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Borough of Chester, NJ
Morris County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (25) Index Notes (1)
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Chester 4-3-1980 as Secs. 3-2, 3-3 and 3-4 of the 1980 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
DISORDERLY ASSEMBLAGE
Any two or more persons gathered together and acting in a boisterous, noisy, riotous, offensive, disorderly or threatening manner toward each other or others, or committing any act or acts which in any way breach or disturb the peace or trend to breach or disturb the peace.
DISORDERLY HOUSE
Any building or structure or any part thereof which is used for gambling or which is frequented by prostitutes, criminals, gamblers, vagrants or persons violating the law or in which the law is habitually violated.
HOUSE OF ILL FAME
Any building or structure or any part thereof in which prostitution, lewdness or other unlawful sexual acts are permitted.
PERSON, PERSONS, HIS OR HER
Construed wherever appropriate to the context, to include corporations. The singular number as used herein shall include the plural.
A. 
No person shall utter loud and offensive or profane or indecent language in any public street or other public place, public conveyance or place to which the public is invited.
B. 
No person in any place, public or private, shall:
(1) 
Address or make audible and offensive remarks to or concerning any passing person;
(2) 
Obstruct, molest, threaten, insult or interfere with any person lawfully therein; or
(3) 
Obstructs, molest, threaten, insult, annoy or interfere with any child while en route to or from school.
C. 
No person who telephones another shall address to such person any lewd, lascivious, indecent or disgusting remarks.
D. 
No person shall loiter upon any public thoroughfare or in any public place or in any automobile, bus or other public or private conveyance upon any public thoroughfare.
E. 
No person shall repeatedly telephone another for the purpose of annoying or molesting such person.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 116-2, Intoxicated persons, was repealed 8-5-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-16. This ordinance also renumbered the remaining sections of Ch. 116 consecutively.
A. 
No person shall make, continue or cause to be made or continued any unnecessary or unusual sound or noise which either annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of others unless the making and continuing of the same be necessary for the protection or preservation of property or of the health, safety, life or limb of some person or persons.
B. 
No person shall unnecessarily use the horn or other warning device of any vehicle so as to cause the same to emit an unreasonably loud or harsh noise, sound or whistle.
C. 
No person shall unnecessarily race the engine of any motor vehicle so as to cause the same to emit any unreasonable loud noise or sound.
D. 
No person shall intentionally and unnecessarily cause any motor vehicle to backfire.
E. 
It shall be unlawful for the operator of any motor vehicle to use or operate or cause to be used or operated, at any time on any road within the Borough, any mechanical exhaust or decompression system which results in the practice of engine braking. Engine braking is defined as the use or operation of any mechanical exhaust device designed to aid in the braking, decompression or deceleration of any motor vehicle which results in the excessive, loud, unusual or explosive noise from such vehicle. The specific prohibition set forth above shall not apply to engine braking where necessary for the protection of persons and/or property which cannot be reasonably avoided by the application of an alternative braking system.
[Added 10-5-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-31]
No persons shall, by noisy or disorderly conduct, disturb or interfere with the quiet or good order of any place of assembly, public or private, including schools, churches, libraries and reading rooms.
No persons shall interfere with, hinder, disturb or obstruct the proceedings, functions or deliberations of the Mayor and Council, the Board of Health, or any other official body of the Borough, nor shall any person molest, obstruct, hinder or interfere with any Borough officer or official engaged in the performance of his duty, or knowingly resist or oppose any person authorized by law to make arrests or to serve any writ, bill, order or process when the person so authorized is acting in the performance of his duty.
No person shall write or cause to be written any lewd, indecent or obscene word or words, mark or marks whatsoever, or draw or cause to be drawn any lewd, indecent or obscene figure upon any house, building, wall, fence or other place in the Borough.
No person shall practice prostitution, nor shall any person, by word, act, sign or any device, invite or solicit unlawful sexual intercourse or any other unlawful, indecent, lewd or lascivious act.
No person shall maintain or cause or permit to be maintained, a disorderly house or house of ill fame in any building or structure, or on any premises owned, occupied or controlled by him or her; nor shall any person permit any building or other structure, or any premises owned or occupied or controlled by him or her to be frequented or used by noisy, riotous or disorderly persons, or by prostitutes, gamblers or vagrants.
