Borough of Highland Park, NJ Drug-Free Zones

In accordance with and pursuant to the authority of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7 and N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1, the Drug-Free Zone Map produced on or about July 1, 2016, by David J. Samuel, PE, Borough Engineer, is hereby approved and adopted as an official finding and record of the location and areas within the municipality of property which is used for school purposes and which is owned 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, and of property comprising a public housing facility, a public park, or a public building, and of the areas on or within 500 feet of such public property.

§ 169-2 Location and boundaries of school property.

The drug-free school zone map approved and adopted pursuant to § 169-1 of this article shall continue to contribute an official finding and record as to the location 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 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 school property and drug-free school zones.

§ 169-3 Notification of changes in locations and boundaries.

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 Borough Engineer and the Borough 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.

§ 169-4 Copies of map on file.

The Borough Clerk is hereby directed to receive and to keep on file the original of the map approved and adopted pursuant to § 169-1 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 County Clerk and to the Office of the Middlesex County Prosecutor.

§ 169-5 Map to be used as evidence.

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

It is understood that the map approved and adopted pursuant to § 169-1 of this article was prepared and is intended to be used as evidence in prosecutions arising under the criminal laws of this state, and that pursuant to state law, such map 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; and

(5)

The location and boundaries of areas which are on or within 500 feet of real property comprising a public housing facility, a public park, or a public building, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1.

Except as is otherwise expressly noted on the face of the approved map, all of the property depicted on the map approved and adopted herein as school property was owned by or leased to a school or school board and was being used for school purposes as of July 9, 1987, that being the effective date of L. 1987, c. 101 (N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7).

Pursuant to the provisions of L. 1988, c. 44, a prosecutor is not precluded from introducing or relying upon any other evidence or testimony to establish a violation of the offense defined in the statute, including use of a map or diagram other than the one approved and adopted pursuant to § 169-1 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 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.

All of the requirements set forth in L. 1988, c. 44 concerning the preparation, approval and adoption of a drug-free school zone map have been complied with.