[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Township of Franklin 6-25-1962.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The Board of Health of the Township of Franklin, in the County of
Warren, New Jersey, or its official representative.[1]
The Sanitary Inspector of the Board or, in the absence thereof, such
other person as may be delegated and appointed by the Board to enforce its
decisions.
Includes an individual, firm, corporation, association of persons,
partnership and their agents or employees.
The following matters, things, conditions or acts and each of them are
hereby declared to be nuisances and injurious to the health of the people
of this Township:
A.
Pollution or existence of a condition or conditions which
cause or threaten pollution of any waters in this Township in such manner
as to cause or threaten injury to any of the people of this Township, either
in their health, comfort or property.
B.
The escape into the open air from any stack, vent, incinerator,
chimney or any entrance to the open air or from any fire into the open air
of such quantities of smoke, flyash, fumes, vapors, mists or gases as to cause
injury to the people of this Township or endanger their comfort, health or
safety.
C.
The escape into the open air from any vents, chimneys,
stacks, exhaust pipes of motor vehicles or other gasoline- or petroleum-derivative-powered
machinery excessive gases, fumes or vapors which, by the concentrated accumulation
thereof due to numbers of equipment and/or amounts of gas and fumes, shall
cause injury, detriment or annoyance to the inhabitants of this Township or
endanger their comfort, repose, health or safety.
D.
The causing or the creation of excessive amounts of dust,
either from the manufacture of materials by factories or by the willful movement
and accumulation of unusual amounts of motor vehicles in a concentrated spot,
so as to cause injury, detriment or annoyance to the inhabitants of this Township
or endanger their comfort, repose, health or safety.
E.
The growth, existence or presence of ragweed, poison
ivy or other noxious weeds on any plot of land, lot, highway, right-of-way
or private place within 20 feet of any building where persons work or live.
F.
The existence or presence of any water or other liquid
in which mosquito larvae breed or exist.
G.
The existence or presence of any accumulation of garbage,
refuse, manure or animal or vegetable matter which is not in a tightly covered
container or which may attract flies and to which flies may have access or
in which fly larvae or pupae breed or exist; provided, nevertheless, that
animal manure located on a bona fide farm and to be used as fertilizer for
agricultural purposes or gardening shall not be considered as being within
the scope of this section.
H.
Depositing, accumulating or maintaining any matter or
thing which serves as food for rats or other rodents and to which they may
have access or which serves or constitutes a breeding place or harborage for
rats or other rodents in or on any land, premises, building or other place.
I.
The existence or presence of human excrement or material
containing human excrement or sink or laundry wastes deposited or flowing
over or upon the surface of the ground or which gains access to the source
of any public or private water supply.
J.
The placing, dumping, depositing or accumulation on private
property without permission of the owner of any litter, garbage, refuse, rubbish,
manure or animal or vegetable matter which is hazardous to the health or comfort
of any of the people of this Township.
K.
The existence or presence of garbage, refuse, rubbish,
manure or animal or vegetable matter or any other accumulation of filth or
source of foulness which is hazardous to the health or comfort of any of the
people of this Township.
L.
The construction, digging, maintenance and permission
of existence of open wells, cisterns and water holes which are not completely
enclosed to free access or which are hazardous to the health, safety or comfort
of any of the people in this Township, whether the same are used, unused or
abandoned.
M.
Any matter, thing, condition or act which is detrimental
or a menace to the health or comfort of the people of this Township.
N.
The spreading of chicken manure on frozen ground or the spreading of the same within 50 feet of an occupied residence other than the residence of a farmer spreading the same, or the receipt of manure in violation of § 107-9 et seq. of the Code of the Township of Franklin, or the recipient fails to turn the chicken manure under using good farming practices, as approved by Chapter 107, Poultry Businesses of the Code of the Township of Franklin, County of Warren, State of New Jersey, within 12 hours of delivery or within 24 hours in the case of an emergency shall be deemed a nuisance per se.
[Added 6-14-1993 by Ord. No. 93-3;
amended 7-12-1999 by Ord. No. 99-13]
O.
The sounding of an alarm device which provides warning
of intrusion, fire, smoke, burglary, flood, health, emergency, temperature
fluctuation or like perils which summons the Police, Fire or Ambulance Department
to investigate, and which alarm is, in fact, false, and as such no actual
intrusion, fire, smoke, burglary, flood, health emergency, temperature fluctuation
or like peril actually exists and the Police, Fire and/or Ambulance Departments
have been summoned to the property regarding any such false alarms during
any given month on three or more occasions.
