It shall be the duty of the owner of any real
property in the Township abutting any public street or sidewalk to
construct, repair, alter, relay or maintain the curbs and public sidewalks
in front of such property whenever curbs or sidewalks are required
or, being already installed, shall be in such disrepair as to constitute
a hazard to the general public using the curbs and sidewalks unless
they are repaired, altered, re-layed or maintained. In the case of
curbs, such work shall also be done when the repair is necessary for
efficient use of the curbs for storm drainage, traffic control or
street maintenance.
Sidewalks shall be deemed to be required when
the Township Council, by resolution and 30 days' notice to the abutting
owners of the proposed adoption of such resolution and an opportunity
to the owners of abutting lands to be heard, shall determine that
public necessity and convenience require the construction of such
sidewalks or curbs.
Whenever any such lands are unoccupied and the
owner cannot be found within the Township, the notice may be mailed,
postage prepaid, to his or her post office address if the same can
be ascertained, but in case the owner is a nonresident or his post
office address cannot be ascertained, then such notice shall be inserted
for four weeks, once a week, in the official newspaper of the Township.
In case the owner or occupant of such lands
shall not comply with the requirements of such notice, it shall thereupon
be lawful for the Township Manager, as the person in charge of the
Street Department of the Township, upon filing due proof of the service
or publication of the aforesaid notice with the Township Clerk, to
cause the required work to be done and paid for out of the municipal
funds available for that purpose; the cost of such work shall thereupon
be certified by the Township Manager to the Township Tax Collector,
and upon filing the certificate, the amount of the cost of such work
shall be and become a lien upon the abutting lands in front of which
said work was done to the same extent that assessments for local improvements
are liens in the Township under general law and shall be collected
in the manner provided by law for collection of such other assessments
and shall bear interest at the same rate.
In addition to the remedies specified above,
the Township may have an action to recover the amount against the
owner of the lands in any court having competent jurisdiction thereof,
and a certified copy of the aforesaid certificate shall in such action
be prima facie evidence of the existence of the debt due from the
owner to the Township.
All moneys recovered or paid to the Township
under the provisions of the foregoing sections shall be credited to
the account out of which the cost of such work was paid.
[Amended 6-22-1992 by Ord. No. 1992-5; 8-11-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-16]
All sidewalks or curbs shall be installed in accordance with the grades and specifications as to construction and materials prepared by the Township Engineer and approved by the Township Manager, and no person shall install any such public sidewalk or curb or repair, alter, or relay or maintain same except in accordance with such grades and specifications. Any owner or occupant of any property, whether occupied or unoccupied, failing to keep the sidewalks and curbs in front of such property in good repair shall be subject to the procedures of §
241-12 and N.J.S.A. 40:65-14, with respect to completion of repairs and maintenance and the charging of such work to the owner or occupant.