[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Essex Fells 10-3-1956 by Ord. No. 295 (Ch. 8.04 of the 1992 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
The following provisions shall constitute the Sanitary Code of the Borough.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:
BOARD
The Board of Health of the Borough.
CODE
The Sanitary Code of the Borough.
DEPUTY
The duly appointed Deputy Registrar of Vital Statistics of the Borough.
HEALTH OFFICER
The person duly appointed Health Officer of the Board of Health of the Borough.
HOUSE
Any building.
INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM
A subsurface sewage disposal system designed and constructed to treat sewage in a manner that will retain most of the settleable solids in a watertight tank and to discharge the liquid portion to an adequate disposal area.
INSPECTOR
The duly appointed Inspector or the duly appointed Deputy Inspector.
PERSON
Any individual, copartnership, association, corporation, firm or joint-stock company.
REGISTRAR
The duly appointed Registrar of Vital Statistics of the Borough.
STATE DEPARTMENT
The New Jersey State Department of Health.
A. 
The Board shall appoint a Registrar of Vital Statistics, whose term of office shall be three years and until his successor has been appointed and qualified. If the Registrar appointed by the Board and approved by the State Department is the Clerk of the Board, his term of office shall be concurrent with his term of office as Clerk, and he shall be subject to all the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics.
B. 
The Registrar shall immediately upon his acceptance of his appointment and its approval by the State Department appoint a deputy whose duty it shall be to act in his stead in case of his absence or disability.
C. 
The Registrar and the Deputy Registrar shall receive such compensation for their services as is fixed by resolution of the Board.
D. 
It shall be the duty of the Registrar, in addition to other duties imposed upon him by the Board, to receive and transmit to the Director of Health of the State of New Jersey certificates of births, marriages and deaths now required by law to be made. In the case of any decedent who is a resident of some other state or municipality than that in which the death occurred, the Registrar shall transmit forthwith a copy of the death certificate to the Registrar of the place of usual abode of such person; the birth of any child of nonresident parents shall in like manner be reported to the Registrar of the state or municipality of the place of usual abode of the parents of the child.
E. 
The Registrar shall, in addition to transmitting to the Director of Health all certificates of marriages, births and deaths received by him, report the same to the local Board at least once in each month.
F. 
The returns of all marriages, births and deaths required by law, or by any ordinance, resolution or code of the Board, by any person so required, shall be made to the Registrar within the time specified by law.
A. 
The Board shall annually appoint a Clerk, who, in addition to performing the clerical and secretarial work of the Board, shall perform such other services as are required by resolution of the Board.
B. 
The compensation of the Clerk of the Board shall be fixed by resolution of the Board.
A. 
The Board shall appoint a Health Officer, to serve during the pleasure of the Board and until his successor is appointed, and he shall, during the term of his appointment and subject to the authority of the Board, be its general agent for the enforcement of its ordinances and codes and the sanitary laws of the state within the Borough.
B. 
The compensation of the Health Officer shall be fixed by the Board by resolution.
No person shall commit, maintain or allow any of the following, which are declared to be a nuisance:
A. 
Any condition or act which is or may become detrimental or a nuisance to the inhabitants of the Borough.
B. 
Any condition or act which is or may become an annoyance or interfere with the comfort or general well-being of the inhabitants of the Borough.
C. 
The discharge of any excremental matter over or onto the surface of the ground from a privy, privy vault, individual sewage disposal system or any other source.
D. 
Pollution or existence of a condition or conditions which cause or threaten pollution of any waters in the Borough in such a manner as to cause or threaten injury to any of the inhabitants of the Borough, their health, comfort or property.
E. 
The escape into the open air from any stack, vent, chimney or other opening or from any fire in the open of such quantity of smoke, fly ash, dust, fumes, vapors, mist or gases which cause or may cause injury, detriment, or annoyance to the inhabitants of the Borough or endanger their health or safety.
F. 
The maintenance or existence of any pool, pond, ditch, stream or other body of water, or any receptacle containing water or other liquid in which mosquito larvae may breed or exist.
G. 
The maintenance of or any accumulation of garbage, refuse or decomposable animal or vegetable matter which may attract flies and to which flies have access or in which fly larvae or pupae may breed or exist.
H. 