[Added 10-25-1999 by Ord. No. 99-17]
It shall be unlawful for an owner, tenant or other occupant of any lot or land, building or structure or any other private property or premises within this Township to cause, create, commit, maintain or allow any nuisance, as defined in § 146-2 of this chapter, in or on such land or premises or any part thereof; and it shall be unlawful for any other person or persons to cause, create, commit or maintain within this Township any nuisance, as defined in § 146-2 of this chapter.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, dump or
drop in or upon any public property, street, road or highway or other public
place within this Township any filth, rubbish, garbage, tin cans, bottles,
refuse, dead animals or other waste or offensive matter.
B.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit
the dumping of garbage, rubbish or other waste material which is permitted
to be dumped at the municipal dump, if any is established under proper authority,
provided that such dumping is in accordance with the ordinances and regulations
of the Board of Health pertaining thereto.
C.
It shall be unlawful for any person to establish a public
or private dump for the throwing, dumping, depositing or dropping of any filth,
rubbish, garbage, tin cans, bottles, refuse, dead animals or other waste or
offensive matter without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Board
of Health of the municipality or other proper licensing authority of the municipality
and then only subject to such rules and regulations of the Board of Health
relating thereto or the rules and regulations of the State Board of Health
in the absence thereof.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to rent, lease or
otherwise permit the occupancy of any building as a residence or for any person
to reside in any building as its owner or tenant which:
(1)
Is not adequately and properly ventilated.
(2)
Shall, by age and/or lack of repair, become so dilapidated
as to fail to provide reasonable protection against the weather and the elements
to the person or persons residing therein or which shall become, by reason
of the aforesaid, dangerous and hazardous as a fire trap.
(3)
Fails to provide potable water at sufficient pressure
and quantity for each family unit from a public supply approved by the State
Department of Health or a private supply approved by the enforcing official.
(4)
Does not have plumbing fixtures, consisting of a kitchen
sink, bathtub or shower, lavatory and flush toilet, connected to the potable
water supply.
(5)
Does not have facilities for the discharge of all household
liquid wastes into a public sewerage system approved by the State Department
of Health or into a private sewerage system approved by the State Department
of Health or into a private sewerage system approved by the enforcing official.
(a)
Nothing herein shall preclude an owner from residing in or renting a separate one-family dwelling which, at the time of the passing of this chapter, does not have a bathtub or shower or flush toilet connected to the potable water supply, provided that said premises do have existing thereon a proper privy vault which has been constructed and maintained in accordance with this chapter; and provided, further, that no new construction or occupancy of a newly constructed dwelling house shall be permitted without compliance with Subsection A(1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of this section.
(b)
No privy vault or cesspool or septic tank which is now
in existence shall hereafter be reconstructed, rebuilt or replaced in the
Township of Franklin without a permit for that purpose being first obtained
from the Board of Health. All privy vaults and cesspools and septic tanks,
for the construction of which permits may be granted, shall be constructed
in such manner as the Board of Health shall direct and in compliance with
the rules of the State Board of Health.
(c)
No privy vault or cesspool shall be maintained within
25 feet of any dwelling house situate upon lands of adjoining property owners
nor within 50 feet of any public street.
(d)
The owner or occupant of any premises whereon a cesspool
or privy vault is located shall cause the same to be cleaned and the contents
thereof removed within 24 hours after receiving notice, in writing, to that
effect from the Board of Health.
B.
It shall be unlawful for the owner or owners who have
agreed to supply heat to any building designed to be occupied as a residence
for more than two families to fail to supply heat from the first day of October
in each year to the first day of May of the succeeding year in such manner
that the temperature of said building where one or more persons reside shall
always be kept at 68° F. or above between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00
p.m. and at 60° F. or above during all other hours.
C.
The enforcing agency of the municipality shall have the
right to condemn premises rented or demised if they fail to meet the standards
set up by the reasonable rules and regulations of the enforcing agency and
to prohibit the use thereof as a residence for tenants until said violations
have been cured, and said enforcing agency shall have the right and power
to apply to any appropriate court of the State of New Jersey or of the United
States of America to enforce its decisions.
[Amended 4-2-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-6]
It shall be unlawful for any person to make, cause or suffer or permit
to be made or caused upon any premises owned, occupied or controlled by him
or it upon any public street, alley or thoroughfare in this Township, between
the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., any unnecessary noises or sounds by
means of animal or human voice or by the use of machinery, motor vehicles
or by any other means or methods which are physically annoying to persons
or which are so harsh or loud or so prolonged or unnatural or unusual in their
use, time and place as to occasion physical discomfort or which are injurious
to the lives, health, peace and comfort of the inhabitants of this Township
or any member thereof.
