

(1) The concrete pavers shall be laid on a base consisting of two-inch 4,000 PSI concrete on top of four-inch-thick densely graded aggregate (quarry process stone) compacted and rolled. The pavers are to be set to the correct position and grade with a rubber mallet. All cuts of the pavers are to be made to an even and straight line with a carborundum disk wet saw. After all the pavers are in position, sand shall be swept over the surface completely, then using a plate compactor to tamp the pavers to a uniform level. Two or three passes of the compactor shall be made to bring the pavers to their final level. Tamping shall be done in both directions. After each area of pavers is compacted, clean masons sand is to be sandswept in all directions into the intermittent joints between the pavers. Vehicle traffic shall not be allowed on paved surface until sweeping is completed.

I. After forms are in place and prior to pouring concrete and setting pavers, the applicant shall call the Clifton Engineering Department for an inspection of the forms. No concrete is to be poured, and no pavers are to be set without inspection and approval by the City Engineer or his representative.

[Amended 2-4-2020 by Ord. No. 7561-20]

J. The City assumes no responsibility upon or by virtue of the issuance of the sidewalk, curb or driveway permit.

[Added 2-4-2020 by Ord. No. 7561-20]

§ 395-5 Owners or occupants to lay and maintain sidewalks.

[Amended 10-5-1993 by Ord. No. 5652-93]

The owners or occupants of any dwelling house, store or other building, or of a lot or lots of ground fronting or abutting on any public street, avenue, alley or lane in the City of Clifton, the grade of which has been or may hereafter be established, shall, at his, her or their own cost and expense, well and sufficiently lay the sidewalks in front of said premises, according to the specifications of the City of Clifton, and shall keep and maintain said sidewalks in good repair.

§ 395-6 Notice to owner or occupant to construct or repair; failure to comply.

[Amended 10-5-1993 by Ord. No. 5652-93]

A. The City of Clifton shall cause a notice in writing to be served upon the owners or occupants of any land abutting on any public street, avenue, alley or lane requiring said owner, owners, or occupants to set curbs and lay sidewalks or cause the existing curbs or sidewalks to be reset, relaid, altered or repaired within a period of not less than 90 days after the date of service of said notice. Whenever any lands are unoccupied and the owner cannot be found within the City of Clifton, notice may be mailed, postage prepaid, to his or her post office address, if the same can be ascertained. In case such owner is a nonresident of the City or his or her post office address cannot be ascertained, then the notice may be inserted for four weeks, once a week, in some newspaper of the City of Clifton. In case the owners or occupants of said lands shall not comply with the requirements of such notice, the City of Clifton may, upon filing due proof of service or publication of the aforesaid notice, cause the required work to be done by the Street Department of the City of Clifton, under the supervision of the City Engineer, and the cost thereof shall be certified by the City Engineer to the Receiver of Taxes, and, upon the filing with him of such certificate, the cost shall become a lien upon said abutting lands in front of which such work was done to the extent that assessments for local improvements are liens, and shall bear interest from the date such certification is made to the Receiver of Taxes at the same rate of interest as other assessments, and, in addition thereto, the City may maintain an action at law to recover said amount against said owner or owners of said lands in any court having competent jurisdiction thereof.

B. Notwithstanding the provisions of §§ 395-5 and 395-6A hereof, the owner or occupant of any land as set forth above may apply to the Board of Adjustment for a waiver of the requirement for the installation of sidewalks or location of the sidewalk elsewhere than the normal location for a sidewalk. The request shall be received by the Zoning Administrator who shall forward each request for a waiver to the City Engineer. Upon report of the City Engineer and certification by him that there exists exceptional topographic conditions or other exceptional situation(s) relating to any physical condition(s) of the land and the construction of a sidewalk is impractical or will extract undue hardship and that such sidewalk is not necessary for the protection of the public health and safety, the Board of Adjustment may, by resolution, waive the requirement to install a sidewalk or a portion thereof if it is determined that a sidewalk is not necessary for the protection of the public health or safety. Said resolution shall set forth the reasons for waiver. A copy of the resolution shall be forwarded to the City Engineer.

C. Upon a granting of a waiver as set forth in Subsection B immediately above by the Board of Adjustment, the property owner shall consent to the public having the right to use that portion of the property that would normally be the location of the sidewalk for those purposes normally permitted if a sidewalk had been installed.

§ 395-7 Violations and penalties.

Any person, firm, association or corporation violating any provision of this article shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $25 for each offense, and each day during which any of the provisions of this article shall be violated shall constitute a separate offense, punishable as aforesaid.

§ 395-8 Annual appropriation for repairs.

From and after the passage of this article, the Municipal Council shall, in each year, include in its annual budget an appropriation for sidewalk and curb repairs, out of which appropriation the cost of repairing sidewalks and curbs during the current year may be charged. All moneys recovered or paid to the City under the provisions of this article shall be credited to the account out of which the cost of such work is paid.

§ 395-9 Width and location of driveways.

[Added 10-7-47 by Ord. No. 2385]

No driveway across any sidewalk into any lot, tract or parcel of land shall be wider than 20 feet. Where more than one driveway is desired to serve the same premises, a space of 60 feet shall be left between driveways. No driveway across any sidewalk shall be located closer than (10) feet from the point of intersection of the curblines of any intersecting streets. No driveway across any sidewalk, where such driveway exceeds 10 feet in width, shall be located closer than five feet from any adjoining property line.