[Adopted by Ord. No. 86-21 (Sec. 12-1 of the 1975 Code)]
[Amended by Ord. No. 2002-5]
A. No person, firm, corporation or partnership shall
tear up, excavate, open, perform work of any other nature on any road
or street under the control of the Township of Lower without first
having obtained and being in possession of a valid permit to do such
work issued by the Township Clerk's office with approval of the Director
of Public Works and paying a fee of $10 per square yard; the minimum
permit fee shall be $10; maximum of $50 to be opened and after posting
a sufficient security. The Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority
shall be exempt from the payment of the fees set forth herein for
repair and maintenance of the LTMUA water and sewer system. All other
fees and provisions of this section shall apply.
[Amended 10-3-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-21]
B. Any permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall become
null and void unless work is commenced pursuant to the permit, within
six months of issuance of said permit, unless the applicant has sought
and received an extension from the Director of Public Works for commencement
of the work.
C. In addition to obtaining a permit from the Township
as outlined above, the applicant must likewise, where required by
law, obtain all necessary permits or licenses from the public utilities
whose lines, property or equipment may be affected by the opening,
excavation or construction.
D. Subsequent to acquiring the necessary permits, the
applicants must give 24 hours notice to the public work's office before
commencement of any street opening, excavation or construction.
All applicants for a road opening, excavation
or construction shall prepare and file with the Township Clerk an
application obtained from the Clerk's office for review and approval
of the Director of Public Works. The application shall be accompanied
by a plan or drawing describing the portion of the road or street
to be opened or excavated, indicating the dimensions of the opening,
the purpose for the opening, and the expected duration of the opening
or excavation.
[Amended by Ord. No. 95-5; Ord. No. 2002-5]
A. Every application shall be accompanied by a maintenance
bond in the amount of $85 per square yard of excavation or construction.
If no bond is provided, a certified check payable to the Township
or a cash deposit in the same amount or a minimum of $700 shall be
provided with the application.
B. A public utility company or construction company,
in lieu of giving a separate bond for each project, may annually once
in January of each year post a bond for $10,000 to cover the work
performed by said company during the ensuing calendar year. In the
event that construction, excavation or road openings exceed the posted
bond amount, additional bonds and/or cash security will be required.
C. The purpose of depositing the maintenance bond, surety
bond or cash is to guarantee to the Township of Lower that any construction,
excavation or road opening will be performed and completed in an acceptable
fashion consistent with the provisions of this article. In the event
that the Township Director of Public Works determines that the excavation,
construction or restoration and refilling has not been performed consistent
with the requirements of this article, he shall be entitled, after
reasonable notice to the applicant to correct such deficiencies, to
take the maintenance bond, surety bond or cash posted by the applicant
and utilize it to correct any deficiencies and have the area restored
to its proper condition.
[Adopted by Ord. No. 98-6 (Sec. 12-2 of the 1975 Code)]
In any public street, highway, avenue, alley
and lane in the Township, curbs and sidewalks shall be set or reset,
laid, relaid, altered, repaired and maintained at the expense of the
abutting property owner, except as otherwise set forth herein.
A. Sidewalk construction or reconstruction may be paid
for wholly from governmental funds rather than at the cost of the
adjoining property owner only in areas of the Township designated
and approved for a rehabilitation project wholly funded by governmental
agencies other than the Township and involving construction or reconstruction
of all surface improvements in one or more contiguous Township blocks.
Such a construction or reconstruction project shall be so funded as
to not involve any direct cost to municipal taxpayers as a general
municipal improvement and shall be designated by the Township Engineer
as required in connection with securing uniformity of appearance,
ease of construction and related considerations involving the satisfactory
completion of such a rehabilitation project.
B. The Township Council may also provide for the repair
or reconstruction of sidewalks on the streets or roads of the Township
at public expense in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40:65-9.1 et seq. upon
the following conditions being satisfied:
(1) When any sidewalk, previously constructed or reconstructed
as a local improvement, is dilapidated or in need of repair or reconstruction,
and where such condition is not attributable to the acts or negligence
of the abutting property owner or his predecessor in title nor of
anyone for whose acts or negligence the property owner is chargeable;
and
(2) When the abutting property owner or his predecessor
in title shall have paid within 20 years then past, or shall pay in
full with interest, all the assessment for the laying or relaying
of the sidewalk in front of his property (to the extent that installments
on such assessments are then due); and
(3) The authority for such repair or reconstruction is
approved by resolution by at least 2/3 of the entire membership
of the Township Council reciting that such repairs or reconstruction
of the sidewalk is in the best interest of the residents of the Township.
Whenever a property owner desires that any curb
or sidewalk in a public street, highway, avenue, alley or lane be
set, reset, laid, relaid, altered or repaired in the Township, application
by the owner of the abutting land or his contractor for a permit shall
first be made to the Township specifying the grade, dimensions, mix,
materials and the method of construction or repair to be used. The
Township, or such officer or agent as the Township delegates, shall
examine the specifications and register its approval or disapproval.
Upon approval, a permit shall be issued. All work shall be done in
strict compliance with such specifications, failing which, appropriate
actions shall be taken by the Township.
Whenever the Township Council deems it necessary
for the construction, repair, alteration or relaying of any curb or
sidewalk in the Township, it shall by resolution specify the improvements
to be made. After the resolution has been adopted by the Township
Council, written notice shall be served upon the owners of the lands
abutting the public street, highway, avenue, alley or lane requiring
the necessary specified work on the curbs or sidewalks to be done
by such property owner within a period of not less than 30 days from
the date of service of the notice.
A. If the owner of the land is a nonresident of the Township,
the notice may be served upon him personally, or upon his agent in
charge of the property, or upon the occupant thereof, or mailed to
the nonresident owner at his last known post office address.
B. If the owner is unknown or if, for any reason, service
cannot be made as set forth in this section, the notice shall be published
in a newspaper circulating in the Township, at least once and not
less than 30 days before the improvement is made by the Township.
Notices to the owner or owners of several distinct parcels of real
estate may be inserted in the same publication.
C. The notice may be served upon all owners of property
residing in the Township personally, or by leaving the notice at their
usual place of residence with a member of the family above the age
of 14 years. In the case of infants and incompetents, such notice
shall be served upon their guardians, when real estate is held in
trust, upon the trustee; when real estate is held by joint tenants,
tenants in common, or by the entirety, upon any one such tenant.
D. Proof by affidavit of service of such notices shall
be filed within 10 days after service with the Tax Collector, but
failure to file such proofs shall not invalidate the proceedings if
service has been made in accordance with the procedures set forth
in this section.
If the condition of a sidewalk or curb becomes
such that it is hazardous to public safety, then at his discretion,
the Township Manager may order the hazard to be abated, requiring
the abatement to be effected immediately.
If any street, parkway or public highway to
be improved is under the control of any Cape May County board or commission,
the approval of the appropriate county body of the plans of improvement
shall be obtained before such improvement is begun. The cost of such
improvements shall also be assessed upon the real estate abutting
the improvements, to the extent of the benefits received, in the same
manner as set forth in the previous sections for sidewalk improvements.
The Township Council may, in each year, include
in its budget or annual tax ordinance an appropriation for curb or
sidewalk repairs, in addition to any existing general public works
maintenance fund, out of which appropriation the cost of construction
or repair of curbs and sidewalks during the year may be charged when
it becomes necessary for the Township to make repairs or construction.
All monies recovered or paid to the Township under the provisions
of this section shall be credited to the account out of which the
work was paid for.