Depositing, maintaining any structure or accumulation of material or maintaining any animal, vegetable or other material which serves or may serve as food for insects or rodents and to which they may have access or which may serve or constitute a breeding place or harborage for insects or rodents in or on any land, premises, building or other place.
No person shall permit any human excrement, or material containing human excrement, to be and remain on the surface of the ground, nor deposit, or otherwise dispose of, any such excrement or material or store the same in any manner or place where it can gain access to any stream, well, lake, pond, spring, or other source of water which is, or may be used as, a source of public potable water supply; provided, however, that this regulation shall not apply to effluents from sewage disposal plants which have been, or hereafter may be, approved by the State Department.
A. 
No person shall maintain any supply of water used for drinking or household purposes which is polluted, contaminated or impure or is derived from a source which may become polluted, contaminated or impure.
B. 
No private water supply system shall hereafter be placed in service until the Board has certified that it is in compliance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 58:11-23 et seq., as the same may now or hereafter be amended or supplemented, and the standards for construction of such water supply promulgated by the State Department of Health.
A. 
No person shall maintain or permit to be maintained any building or room in such a condition of uncleanliness, or such a crowded condition, as to endanger the health of the occupants thereof.
B. 
No building or part of a building shall be occupied as a residence which:
(1) 
Is not adequately and properly ventilated;
(2) 
Is not provided with an approved potable water supply;
(3) 
Does not have adequate plumbing facilities;
(4) 
Is not connected to an approved sewerage system.
A. 
No person shall locate, construct or alter any individual sewage disposal system until a permit for such location, construction, or alteration has been issued by the Board. Such permit shall not be issued until a properly executed application has been submitted indicating that the proposed individual sewage disposal system will be in compliance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 58:11-23 et seq., as the same may now or hereafter be amended or supplemented, and the standards of construction of such sewerage facilities promulgated by the State Department of Health.
B. 
The provisions of this Code shall not be applied to individual sewage disposal systems in existence at the time of its adoption. However, any replacement, repair, extension or alteration of any portions of any unit or units of such system shall be made in accordance with the applicable provisions of the aforesaid standard for construction promulgated by the State Department of Health under the provisions of N.J.S.A. 58:11-23 et seq., as the same may now or hereafter be amended or supplemented.
C. 
Individual sewerage disposal systems shall not be placed in service until the Board or its authorized agent has certified that the disposal system has been constructed in compliance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 58:11-23 et seq., as the same may now or hereafter be amended or supplemented, and the standards for construction of such sewage facilities promulgated by the State Department of Health. The Borough Clerk or other designated official of the Borough who is responsible for the issuance of occupancy permits shall be furnished with the original certificate if the individual sewage disposal system will serve a new building and a copy of the certificate if it relates to an addition or alteration to an existing sewage disposal facility.
Any existing individual sewage disposal system found upon inspection by an inspector to be defective or inadequate shall, upon written notice from the inspector to the owner, be corrected to comply with the provisions of this Code within the time specified in the notice.
Septic tanks shall be emptied by the occupant or owner of the premises served by such tank when, in the judgment of the Board, such emptying becomes necessary in the interests of the health of the community. Upon failure to empty a septic tank within the time specified in a written notice from the Board, the Board shall cause the work to be done, and the cost shall be charged to the property upon which such septic tank is located.
Temporary privy vaults may be constructed for use during any new construction. The hole in the ground must be at least three feet deep and the contents covered with chlorinated lime and earth at least twice each week. The vault must be maintained in a manner and condition satisfactory to the Board and in such fashion that flies cannot gain access to the excremental matter. The contents of the vault shall be completely covered with chlorinated lime and the hole filled with earth to grade immediately upon completion of the construction during the course of which the temporary vault was used.
All owners of improved property along the line of the sanitary sewage system of the Borough or to which the sanitary sewage system of the Borough is available shall connect to such sanitary sewer all houses on the property used for human habitation.
A. 
No garbage, ashes, refuse or other matter or material which is or may become offensive or inimical to health may be conveyed through the streets of Essex Fells by any person who has not first obtained a license from the Board for that purpose.
B. 
