[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough of Rutherford
Council 4-7-1959 by Ord. No. 1769. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Clean environment — See Ch. 21.
Commercial property maintenance — See Ch. 21A.
Garbage, rubbish and refuse — See Ch. 40.
Deposit and removal of materials — See Ch. 56.
Health nuisances — See Ch. 64.
Feeding of pigeons — See Ch.
72.
Litter in playgrounds and recreation areas — See Ch. 73.
Property maintenance — See Ch. 78.
Sanitary Code — See Ch. 89.
Shopping carts — See Ch. 96.
Water pollution — See Ch. 129.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Anti-Litter Ordinance."
[Amended 8-18-2020 by Ord. No. 3531-20]
For the purposes of this chapter, the following
terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning
stated herein unless their use in the text of this chapter clearly
demonstrates a different meaning. When not inconsistent with the context,
words used in the present tense include the future, words used in
the plural number include the singular number, and words used in the
singular number include the plural number. The word "shall" is always
mandatory and not merely directory.
A litter storage and collection receptacle required by the
borough.
The Borough of Rutherford.
Putrescible animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the
handling preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
Any used or unconsumed substance or waste material which
has been discarded, whether made of aluminum, glass, plastic, rubber,
paper, or other natural or synthetic material, or any combination
thereof, including, but not limited to, any bottle, jar or can, or
any top, cap or detachable tab of any bottle, jar or can, any unlighted
cigarette, cigar, match or any flaming or glowing material or any
garbage, trash, refuse, debris, rubbish, grass clippings or other
lawn or garden waste, newspapers, magazines, glass, metal, plastic
or paper containers or other packaging or construction material; but
does not include the waste of the primary processes of mining or other
extraction processes, logging, sawmilling, farming or manufacturing.
[Amended 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 3140-07]
A container suitable for the depositing of litter.
[Added 8-18-2020 by Ord. No. 3531-20]
A park, playground, recreation center or any other public
area owned or used by the borough and devoted to active or passive
recreation.
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation,
company or organization of any kind.
Any dwelling, house, building or other structure designated
or used either wholly or in part for private residential purpose,
whether inhabited or continuously uninhabited or vacant, and shall
include any yard, grounds, walk, driveway, porch, steps or vestibule
belonging or appurtenant to such dwelling house, building or other
structure.
Any street, road, highway, boulevard, alley, curb, sidewalk,
or other public way, any and all public parks, fields, squares, spaces,
grounds, memorials, or buildings, and any public watercourse or water
source of any kind, including fountains, rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands,
drainage ditches, or skating rinks.
[Amended 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 3140-07]
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes (except body
waste), including garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead
animals, abandoned automobiles and solid market and industrial wastes.
Nonputrescible solid waste consisting of both combustible
and noncombustible wastes, such as paper, wrappings, cigarettes, cardboard,
tin cans, yard clippings, leaves, wood, glass, bedding, crockery and
similar materials.
A contrivance of baskets, mounted on wheels and propelled
by hand, provided by stores or other business establishments for the
convenience of their customers in the carrying of packages, bags or
other receptacles.
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property
is or may be transported or drawn upon a street or highway.
[Amended 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 3140-07]
No person shall throw, sweep into or deposit
litter, refuse, rubbish, or garbage of any kind into any gutter, street,
waterway, or other public place. It shall be unlawful for any person
to throw, drop, discard or otherwise place any litter of any nature
upon public or private property other than in a litter receptacle,
or having done so, to allow such litter to remain. Persons owning
or occupying property shall keep the sidewalks in front of the premises
free of litter.[1]
Any shopping cart found upon a street or other
public place may be removed by the borough from whom it may be redeemed
by the owner upon payment to the Clerk of the Municipal Court on behalf
of the borough of a fee of $2.
[Added 8-18-2020 by Ord. No. 3531-20]
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, drop, discard or otherwise
place any litter of any nature upon public or private property other
than in a litter receptacle, or having done so, to allow such litter
to remain.
B.
Whenever any litter is thrown or discarded or allowed to fall from
a vehicle or boat in violation of this ordinance, the operator or
owner, or both, of the motor vehicle or boat shall also be deemed
to have violated this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 53-5, Deposit
of refuse prohibited; exception, was repealed 8-28-2007 by Ord. No.
3140-07.
[Amended 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 3140-07]
No person while a driver or a passenger in a
vehicle shall throw or deposit litter upon any street, public place,
or upon private property. Whenever any litter is thrown or discarded
or allowed to fall from any vehicle in violation of this chapter,
the operator or owner, or both, of the motor vehicle shall also be
deemed to have violated this chapter.
No person shall load, drive or move any truck
or other vehicle unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded as
to prevent any load, contents or litter from being blown or deposited
upon any street or other public place, nor shall any person drive
or move any vehicle or truck, the wheels or tires of which carry onto
or deposit in any street or other public place, mud, dirt, sticky
substance, litter or foreign matter of any kind.
[Amended 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 3140-07]
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any
water source, fountain, stream, river, skating rink, or other body
of water within the Borough. Whenever any litter is thrown or discarded
or allowed to fall from any boat or watercraft in violation of this
chapter, the operator or owner, or both, of the boat or watercraft
shall also be deemed to have violated this chapter.
No person shall post or affix any notice, poster
or other paper or device, calculated to attract the attention of the
public, to any lamppost, public utility pole, traffic sign, parking
meter or shade tree or upon any public structure or building, except
as may be authorized by law.
No person shall affix or place any notice or
other paper for a commercial purpose on any vehicle parked or standing
in a street or other public place, except as may be authorized by
law.
No person shall throw or deposit litter on any
occupied or vacant private property whether owned by such person or
not; provided, however, that the owner or person in control of private
property may maintain private receptacles for the collection of litter.
[Amended 4-5-1988 by Ord. No. 2496-88; 11-1-1988 by Ord. No. 2520-88]
Any person violating any of the provisions of
this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine
not exceeding $1,000 and, in default of payment thereof, may be sentenced
to imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days;
or shall be subject to a period of community service not exceeding
90 days.
[Added 8-28-2007 by Ord. No. 3140-07]
This chapter shall be enforced by the Borough
of Rutherford Building Department. The Borough Construction Official
or his or her duly authorized designees are hereby designated and
authorized as the enforcement officers of this chapter. They are authorized
to establish reasonable regulations providing for warning for the
improper disposal of materials, and enforcement thereafter by issuance
of summonses for violation of this chapter. Any such regulations shall
be approved by the Borough Administrator.
[Added 8-18-2020 by Ord. No. 3531-20]
Each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase of this
chapter is declared to be an independent section, subsection, sentence,
clause and phrase, and the finding or holding of any such portion
of this chapter to be unconstitutional, void, or ineffective for any
cause, or reason, shall not affect any other portion of this chapter.
