[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Stillwater 8-18-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-9.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[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Editor's Note: This ordinance repealed former Ch. 123, Brush, Grass and Weeds, adopted as § 4-4 of the 1971 Revised General Ordinances, as amended.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 2 1/2 feet where it is necessary and expedient for the preservation of public safety.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
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.