No person shall sell or offer to sell any lewd or indecent picture, book, device or thing, or exhibit or perform or cause to be exhibited or performed, any lewd, immoral or indecent dance, show, play or other presentation.
No person shall intentionally appear on any street, avenue, road, highway or other public place in a state of nudity, or make any indecent exposure of his or her person, or commit or cause to be committed, or participate in the commission of any lewd or indecent act or behavior.
No person shall commit an assault or an assault and battery.
No persons, two or more in number, shall fight together, or commit or attempt to commit assaults and batteries upon each other, either in public or in a private place, nor be present, aiding, assisting or abetting the same.
No person shall willfully engage in any fight, assault, quarrel, brawl, battery or altercation; nor shall any person participate in or incite by overt act or acts any disturbance or riot, or any unruly, boisterous, noisy, unlawful or disorderly assemblage constituting a breach or disturbance of the peace.
No person shall maliciously destroy, deface, damage or injure property, and where the damage does not exceed the sum of $200 any person violating this section may be adjudged a disorderly person.
No person, who being possessed of a dwelling house or other building, or part thereof, held for any term of years or other less term, or at will, or held over after the termination of any tenancy, shall unlawfully and maliciously:
A. 
Pull down or demolish or begin to pull down or demolish the same or any part thereof; or
B. 
Pull down or sever from the freehold any fixture fixed in or to such dwelling houses or building, or part thereof.
No person shall cast, shoot or throw anything at, against or into any vehicle, railroad car, airplane or other facility of transportation, or shall place any stick, stone or other substance upon any railroad track with intent to injure any car passing thereon, or the passenger therein.
No person shall place or throw or suffer or permit the depositing of any stone, sticks, glass, snow, or ice, or any hard, dangerous or offensive substance upon any street, avenue, road, highway or other public thoroughfare; nor shall any person throw any such object or substance at, upon or against any person, vehicle of transportation, building or other structure.
[Amended by Ord. No. 94-5; Ord. No. 94-9; Ord. No. 94-20]
A. 
Obstructing public place.
(1) 
No person shall obstruct any street, avenue, road, highway, alley or public place with any kind of vehicle or vehicles, or with box or boxes, lumber wood or any other thing.
(2) 
No person shall obstruct any public sidewalk, be it either brick, concrete, or any other material. All of the public sidewalks must be kept free of planters, benches, tables, chairs, furniture, or any other displayed merchandise.
(3) 
All public walkways in the shopping centers located in the B3 Zone shall maintain a minimum passage clearance width of eight feet.
(4) 
The Borough may place benches, planters, and/or trash receptacles for public use at appropriate locations notwithstanding provisions to the contrary herein.
(5) 
The Borough Police Department and/or the Zoning Officer are authorized to file complaints for violations of this chapter.
B. 
Exceptions.
(1) 
The provisions of this section shall not prevent persons who are building from occupying, until notified by any Borough official to cease such occupancy, 1/2 of the street in front of the place where they are so building, unless another person is building on the opposite side of the street, in which case neither shall occupy more than 1/4 of the street. No person who is building shall continue such occupancy of any street after notice from any Borough official or police officer to discontinue the same.
(2) 
The provisions of this section shall not prevent the issuance of a special business license pursuant to Chapter 178, Article I, of this Code, for up to two consecutive days at a limit of four per year, per business; or the issuance of a holiday weekend license pursuant to Chapter 178, Article II, of this Code. These licenses would permit a business to use balloons, streamers, flags, etc., to advertise such event. For these permitted events only, the sidewalks may be used as a display area, provided that there is a minimum of five feet unobstructed clearance maintained for pedestrian traffic, but in no case shall a display area cover more than 50% of the width of the total sidewalk. When, in the opinion of the Zoning Officer, such clearance is not adequate for pedestrian flow, the Zoning Officer shall designate more appropriate clearance.
[Amended 6-6-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-09]
C. 
The license fee for this one-day license shall be $20 per day, and the license so issued shall be valid for the date(s) endorsed upon the license.
