[Adopted 12-21-1983 by Ord. No.
1983-12 as Ch. 123, Art. II, of the 1983 Code]
[Amended 12-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1993-32]
It shall be unlawful for any person, company,
firm or corporation to tear up, dig into, break up, displace or excavate
any of the streets, sidewalks, curbs or gutters of the Township of
Florence without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Township
Clerk or her designee, who shall charge a fee of $25 for each permit
issued. A separate permit will be required for each opening made.
Any such permit shall state the location and approximate size of the
opening to be made. No permit shall be deemed to authorize anything
not stated in the permit, and the person to whom it is issued shall
confine his work within such limits so that the work of repaving shall
be as small as possible.
The work on any opening to be made under any
such permit shall be commenced within 10 days from the date of such
permit and the work prosecuted with due diligence to its completion.
If, for any reason, work is not commenced within said period of 10
days, the permit shall be void, unless, within such period of 10 days,
the applicant shall present the permit to the Township Clerk, who
shall thereupon either return the deposit or extend the time for the
beginning of said work for another period of 10 days by endorsement
on the permit, and no permit so extended shall be valid unless the
work thereunder is commenced within 10 days from the date of such
endorsement.
Whenever any street, sidewalk, curb or gutter
is broken up or excavated, it shall be restored at the expense of
the person or persons making the opening, to the satisfaction of the
Township Engineer or other duly authorized designee, in compliance
with the following requirements:
A.
The excavation shall interfere as little as possible
with travel along said street or road, and no greater part of any
street or road shall be opened at any one time than the Township Engineer
or other duly authored designee shall allow in order to prevent such
interference with travel.
B.
The backfilling of trenches shall be performed by
the applicant under the supervision and direction of the Township
Engineer or other duly authorized designee. Inspection for each street
opening application shall be done in accordance with the directions
of the Division of Engineering. The applicant shall notify the officer
instructed to perform the inspection 24 hours before a street opening
is ready for backfill, and the inspector shall have the right to,
and it shall be his duty to, inspect said street opening and be present
to continuously inspect the backfill and street surface restoration
procedure. No backfill material, base material or surface material
shall be placed in the opening until 24 hours after the aforesaid
notice has been given. Less than 24 hours may be given in case of
emergency openings.
C.
When the Township Engineer or other duly authorized
designee is instructed to perform the inspection, the applicant shall
pay to the township such reasonable fee as may be charged by the Engineer
or other duly authorized designee for time actually spent in making
such inspection.
D.
Neither such inspection nor anything else contained
in this Article shall relieve the applicant from the duty to remedy
any defect in such restoration of the opening as may then or thereafter
appear or from any other liability for such defects.
E.
All fill material shall be deposited in layers not
exceeding six inches, and each layer shall be rammed with approved
pneumatic or power-driven mechanical tampers. Flat-faced mechanical
tampers may be substituted for vibratory soil compactors where the
shoring and bracing of trenches make the use of vibratory compactors
impracticable. Shoring, bracing and sheathing shall be withdrawn as
the filling proceeds. Fill material used in the first two feet of
cover shall be made with earth, which shall be free from stones or
rock fragments of a size larger than two inches. Broken stone to be
used in replacing the stone base shall be cast in separate piles and
kept clean and separated from other excavation material. The broken
stone shall be carefully replaced to a minimum thickness of eight
inches. If there is a deficiency in such thickness, it shall be made
up by adding clean stone not less than two inches in diameter. The
stone base shall be tamped and keyed with mineral filler. In openings
where the existing base consists of gravel or native soil, a minimum
of eight inches of pneumatically compacted Type 5 Grade A soil aggregate,
as specified in the 1961 New Jersey State Highway Department Standard
Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction, shall be placed on
top of the backfill. In openings where the existing base consists
of Belgian block, paving brick or concrete, the soil aggregate method
for restoring the base shall be used.
F.
A temporary patch shall be constructed by the applicant
consisting of a sand and asphalt patch mixture two inches thick and
thoroughly tamped and rolled. The temporary patch shall be constructed
within 24 hours after tamping of the backfill. When filled, the opening
shall be flush with the existing contour of the road. Within a period
of not less than four months nor more than six months, the applicant
shall replace the temporary patch with permanent pavement.
G.
The temporary pavement shall be removed and additional soil aggregate placed to bring the excavation to grade where settlement has taken place. The openings shall be properly cleaned out and painted with asphaltic oil or tar, then filled with a hot-mixed, hot-laid bituminous concrete pavement, conforming to the FABC pavement specifications of the State Highway Department Specifications referenced in Subsection E hereof, thoroughly tamping and rolling the material to obtain a dense, smooth surface, flush with the existing road surface. The bituminous concrete surface, when compacted, shall have a minimum thickness of two inches. The surface of the permanent patch shall receive a wearing surface conforming to the existing road surface, unless directed otherwise by the Township Engineer or other duly authorized designee.
[Amended 3-15-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-05]
A.
No permit shall be granted by the Township Clerk until
the applicant has paid to him the sum of $50 in cash or certified
check, drawn to the order of the Treasurer of the Township of Florence,
if the opening is to be made in the bituminous concrete, bituminous
macadam, sheet asphalt, brick or concrete surfaces and not wider than
three feet in width. For excavation and street openings in excess
of 20 square yards, the applicant shall pay to the Township Clerk
the sum of $2 per square yard for each additional square yard of excavation
in excess of 20 square yards for improved streets and $1.25 per square
yard for each additional square yard of excavation in excess of 20
square yards. These sums shall be in addition to the above-mentioned
amounts.