A.
All places and premises in this Township shall be subject
to inspection by the Board or the enforcing official if the Board or the enforcing
official has reason to believe that a violation of any section of this chapter
may exist.
B.
It shall be unlawful for any person to hinder, obstruct,
delay, resist or prevent the Board or the enforcing official from having full
access to any place or premises upon which a violation of this chapter is
believed to exist.
A.
Whenever a nuisance, as declared by § 146-2 of this chapter, or other violation of this chapter is found on any plot of land, lot, right-of-way or any other private premises or place and anything deemed a nuisance on a public highway, property or premises, notice, in writing, shall be given to the owner, tenants or occupier of the lands by either personal service or sent by certified mail or posted on the property at the election of the Health Department or, in the case of public property, either of said notice provisions to the person or persons in charge to remove or abate the same within such time as may be specified therein, but not less than five days from the date of service thereof, subject to the provisions of Subsection C concerning the spreading of chicken manure. Either of said methods at the election of the County Health Department shall satisfy due process. The notice of violation specified herein shall not apply to Chapter 146, § 146-2, Subsection O relative to the sounding of three false alarms in any given month as the same shall be deemed a nuisance per se.
[Amended 6-14-1993 by Ord. No. 93-3; 10-25-1999
by Ord. No. 99-17]
B.
If the owner, tenant or occupant, upon being notified as provided by Subsection A, shall not comply with such notice within the time specified therein and fails to remove or abate such nuisance, the County Health Officer or his designated agent may proceed to abate the nuisance or may cause it to be removed or abated in a summary manner by such means as said County Health Officer or his designated agent shall deem proper. Any costs incurred in removing and abating such nuisance shall be a lien upon the lands as authorized by N.J.S.A. 49:48-2.12f and as herein provided pursuant to § 146-9.
[Amended 6-14-1993 by Ord. No. 93-3]
C.
If the Health Officer or his authorized representative deems the existing condition or violation of the within chapter as an immediate health or safety hazard under said provisions, they shall be authorized to order an immediate abatement. A violation of § 146-2N is hereby determined to be an immediate health and safety hazard and the immediate removal and/or plowing under with good farming practices by mold board plowing or by chisel plowing and/or disking, if so provided by any conservation plan through or approved by the Warren County Soil Conservation District, shall be ordered. If the owner, tenant or occupier refuses to comply, the Township may effect an abatement of the condition at the expense of the owner, and the costs shall be a lien upon the lands as authorized by N.J.S.A. 49:48-2.12f and as herein provided pursuant to § 146-9. Upon any owner, tenant or occupier failing to comply with an immediate order to abate the condition under § 146-2N, said owner, tenant or occupier shall not be allowed to receive further manure for spreading on the lands. Upon any owner, tenant or occupier of land being ordered to immediately abate and declared not to be allowed to receive further chicken manure, notice thereof, in writing, by certified mail, shall be sent to the generator of the chicken manure by the County Health Officer or his authorized agent advising that no further deliveries are to be made to said owner, tenant or occupier.
[Amended 6-14-1993 by Ord. No. 93-3]
D.
In addition to the penalties and remedies hereinbefore
set forth, the enforcing agency shall have the right, in its discretion, to
proceed in any court of this state or the courts of the United States for
appropriate relief by application for injunction or sanctions as may be provided
by law.
E.
Any person who violates § 146-2 or other sections of this chapter and who fails to abate any nuisance defined in said § 146-2 and other sections of this chapter, after receiving notice thereof, within the time specified in said notice or who violates any other section of this chapter shall, for each and every violation or offense, be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 nor less than $100, at the discretion of the Municipal Judge, except that the within provisions for fines shall not be applicable for violations of § 146-2N and that the sole penalty for such violation shall be a prohibition on the receipt of any further manure as provided in § 146-8C.
[Amended 9-28-1987 by Ord. No. 87-10; 6-14-1993
by Ord. No. 93-3]
F.
Each and every day that such violation or offense continues
shall be deemed and constitute a separate and distinct violation of this chapter
and not a continuing offense.
G.
Each and every person who actually violates this chapter
and each and every person who, after receiving notice thereof, fails to abate
the same as hereinbefore required shall each, severally, be liable for such
violation and to the penalty hereinabove set forth.
The Board of Health may institute an action at law to recover costs incurred by it in the removal or abatement of any nuisance, as declared by § 146-2 of this chapter or other sections, from any person who shall have caused or allowed such nuisance to exist or from any owner, tenant or occupant of premises who, after notice and notification as herein provided, shall fail to remove and abate the same within the time specified in such notice.
