[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee (now Township Council) of the Township of Greenwich 5-5-1969. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 140.
Property maintenance — See Ch. 520.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CHATTEL
Includes vehicles, iceboxes, refrigerators, sinks, stoves, tanks, plumbing fixtures, machinery, appliances and articles or objects of a similar nature.
JUNK AUTOMOBILE or JUNK AUTOMOBILE BODY
Any automobile or motor vehicle which is no longer in actual use as a motor vehicle, or which would be unfit, without rebuilding or reconditioning, for use upon the highway, or which has been discarded for use as a motor vehicle.
VEHICLE
Includes every device in, upon or by which a person or property is or may be transported, except a device used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
[Amended 4-15-1991 by Ord. No. 6-1991]
A vehicle or chattel shall be considered abandoned if it remains continuously upon any property for a period of more than one week, unless it is upon such property in connection with a business operation currently being lawfully conducted thereon and the vehicle or chattel is under reasonable periodic supervision in connection with said business operation, or if the motor vehicle or part thereof is not currently licensed for the current year and is not being used for transportation or cannot be readily operated under its own power; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prohibit the placing, keeping or storing of any such motor vehicle in a closed garage or other type of enclosed building.
By virtue of the authority created in it by N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.13 et seq. and other appropriate statutes in such case made and provided, the Township Council of the Township of Greenwich hereby declares that:
A. 
The abandoning of any vehicles, iceboxes, refrigerators, sinks, stoves, tanks, plumbing fixtures, machinery, appliances and articles or objects of a similar nature, as described herein, upon private or public property in the Township of Greenwich is a nuisance and inimical to the public health, safety and general welfare, in that children or other persons in the vicinity of said abandoned vehicles or chattels may meet with serious injury therefrom or be affected so far as health is concerned from the condition of said vehicles and/or chattels.
B. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to place, keep, store or maintain a junk automobile or automobile body, or separately the parts of more than one automobile or vehicle which are exposed, outside of an enclosed building or on any public or private tract of land within the Township of Greenwich, which is owned, leased, rented or in the possession of or under the control of any person, firm or corporation, unless such automobile, junk automobiles, bodies or parts are kept temporarily in the operation of a business primarily conducted for the sale and repair of either automobiles or automobile bodies, or unless parts are kept in the operation of said business.
Upon complaint of any resident or property owner of the Township of Greenwich, the Sanitary Inspector or Police Chief, or their designated agents, shall make an investigation of the conditions complained of and report thereon, in writing, to the Township Clerk for the Township Council.
If the land in question about which the complaint was made is found to be in such condition that a violation of one or more of the provisions of § 659-3 hereof exists on said land, and upon receiving said report, the Township Clerk shall notify the owner and possessor of said lands personally or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to take such steps as will effectively remove said violation from said land within 10 days after receipt of said notice.
The Sanitary Inspector or Police Chief, or their designated agents, shall reinspect said lands after the ten-day period has expired and shall report, in writing, to the Township Clerk for the Township Council whether or not the unlawful condition complained of and previously found to exist in violation of this chapter has been abated. After said 10 days' notice, if the condition complained of has not been abated, the Township Council shall cause said condition to be abated and remedied.
Upon the removal of any of the materials prohibited to be stored or abandoned on lands by this chapter by or under the direction of such officer or officers of this Township in cases where the owner or tenant has refused or neglected to remove the same in the manner and within the time provided above, such officer or officers shall certify the cost thereof to the Township Council, which shall examine the certificate, and if said certificate is found correct, the Council shall cause the cost as shown thereon to be charged against said lands. The amount so charged shall forthwith become a lien upon such lands and shall be added to and become and form part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon said lands, the same to bear interest at the same rate as taxes, and shall be collected and enforced by the same officers and in the same manner as taxes.
In addition to the right and authority provided for herein with reference to said motor vehicles and/or chattels, the owner or possessor of said motor vehicles and/or chattels shall be liable to the penalties imposed under this chapter for violations hereof and for permitting conditions constituting a nuisance and inimical to the public health, safety and welfare.
[Amended 10-4-1976]
Any person, firm or corporation causing or permitting the abandonment of a vehicle or chattel as covered by this chapter upon private or public property in the Township of Greenwich, or permitting the abandonment of a vehicle or chattel upon property owned, leased, managed, occupied or controlled by such person, firm or corporation, or failing to remove the same shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine not to exceed $500 or imprisonment for a term not to exceed 90 days, or both, in the discretion of the Judge of the Municipal Court or other court of jurisdiction before whom said conviction is had. For each day a continued violation exists, a separate and distinct offense shall be deemed committed. The penalties set forth in this section are separate and apart from the remedy provided for in § 659-7 hereof and the remedy provided by N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.13 and 2.14.