[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Village of Ridgefield Park as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-27-2009 by Ord. No. 09-11]
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-4, the ordinances of the Village of Ridgefield Park of a general and permanent nature adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Village of Ridgefield Park, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters and sections by General Code, and consisting of Chapters 1 through 385, together with an Appendix, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Code of the Village of Ridgefield Park," hereinafter known and referred to as the "Code."
This ordinance and the Code shall supersede all other general and permanent ordinances enacted prior to the enactment of this Code, except such ordinances as are hereinafter expressly saved from repeal or continued in force.
This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon passage and publication according to law.
A copy of the Code in loose-leaf form has been filed in the office of the Village Clerk and shall remain there for use and examination by the public until final action is taken on this ordinance; and, if this ordinance shall be adopted, such copy shall be certified to by the Clerk of the Village of Ridgefield Park by impressing thereon the Seal of the Village, as provided by law, and such certified copy shall remain on file in the office of the Clerk of the Village, to be made available to persons desiring to examine the same during all times while said Code is in effect.
Any and all additions, amendments or supplements to the Code, when passed and adopted in such form as to indicate the intent of the governing body to make them a part thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated into such Code so that reference to the "Code of the Village of Ridgefield Park" shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments. Whenever such additions, amendments or supplements to the Code shall be adopted, they shall thereafter be printed and, as provided hereunder, inserted in the loose-leaf book containing said Code as amendments and supplements thereto.
The Clerk of the Village of Ridgefield Park, pursuant to law, shall cause this Adopting Ordinance to be published, in the manner required, in a newspaper of general circulation in the Village. Sufficient copies of the Code shall be maintained in the office of the Clerk for inspection by the public at all times during regular office hours. The enactment and publication of this Adopting Ordinance, coupled with availability of copies of the Code for inspection by the public, shall be deemed, held and considered to be due and legal publication of all provisions of the Code for all purposes.
It shall be the duty of the Clerk or someone authorized and directed by the Clerk to keep up-to-date the certified copy of the book containing the Code required to be filed in his or her office for the use of the public. All changes in said Code and all ordinances adopted subsequent to the effective date of this codification which shall be adopted specifically as part of the Code shall, when finally adopted, be included therein by reference until such changes or new ordinances are printed as supplements to said Code book, at which time such supplements shall be inserted therein.
Copies of the Code, or any chapter or portion of it, may be purchased from the Clerk, or an authorized agent of the Clerk, upon the payment of a fee authorized by the Village. The Clerk shall also arrange for procedures for the periodic supplementation of the Code.
It shall be unlawful for anyone to improperly change or amend, by additions or deletions, any part or portion of the Code or to alter or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever which will cause the law of the Village of Ridgefield Park to be misrepresented thereby. