In accordance with and pursuant to the authority of P.L. 1988, c. 44
(N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7), the Drug-Free School Zone Maps produced by the Little
Egg Harbor Township Engineers are hereby approved and adopted as an official
finding and record of the locations and areas within the municipality of property
which is used for school purposes and which is owned by or leased to any elementary
or secondary school or school board, and of the areas on or within 1,000 feet
of such school property. The Township also approves the said map for the purposes
of affixing and establishing the location and boundaries of all areas within
500 feet of any public building or public park, as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1.
The Drug-Free Zone Maps approved and adopted pursuant to §
169-1 of this article shall continue to constitute an official finding and record as to the locations and boundaries of areas on or within 1,000 feet of property owned by or leased to any elementary or secondary school or school board which is used for school purposes, and the location and boundaries of all areas within 500 feet of any public building or public park as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1, until such time, if any, that this article shall be amended to reflect any additions or deletions with respect to the locations and boundaries of school property and drug-free zones.
The school board, or the chief administrative officer in the case of
any private or parochial school, is hereby directed and shall have the continuing
obligation to promptly notify the Township Engineer and the Township Attorney
of any changes or contemplated changes in the location and boundaries of any
property owned by or leased to any elementary or secondary school or school
board and which is used for school purposes.
The Clerk of the municipality is hereby directed to receive and keep on file the original maps approved and adopted pursuant to §
169-1 of this article, and to provide at a reasonable cost true copies thereof to any person, agency, or court which may from time to time request such copies, along with a certification that such copies are true copies of the maps approved and adopted herein and kept on file. It is hereby further directed that true copies of such maps and of this article shall be provided without cost to the County Clerk and to the office of the Ocean County Prosecutor.
The following additional matters are hereby determined, declared, recited
and stated:
A. It is understood that the maps approved and adopted pursuant to §
169-1 of this article were prepared and are intended to be used as evidence in prosecutions arising under the criminal laws of this state and that, pursuant to state law, such maps shall constitute prima facie evidence of the following:
(1) The location of elementary and secondary schools within
the municipality.
(2) The boundaries of the real property which is owned by
or leased to such schools or a school board.
(3) That such school property is and continues to be used
for school purposes.
(4) The location and boundaries of areas which are on or
within 1,000 feet of such school property.
(5) The location and boundaries of all areas within 500 feet
of any public building or public park as defined in N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1.
B. Except as otherwise expressly noted on the face of the
approved and adopted maps, all of the property depicted on the maps approved
and adopted herein as school property were owned by or leased to a school
or school board and were being used for school purposes as of July 9, 1987,
that being the effective date of P.L. 1987, c. 101 (N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7).
C. Pursuant to the provisions of P.L. 1988, c. 44 (N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7), 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 maps approved and adopted pursuant to §
169-1 of this article. The failure of the maps approved herein to depict the locations and boundaries of any property which is, in fact, used for school purposes, and which is owned by or leased to any elementary or secondary school or school board, 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 by or leased to a school or school board, or that such property is not used for school purposes.
D. All of the requirements set forth in P.L. 1988, c. 44,
concerning the preparation, approval and adoption of Drug-Free School Zone
Maps, have been complied with.