All persons required to obtain a license shall make written application to the Board stating the nature of the business they intend to conduct, the number and kind of vehicles to be used in such business, and the disposition to be made of the material they may remove, collect or convey. They shall give such other information as the Board may from time to time require. In case application is approved the Board shall, at a regular meeting, issue a license for one year upon receipt of a license fee of $3 for the current year. Such license may be revoked at any time by the Board if, in its judgment, the licensee has violated any provisions of this section or any rule, regulation or order of the Board relating to the licensee's conduct of his business.
C. 
All vehicles or receptacles used under any license from the Board shall be so constructed, equipped, operated and controlled as to prevent the spilling, falling or other dispersal of the materials transported upon or in the streets and highways of the Borough or the private properties abutting thereon. All vehicles or receptacles used under any license from the Board shall be kept clean and inoffensive.
D. 
None of the materials collected, conveyed or handled under a license provided for in this section shall be disposed of within the Borough.
All garbage, refuse, ashes, or other similar material which accumulates anywhere in the Borough shall be kept or stored in watertight iron or steel receptacles with tightly fitting covers.
[Amended 12-20-1994 by Ord. No. 94-635]
No person shall keep chickens, ducks, goats or any similar animal of a barnyard variety or swine, cattle, horses or any other such large animal within the Borough.
[Amended 12-5-1956 by Ord. No. 296]
A. 
The control of communicable diseases in Essex Fells shall be conducted as specified in Chapter II of the Sanitary Code of the Department of Health of the State of New Jersey enacted June 22, 1953, as the same may now or hereafter be amended or supplemented. In addition, in any case of chicken pox, German measles or mumps, the following isolation periods shall be imposed:
Disease
Isolation of Patients
Chicken pox
Until 7 days after the appearance of rash
German measles
Until 5 days after the appearance of rash
Mumps
Until 7 days after onset and all swelling of the salivary glands has subsided
B. 
Quarantine of contacts shall be at the direction of the Board or its representative.
Whenever a person infected with active tuberculosis moves out of a dwelling, the attendant or active head of the family shall so notify the Board within 24 hours.
A. 
The sale or exposure for sale of any article of food that in the judgment of the Board is detrimental to the health of the citizens of the Borough is prohibited.
B. 
No person shall manufacture, sell or offer for sale any food or drink for human use which has been exposed to any communicable disease; which is unfit, unwholesome, impure, decayed, diseased or mislabeled or adulterated, according to the meaning of the laws of the state or of the United States of America; or which contains or has been exposed to any injurious contamination.
It is the duty of all persons owning or having an interest in or having in their possession or under their control or having knowledge of any dog, cat or other animal affected with rabies, or suspected of being affected with rabies, forthwith to notify the person designated by the Board to receive such reports by telephone, telegraph or in person, and also in writing, signed by the person making the same, stating where the animal may be found and, if possible, a description of the animal, the location of the animal, and the name and address of the owner.
[Amended 11-17-1992 by Ord. No. 92-602]
A. 
No person, firm or corporation in the Borough shall own, possess, harbor, feed or have in custody any dog or cat over four months of age unless such dog or cat has been vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian with a vaccine approved by the New Jersey State Department of Health. Such vaccination shall be repeated as specified by the guidelines or directives issued by the New Jersey State Department of Health to maintain a continuous current duration of immunity.
B. 
The person, firm or corporation owning, harboring, feeding or having custody of said dog or cat shall obtain from the veterinarian who vaccinated the dog or cat against rabies a certificate of rabies vaccination for each individual dog or cat. The person, firm or corporation shall maintain in its possession such certificate of rabies vaccination and shall produce such certificate of rabies vaccination upon the request of the Health Officer or a member of the Police Department of the Borough of Essex Fells. A person, firm or corporation shall produce to the Borough Clerk or his agent such certificate of rabies vaccination for inspection prior to the annual licensing of dogs who are six months of age or older.
A. 
Every animal which shows symptoms of rabies shall be securely confined until a diagnosis satisfactory to the Board is made. Should it be demonstrated that the animal is suffering from rabies, it shall be destroyed at once as directed by the Board, and the head of the animal shall be sent to the State Department of Health.
B. 
Any animal which has been bitten by an animal known to be affected by rabies shall be securely confined for a period of not less than six months from the date bitten or shall be destroyed as directed by the Board. The body of any animal that has died of rabies or that has been killed because it had rabies shall be disposed of as may be directed by the Board. Any animal known to have bitten another animal or a person shall be securely confined for a period of not less than 10 days and observed for symptoms of rabies.