D. 
No more than four of these licenses shall be issued per day.
No person shall:
A. 
Mutilate or remove any notice or damage, destroy or remove any warning sign or signal or remove any barricade placed or posted on any highway in connection with or relating to the closing of any road;
B. 
Drive any vehicle over or upon the closed portion of any highway; or
C. 
Violate any rule or regulation for the use of any highway.
[Amended 8-18-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-13]
A. 
No person shall throw, drop, dump on or tow to, or otherwise place on open fields, public property, or other private property, any abandoned personal property, automobile or mechanical parts, junk, paper, bottle, trash, garbage, refuse or debris of any nature.
B. 
No person shall keep or permit the keeping on streets, vacant lots or residential premises, except in a fully enclosed structure, any motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer which:
(1) 
Is missing tires, wheels, engine or any essential parts;
(2) 
Displays extensive body damage or deterioration;
(3) 
Does not display a current, valid state license and inspection sticker; or
(4) 
Is wrecked, disassembled or partly disassembled.
(5) 
Unregistered motor vehicles of any type or design.
(6) 
Buses.
(7) 
Trucks, tractors and commercial trailers, meaning every motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than part of the weight of the vehicles and load to be drawn.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 116-21, Littering, as amended, was repealed 8-18-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-13.
No person shall operate or cause to be operated, or shall attempt to operate or cause to be operated any automatic vending machine, slot machine, coin box, telephone or other receptacle designed to receive lawful coin of the United States of America in connection with the sale, use or enjoyment of property or service, by means of a slug or any false, counterfeited, mutilated, sweated or foreign coin, or by any means, method, trick or device not lawfully authorized by the owner, lessee or licensee of such machine, coin box telephone or receptacle; and no person shall take, obtain or receive from or in connection with any such automatic vending machine, slot machine, coin box telephone or other such receptacle, any goods, wares, merchandise, gas, electric current, article of value, or the use or enjoyment of any telephone or telegraph facilities or service, of any musical instrument, phonograph or other property or service without depositing in and surrendering to such machine, coin box telephone or receptacle lawful coin of the United States of America to the amount required therefor by the owner, lessee or licensee of such machine, coin box telephone or receptacle.
No person shall conduct himself or herself in or about the Borough having concealed upon him or her any picklock, key, crow, jack, bit or other implement with an intent to break or enter into any building or shall have upon him or her any pistol, hanger, cutlass, bludgeon or other offensive or dangerous weapon, nor shall any person be apprehended having upon him or her, whether concealed or not, any of the foregoing articles or things with the intent of committing any unlawful act, nor shall any person be found in or near any dwelling, house, warehouse, stable, barn, coachhouse, garage, smoke house or any place of public resort or assemblage for business, worship or amusement or other lawful purpose with intent to steal any goods or chattels; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to law officers and other persons duly authorized under certain statutes of this state to carry proper weapons of defense. Possession of any of the foregoing articles on public thoroughfares shall be prima facie evidence of such intent.
No person shall directly or indirectly, acting as agent or otherwise, sell, give or furnish to a minor under the age of 16 years, any cigarette made of tobacco or of any other matter or substance which can be smoked, or any cigarette paper or tobacco in any form. Any person violating this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100.
No person owning, keeping or having the management or control of any public dance hall where alcoholic beverages are sold or any tavern, whether licensed as such or not, or any agent or servant of such person, shall admit thereto or permit or suffer to be or remain therein any child under the age of 16 years unaccompanied by a parent, guardian or adult friend.
No person shall, by word, act or other means, willfully and maliciously give or cause to be given a false fire alarm or false police alarm.
No person shall fail to relinquish a telephone party line, consisting of a subscriber line telephone circuit with two or more main telephone stations connected therewith each having a distinctive ring or telephone number after he has been requested to do so to permit another to place a call, in an emergency in which property or human life are in jeopardy and the prompt summoning of aid is essential, to a fire or police department or for medical aid or ambulance services, and no person shall request the use of such a party line by falsely stating that the same is needed for any of said purposes knowing said statement to be false; provided such party line at the time of the request is not being used for any other emergency call.