B.
The security required shall not be less than $600
for each opening. Deposits shall be retained for six months, except
for driveway openings, which may be released after 30 days following
satisfactory inspection.
(1)
Bond/deposit
for street or curb opening. Bond will be required in a minimum amount
of $600, with a maximum amount of $2,500, depending on the scope of
the project and as recommended by the Township Engineer or his designee.
C.
This amount deposited under Subsection A of this section shall be retained by the Township for a period of six months from the date of the permit or from the date on which it is extended to guarantee the proper performance of the work done by the applicant and the maintenance thereof in good condition by the applicant. If the applicant shall fail to restore the street, sidewalk, curb or gutter involved to its proper condition as soon as practicable and within three days after the service or mailing of a notice from the Township Clerk so to do, then the Township Engineer or other duly authorized designee may cause such restoration to be made and pay the cost thereof from said deposit, or in case a bond has been filed in lieu of a cash deposit, the Township shall collect the cost of such restoration from the applicant or bonding company. If, during such period of six months, the filling of the opening shall settle or any street surface over such opening shall require repairing and the applicant shall fail to make such repairs as are required within three days after the service or mailing of a notice from the Township Clerk so to do, then the Township Engineer or other duly authorized designee may cause such repairs to be made and pay the cost thereof from said deposit, or in case a bond has been deposited in lieu of a cash deposit, the Township shall collect the cost of such repairs from the applicant or bonding company.
Whenever application for any such permit is
made by a plumber or any similar applicant or any gas, electric, telephone,
water company or other public utility, the Township Clerk may issue
such permit without requiring the cash deposit hereinbefore mentioned,
provided that such plumber or similar applicant or gas, electric,
telephone or water company or other public utility shall theretofore
have filed a bond in the sum of $500 to guarantee the proper restoration
of any street, sidewalk, curb or gutter broken up or excavated by
the applicant at any time and the maintenance thereof in good condition
by the applicant for a period of six months after such restoration.
[Added 4-1-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-09]
A.
Whenever the Township Council enacts any ordinance
or resolution providing for the paving or repaving of any street,
the Township Clerk shall promptly mail a written notice thereof to
each person owning sewers, mains, conduits or other utilities in or
under said street or any real property, whether improved or unimproved,
abutting said street. Such notice shall notify such persons that excavation
permits for openings, cuts or excavations and permits for work to
be done prior to such paving or repaving shall be submitted promptly
in order that the work covered by the excavation permit may be completed
not later than 45 days from the date of enactment of such ordinance
or resolution. The Township Clerk shall also promptly mail copies
of such notice to the occupants of all houses, buildings and other
structures abutting said street for their information and to state
agencies and departments or other persons who may desire to perform
excavation work in said street.
B.
Within said 45 days every public utility company receiving
notice as prescribed herein shall perform such excavation work, subject
to the provisions of this chapter, as may be necessary to install
or repair sewers, mains, conduits or other utility installations.
In the event that any owner of real property abutting said street
shall fail within 45 days to perform such excavation work as may be
required to install or repair utility service lines or service connections
to the property lines, any and all rights of such owner or his successors
in interest to make openings, cuts or excavations in said street shall
be forfeited for a period of five years from the date of enactment
of said ordinance or resolution. During said five-year period, no
excavation permit shall be issued to open, cut or excavate in said
street unless, in the judgment of the Township Engineer, an emergency,
as described in this chapter, exists which makes it absolutely essential
that the excavation permit be issued.
C.
Every township department or official charged with
responsibility for any work that may necessitate any opening, cut
or excavation in said street is directed to take appropriate measures
to perform such excavation work within said forty-five-day period
so as to avoid the necessity for making any openings, cuts or excavations
in the new pavement in said township street during said five-year
period.
[Added 4-1-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-09]
A.
In the event of any emergency in which a sewer, main,
conduit or utility in or under any street breaks, bursts or otherwise
is in such conditions as to immediately endanger the property, life,
health or safety of any individual, the person owning or controlling
such sewer, main, conduit or utility, without first applying for and
obtaining an excavation permit hereunder, shall immediately take proper
emergency measures to cure or remedy the dangerous conditions for
the protection of property, life, health and safety of individuals.
B.
However, such person owning or controlling such facility
shall apply for an excavation permit not later than the end of the
next succeeding day during which the Township Engineer's office is
open for business and shall not proceed with permanent repairs without
first obtaining an excavation permit hereunder.
The excavation and all piles of excavated materials
or any materials used in the work to be performed in the opening for
which a permit is issued shall be carefully guarded and lighted by
the applicant, who shall be liable for all damages caused by the prosecution
of the work or failure to properly guard or maintain the same.
Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed
as requiring the issuance of a permit for the performance of any work
done by the township or under a contract with the township for the
construction of water lines, sewer lines or street improvements.
Any person, company, firm or corporation who
or which shall violate any of the provisions of this Article shall,
upon conviction of such violation, be subject to a fine not exceeding
$1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days or to a
period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination
thereof, for each offense.