C. 
The Borough or the Board or State Department of Health shall not be liable for the value of any animal so destroyed.
D. 
No person shall destroy, sell, move or otherwise dispose of any animal under observation as provided in this section without a permit from the Board.
A. 
All buses, taxis, or other public conveyances operated in the Borough shall be kept in a clean and sanitary condition.
B. 
Owners and operators of all buses, taxis, or other public conveyances shall be responsible at all times for the condition of said vehicles.
Burial, disinterment or removal permits shall be issued by the Registrar of Vital Statistics of the Borough in accordance with the Revised Statutes of the state as the same may now or hereafter be amended or supplemented, upon application and payment of the prescribed fees.
[Amended 5-27-1969 by Ord. No. 380]
A. 
For the purposes of this Code, "milk and milk products" includes all products made from milk, either powdered, solid, liquid or frozen.
B. 
No milk or milk products shall be sold or offered for sale or distributed in the Borough unless the seller has first obtained a permit from the Board. This permit or permits shall be displayed prominently on each vehicle delivering milk or milk products in the Borough, and one permit shall be obtained for each vehicle. The annual fee for each permit shall be $3 payable to the Board of Health at the time of the issuance of the permit. All permits expire December 31 and must be renewed for the succeeding year prior to that date and the new permit displayed on the vehicle on January 1, next succeeding year.
C. 
No milk or milk products shall be sold or offered for sale or distributed in the Borough unless they have been pasteurized.
D. 
No milk or milk products shall be sold or offered for sale or distributed in the Borough which do not meet the requirements set forth in Chapter 7 of the New Jersey State Sanitary Code dated June 22, 1953, as the same may now or hereafter be amended or supplemented.
E. 
The Board shall have the right to purchase or otherwise acquire samples of all milk or milk products offered for distribution or sale in the Borough at such times as the Board sees fit and may appoint members of the Police Department or authorize persons to carry out this chapter.
F. 
All samples collected shall be analyzed and judged according to minimum standards set by the State Department of Health. Failure to meet these standards may result in the loss of license to distribute milk or milk products in the Borough and subject to such penalties as provided in § 215-29.
A. 
All swimming pools shall be properly equipped with filtering or clarifying devices so that the water of such pools shall be continuously and regularly filtered and clarified and kept at all times in a sanitary condition for bathing purposes. The Board of Health may from time to time adopt chemical and bacterial standards for such pools and require methods of chlorination or disinfection.
B. 
Samples of pool water taken for analyses shall be collected at least twice monthly, at both ends of the pool during periods of heavy bathing load.
C. 
Not more than 10% of samples taken over a period of 31 days shall contain more than 1,000 bacteria per milliliter. No single sample shall contain more than 5,000 bacteria per milliliter. (Bacteria count on agar or litmus lactose agar 24 hours, 35° C.)
D. 
Not more than two out of five samples collected on the same day, not more than three out of 10 consecutive samples collected on different dates, shall show a positive presumptive test for Bacillus coli.
E. 
When chlorine is made use of, the amount of available or excess chlorine in the water at all times when the pool is in use shall be not less than 0.4 parts per million.
F. 
Reports of all analyses shall be forwarded to the Board of Health.
G. 
The above regulations apply to pools other than those maintained by any individual upon any premises for his own or his family's use, or guests of his household, but are recommended for all pools.
Duly authenticated members, officials, employees, or agents of the Board shall have the right to enter in and upon any premises at any reasonable hour of the day to ascertain or determine whether the provisions of this Code are being observed and for the purpose of quarantine, isolation, inspection, and all other matters pertinent to any of the provisions of this Code, or of other ordinances or resolutions of the Board, and which of necessity require entrance upon private property.
[1]
Editor's Note: Except for emergency situations or where consent has been obtained, entrance upon residential property and the nonpublic portions of commercial property must be pursuant to a search warrant. See v. Seattle, 387 U.S. 541 (1967), and Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523 (1967). Absent an emergency or warrant, the property owner has the right to refuse entry and cannot be punished for doing so.
[Amended 12-5-1956 by Ord. No. 296[1]]
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, Article III, General Penalty. Each day that a violation continues shall be considered as a separate offense.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).