Township of Hanover, NJ Article II Drug-Free Public Parks and Public Buildings Zones

[Adopted 10-22-1998 by Ord. No. 27-98]

§ 120-6 Approval and adoption of map.

[Amended 1-27-2000 by Ord. No. 1-2000]

In accordance with and pursuant to the authority of P.L. 1997, c. 327 (N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1), the Drug-Free Public Parks and Public Buildings Area Map prepared on or about October 1, 1998, and revised on or about December 1, 1999, by the Township Engineer, and reviewed and approved by the Hanover Township Police Department, is hereby further approved and adopted as an official finding and record of the locations and areas within the Township of Hanover of property owned, leased or controlled by the Township of Hanover and utilized as public parks and public buildings, and of the areas on or within 500 feet of said properties.

§ 120-7 Map to be considered official; amendments.

The Drug-Free Public Parks and Public Buildings Area Map approved and adopted pursuant to § 120-6 of this article shall continue to constitute an official finding and record as to the location and boundaries of areas on or within 500 feet of the real estate comprising public parks and public buildings owned, leased or controlled by the Township of Hanover until such time, if any, that this article shall be amended to reflect any additions or deletions with respect to the location and boundaries of the public parks and/or public buildings and drug-free public parks and public buildings areas within the Township.

§ 120-8 Changes in public parks and public buildings boundaries or locations.

The Superintendent of Recreation and Park Administration,[1] in the case of Public Parks, and the Business Administrator/Township Clerk, in the case of Public Buildings, are hereby directed and shall have the continuing obligation of promptly notifying the Township Engineer and the Chief of Police of any changes or contemplated changes in the location and boundaries of any public parks and public building properties owned, leased or controlled by the Township and which changes may affect the five-hundred-foot boundaries depicted and adopted on the Drug-Free Public Parks and Public Buildings Map and in this article.

[1] Editor's Note: Pursuant to Ord. No. 12-10, adopted 4-8-2010, the title of this department was changed from Parks and Recreation Department to Recreation and Park Administration Department.

§ 120-9 Filing of map and provisions; copies.

The Business Administrator/Township Clerk of the Township of Hanover is hereby directed to receive and to keep on file the original of the map approved and adopted pursuant to § 120-6 of this article, and to provide at a reasonable cost a true copy thereof to any person, agency or court which may from time to time request such a copy, along with a certification that such copy is a true copy of the map approved and adopted herein and kept on file. It is hereby further directed that a true copy of such map and of this article shall be provided without cost to the Morris County Clerk and to the office of the Morris County Prosecutor.

§ 120-10 Map as evidence.

The following additional matters are hereby determined, declared, recited and stated:

A. It is understood that the map approved and adopted pursuant to § 120-6 of this article was prepared and is intended to be used as evidence in prosecution arising under the criminal laws of the State of New Jersey, and that pursuant to state law, such map shall constitute prima facie evidence of the following:

(1) The location of public parks and public buildings owned, leased or controlled by the Township of Hanover;

(2) The boundaries of the real property utilized in connection with public parks and public buildings and is owned, leased and controlled by the Township of Hanover;

(3) That such properties continue to be used as public parks and public buildings; and

(4) The location and boundaries of areas which are on or within 500 feet of such public parks and public buildings.

B. Except as is otherwise expressly noted on the face of the approved and adopted map, all of the property depicted on the map approved and adopted herein as drug-free public parks and public buildings areas was owned, leased or controlled by the Township of Hanover and was being used as public parks and public buildings as of January 9, 1998, which is the effective date of P.L. 1997, c. 327 (N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1).

C. Pursuant to the provisions of P.L. 1997, c. 327 (N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1), a prosecutor is not precluded from introducing or relying upon any other evidence or testimony to establish a violation of the offense defined in that statute, including use of a map or diagram other than the one approved and adopted pursuant to § 120-6 of this article. The failure of the map approved herein to depict the location and boundaries of any property which is, in fact, used for public parks and/or public buildings and which is owned, leased or controlled by the Township of Hanover, whether the absence of such depiction is the result of inadvertent omission or the result of any changes in the location and boundaries of such property which have not yet been incorporated into a revised approved map, shall not be deemed to be an official finding and record that such property is not owned, leased or controlled by the Township of Hanover or that such property is not used for the purpose of public parks and/or public buildings.

D. All of the requirements set forth in P.L. 1997, c. 327 (N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1) have been complied with concerning the preparation, approval and adoption of a Drug-Free Public Parks and Public Buildings Area Map.