[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Stillwater 8-18-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-9.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Property maintenance — See Ch. 303.
Vacant and abandoned property — See Ch. 304.
Solid waste — See Ch. 344.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance repealed former Ch. 123, Brush,
Grass and Weeds, adopted as § 4-4 of the 1971 Revised General
Ordinances, as amended.
It shall be the duty of the owner, tenant or person in possession
of any lands in the Township:
A.
To keep all brush or hedges within 25 feet of the intersection of
two roadways abutting the property cut to a height of not more than
three feet where it is necessary and expedient for the preservation
of public safety.
B.
To keep the lands free of brush, weeds, dead and dying trees, stumps,
roots, obnoxious growths, filth, garbage, trash and debris, where
the same are inimical to the preservation of public health, safety
or general welfare of the Township, or which may constitute a fire
hazard.
In all cases where it shall be necessary and expedient for the
preservation of the public health, safety or general welfare or to
eliminate a fire hazard, the owners, the tenants or the person in
possession of lands within the Township of Stillwater upon which there
are brush, weeds, dead and dying trees, stumps, roots, obnoxious growths,
filth, garbage, trash and debris shall be notified in writing by the
Zoning Officer of the Township of Stillwater to remove the same.
Said notice may be delivered to the owner, tenant or person
in possession personally or mailed to him at his last known place
of address by certified mail, return receipt requested, and first
class mail.
Said notice shall inform the person, firm or corporation to
whom it is directed that the presence on said lands (specifying the
location of the same) of such brush, weeds, dead and dying trees,
stumps, roots, obnoxious growths, filth, garbage, trash and debris
constitutes a menace to the public health, safety or general welfare
or constitutes a fire hazard; specify the items to be removed; direct
that their removal be completed within 10 days following delivery
of said notice; and advise that if removal is not completed within
the time specified, the removal will be done under the direction of
the Zoning Officer of the Township of Stillwater and the cost thereof
shall be charged as taxes and constitute a lien against said lands,
to bear interest at the same rate as taxes and to be collected and
enforced by the same officers and in the same manner as taxes.
Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any owner, tenant or
person in possession of lands upon whom such notice has been served,
as aforesaid, to remove from said lands the items specified in such
notice within the time fixed therefor, the Zoning Officer of the Township
of Stillwater shall either remove the same or cause the same to be
removed under his direction to a suitable place, either within or
outside the limits of the Township, and shall certify the cost thereof
to the Township Committee, who shall examine said certificate and,
if found correct, shall cause the cost as shown to be charged against
said lands, and the amount so charged shall forthwith become a lien
upon said 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.
If, after diligent effort by the Zoning Officer of the Township of Stillwater, neither the owner, the tenant or person in possession of lands upon which such menace to public health, safety or general welfare or fire hazard exists can be served with notice as hereinabove prescribed, then said Zoning Officer of the Township of Stillwater shall proceed to remove or cause to be removed said items, or any of them, from said lands and shall certify the cost thereof to the Township Committee, who shall examine said certificate and, if found correct, shall cause the cost thereof to be charged against said lands, with the same effect and to be collected in the same manner as provided in § 123-5 hereof.
This chapter shall be enforced by the Township Zoning Officer
or by such other municipal official as the Township Committee shall
from time to time so designate.
