[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of River Vale 3-23-1989 as part of Ord. No. 0-7-89 (Ch. 43 of the 1967 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Junkyards — See Ch. 138.
Zoning — See Ch. 142, § 142-215 et seq.
Service stations — See Ch. 197.
Motor-driven vehicles — See Ch. 245.
This chapter shall be known as the "Junk Vehicle Law of the Township of River Vale."
A clean, wholesome, attractive environment is declared to be of importance to the health and safety of the inhabitants, and such an environment is deemed essential to the economy of the Township and the general welfare of its citizens. The unrestrained accumulation of motor vehicles not in operating condition is a hazard to such health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Township, necessitating the regulation and restraint thereof.
A. 
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
The Chief of Police of the Township, unless the Township Council, by resolution, designates some other Township official as "enforcement officer" or, by resolution, establishes the position of enforcement officer for the Township and appoints some qualified person thereto at a salary specified in such resolution.
JUNK VEHICLE
Any motor vehicle, whether automobile, bus, truck, tractor, mobile home, motorcycle, motorbicycle, minibicycle or snowmobile or any other contraption abandoned, stored, left or located by its owner or any other person on public or private property in the Township of River Vale.
(1) 
Any motor vehicle which is not registered for operation on the public highways and which has not been registered for the preceding 12 months or is in an unsafe condition as defined in N.J.S.A. 39:3-44 shall be defined as a "junk vehicle."
(2) 
For the purposes of this chapter, a motor vehicle registered as a farm vehicle or which is operable and used by the owner on his own property for the transport of wood, snowplowing or similar uses shall not be considered a "junk vehicle."
(3) 
For the purposes of this chapter, "abandoned," "stored" or "located" shall mean when the junk vehicle is visible from a public highway or a dwelling unit on a neighboring property.
LEGAL OCCUPANT
Any person who, singularly or together with other persons, is in possession of real property pursuant to an agreement with the owner thereof. The term shall include tenants, contract vendees and licensees.
OPEN STORAGE
Storage other than in a completely enclosed structure, such as a garage constructed of wood, brick and metal.
OWNER
A person owning real property in the Township. A parcel of real property owned by more than one person shall be considered as having each such person being an owner.
PARCEL OF PROPERTY
Real property appearing on the tax rolls of the Township as one unit.
PERSON
Includes natural persons, corporations, copartnerships, unincorporated associations or any other organization of one or more persons.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of River Vale and its officers and agents; also public and private areas within the Township.
B. 
The term "shall" is always mandatory. Words used in the singular shall include the plural and vice versa.
Open storage of one or more junk vehicles shall not be permitted on private or public property within the Township, except as permitted by this chapter.
A. 
Any person wishing to store or locate a junk vehicle on a parcel of property must first obtain a no-fee permit from the Township's enforcement officer allowing such storage.
B. 
That permit may be granted after an application has been made showing:
(1) 
The make, model and year of the vehicle.
(2) 
The name and address of the last registered owner and last registration plate number as issued by the appropriate Department of Motor Vehicles.
(3) 
The vehicle identification number.
(4) 
The nature of the applicants ownership or title to such vehicle.
(5) 
The purpose(s) for which the junk vehicle(s) are being stored or located.
C. 
Purposes for which junk vehicles can be stored or located are as follows:
(1) 
Antique or classic car restoration for vehicles 25 or more years old. A permit will be issued on an annual basis, renewable for a year at a time.
(2) 
Restoration. A permit will be issued for a one-year period, renewable for an additional one-year period. The renewal shall be granted only if the junk vehicle has been substantially improved since the issuance of the original permit.
(3) 
Removal of parts or components. A permit will be issued for a sixty-day period, renewable for one sixty-day period only.
(4) 
Permits shall not be granted under this chapter for a motor vehicle junk business or a motor vehicle junkyard. Such dealers must comply with the Township ordinance licensing and regulating motor vehicle junk businesses and motor vehicle junkyards (Chapter 138, Junkyards).
Any owner or occupant of a parcel of property in the Township who shall abandon, store, locate, leave or allow or condone any other person to abandon, store, locate or leave a junk vehicle upon a parcel of property owned or occupied by him within said Township contrary to the provisions hereof shall be guilty of a violation hereof. Any person, whether as owner or driver of a vehicle or an operator of a towing vehicle or carrier, who shall abandon, store, locate or leave a junk vehicle upon a parcel of property in the Township of which he is not either the owner or legal occupant, without the written permission of the legal occupant shall be guilty of a violation hereof.
A violation of this chapter shall be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article I, § 1-14. Each junk vehicle abandoned, stored, left or located in violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate violation. Each week of continuous violation shall constitute a separate and distinct violation.
In addition to the penalties set forth above, the Township may commence an action in its own name against any person in any civil court of competent jurisdiction to seek an injunction to enforce compliance with this chapter. Such an action for injunctive relief may be independent of or a part of an action to collect the civil penalties as hereinabove provided.
In addition to any penalty or fine as provided in § 241-7 hereof or the remedy provided in § 214-8 hereof, any junk vehicle may be removed from the premises upon which it is located by the Township in the manner hereinafter provided:
A. 
The enforcement officer, upon detecting a junk vehicle, shall serve written notice on the person owning the parcel of property on which the same is located, ordering such person to remove the same or cause the same to be removed therefrom within 30 days of the date of such service. Such notice shall contain a description of the parcel of property, a statement as to the location thereon of a junk vehicle and a reference to this chapter and to the fact that the location of such junk vehicle on such parcel of property is in violation of this chapter. If such parcel of property is owned by more than one person, personal service on any one of such owners shall suffice; however, as to any owner not personally served with such notice or if no owner can be located upon whom to make personal service, the enforcement officer shall mail such notice to the owners not personally served or to the owner and to all owners if no owner was personally served, by registered mail to their or his last known address as shown on the latest completed assessment roll of the town. In addition, the enforcement officer shall post conspicuously a copy of such notice on the parcel or property upon which said junk vehicle is located.
B. 
At the expiration of 30 days after the service or mailing and posting of such notice, if such junk vehicle has not been removed, the Township may cause such junk vehicle to be removed, and the cost of such removal shall be certified by the enforcement officer to the Collector of Taxes and shall thereupon become and be a lien upon the real property from which said junk vehicle was removed and shall be added to and form part of the taxes next to be assessed on said real property and shall be collected and enforced by the same office and in the same manner as taxes.
C. 
Any junk vehicle released to the Township by its owner shall be disposed of at a public auction to the highest bidder, and the proceeds shall be added to the general fund of the Township. Any junk vehicle released to the Township by the owner or legal occupant of the parcel of property from which it is removed, who is not the owner of the junk vehicle, shall be disposed of by the procedure set forth in Subsections A and B hereof. In the event that the junk vehicle is released to the Township by the owner or legal occupant of the parcel of property who is not the owner of the junk vehicle, there shall be no expense for the removal thereof chargeable to the person so releasing said junk vehicle.
The Township's enforcement officer or his designee shall have and is hereby given the authority to go upon any parcel of real property in the Township, public or private, exclusive of enclosed structures or buildings, at any time during daylight hours, to examine and inspect any vehicles or parts or components thereof to determine whether a violation of this chapter has been committed or to determine the condition of any vehicles or parts or components thereof. The officer shall notify the property owner, in writing, prior to the entering of such property.
Nothing herein contained shall be interpreted as amending or abrogating the effect or provisions of Chapter 142, Land Use, and Chapter 138, Junkyards, or any amendments to such chapters.