No person shall have in his possession or custody any illegal lottery slips, books or records pertaining to a lottery, nor shall any person have in his possession or have in his automobile in his custody any ticket or tickets, slip or slips of paper, document or memoranda in any way pertaining to the business of a number game. "Number game" as used in this section means any betting on any number or numbers, or sets or arrangements of numbers; on or according to any plan or method whatsoever.
No person shall willfully or maliciously remove, deface or alter any notice posted pursuant to law and forbidding trespassing, with intent to destroy such notice. Any person violating this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $50 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both.
No person shall discard or abandon in any public or private place accessible to children, whether or not such children are trespassers, any refrigerator or icebox, having a capacity of 11/2 cubic feet or more, with an attached lid or door which may be opened and fastened shut by means of an attached latch, or being the owner, lessee or manager of such place, shall knowingly permit such abandoned or discarded refrigerator, icebox or chest to remain there in such condition. Any person violating this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $50 or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than five days, or by both.
All acts constituting lewd, immoral or indecent conduct, unlawful destruction of property, willful injuries to or unlawful interference with persons, hazards to the public health and breaches or disturbances of the peace not expressly hereinbefore mentioned are severally prohibited.
No person shall, in or about the Borough, play for money or other valuable thing at cards, dice or other game with one or more dice, or with any other instrument, engine or device in the nature of dice, having one or more figures or numbers, or at billiards, pool, tennis, bowls or shuffleboard, or A.B.C. or E.O. table, or other tables, or at faro bank, or other bank of a like nature by whatever name known, or with any slot machine or device in the nature of a slot machine, or with any other instrument, engine, apparatus or device having one or more figures or numbers thereon.
No person shall trespass upon the property of another without the permission of the owner, occupant or lessee of the property.
[Amended by Ord. No. 82-23; Ord. No. 88-19]
Nuisances, et al, on private property, quasi-public property or adjacent public property, snow removal. No person owning, leasing, occupying or operating any premises or any employee, servant or agent of such owner, lessor, occupier or operator shall:
A. 
Maintain or keep or allow to be kept a nuisance thereon or on adjacent private property, quasi-public property or public property. For the purposes of this section, the term "nuisance" is defined to mean any condition or use of premises or adjacent private, quasi-public or public property which is detrimental to the property of others, which causes or tends to cause an unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of other property in the neighborhood in which such premises are located or interferes with the use of adjacent public property, including but not limited to the keeping or the depositing on, over, or within premises or adjacent private quasi-public or public property of lumber, junk, trash, debris, water, snow or ice or abandoning or discarding same.
B. 
[1]Maintain or keep or allow to be kept any compost pile which is of such a nature as to spread or harbor disease, or attract rodents, vermin, or other disease carrying pests, animals or insects.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection B, regarding nonoperating vehicles, was repealed 8-18-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-13; said ordinance also redesignated former Subsections C through F as Subsections B through E, respectively.
C. 
Maintain or keep or allow to be kept refuse, garbage, septic or other deleterious material, unless such material is contained in containers or vessels which deny access to humans, flies, insects, rodents and animals and in no event for longer than 10 days.
D. 
Upon premises abutting or bordering upon the sidewalk and gutters in the public streets of the Borough, fail to remove all weeds and other impediments therefrom for a distance of three feet laterally on both sides of said sidewalks within seven days after written notice to remove the same.
(1) 
Written notice directing the removal of weeds and other impediments shall be given by or under the direction of the Borough Clerk, the head of the Police Department or the Health Officer, and shall identify the lands abutting or bordering upon the sidewalks and curbs as hereinbefore provided, and shall contain a short statement relating in detail and identifying the weeds or other impediments which are directed to be removed. The notice shall also contain a statement that the violation of the terms of this section is punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both.
(2) 
The notice may be served upon the owner or resident in the Borough in person or by leaving the same at their house or place of residence with a member of their family above the age of 14 years. In case any such owner shall not reside in the Borough, such notice may be served upon him personally or mailed to his last known post office address, or it may be served upon the occupant of the property, or upon the agent of the owner in charge thereof.
E. 
Upon premises abutting upon sidewalks in the public streets of the Borough, failure to remove all snow and ice from such sidewalks within 12 hours of daylight after the snow shall have stopped falling or after the ice shall have formed thereon.
[Added by Ord. No. 88-18]
A. 
Upon a declaration of a water emergency no persons shall willfully use water for nonessential purposes.
B. 
Nonessential purposes shall include lawn watering, car washing, garden watering, washing of exterior surfaces of buildings, filling or supplementing swimming pools and other outdoor water uses.
C. 
The Mayor and Council may declare a water emergency upon adoption of a resolution finding that rainfall in the preceding thirty-day period is less than 50% of the average rainfall for said period, or that there is evidence of a generalized reduction in available ground water throughout the Borough of Chester, or that other governmental authorities have determined that a water emergency exists, and upon publication of notice of adoption of said resolution in the official newspaper of the Borough of Chester.
D. 
Said declaration of emergency shall be effective 10 days after publication.
[Added by Ord. No. 97-10]
A. 
No person shall paint, mark or write on, or post or otherwise affix, any handbill or sign to any property owned by the Borough of Chester or upon the sidewalk, crosswalk, curb, curbstone, street lamppost, hydrant, tree, shrub, tree stake or guard, railroad trestle, electric light or power or telephone or telegraph or wire pole or wire appurtenance, or upon any fixture of the firm alarm or telegraph system, or upon any lighting system, public bridge, drinking fountain, street sign or traffic sign.
B. 
Any handbill or sign found posted, or otherwise affixed upon any public property contrary to the provisions of this section, may be removed by the Police Department, the Department of Public Works, or the Zoning Officer. The person responsible for any such illegal posting shall be liable for the cost incurred in its removal, and the Department of Public Works is authorized to collect the cost.
C. 
Nothing in this section shall apply to the installation of a metal plaque or plate, or individual letters or figures, in a sidewalk commemorating a historical, cultural, or artistic event, location or personality for which the Borough has granted a written permit.
D. 
Special occasion decorations. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Chester from placing special occasion decorations and/or seasonal secular decorations, or authorizing the same by nonprofit organizations, on and along the public streets of the Borough of Chester, subject to standards to be established by resolution of the governing body from time to time.
[Added 11-15-1999 by Ord. No. 99-10]
[Added by Ord. No. 2000-10]
A. 
No person shall conduct excavation, demolition, construction, repair or alteration work other than between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., and not on Sundays, except that a homeowner may conduct construction, repair or alteration work on his/her own dwelling or property between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
B. 
In the case of urgent necessity or in the interest of public health or safety, the Superintendent of Public Works, the Superintendent’s duly designated representative, or the Borough Administrator may grant a permit for excavation, demolition, construction, repair or alteration work for a period not to exceed three days, by the terms of which permit such work may be carried on specified hours between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Nothing herein shall alleviate a person from also obtaining all required permits from the Construction Department of the Borough of Chester for the work to be undertaken.
[Amended 11-20-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-21]
[Added 10-16-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-17; amended 7-18-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-05]
No person other than the homeowner shall conduct landscaping or lawn maintenance activities with engine-powered equipment other than between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. (Mondays through Fridays); 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (Saturdays); and 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. (Sundays).
[Added 11-20-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-21]
The day and hour restrictions set forth in §§ 116-37 and 116-38 of this chapter may be relaxed upon written request of a property owner to the governing body upon a finding that the waiver is in the best interests of the Borough. The property owner must set forth the specific nature of the regulated activity; the manner in which the activity is to be conducted; the specific dates and times of the proposed activity; those efforts to be undertaken to avoid or minimize public disturbances and inconveniences, including but not limited to noise, traffic, sidewalk obstruction, lights, and the like; and demonstrate that relaxation of the day and hour restrictions are in the best interests of the Borough. Decision by the governing body upon requests for waivers shall be made by resolution which may set forth terms and conditions of any waivers granted.
Except as otherwise provided herein, any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof be liable to the penalty stated in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article III, General Penalty.
All fines imposed and collected under and by virtue of this chapter shall be paid into the treasury of the Borough.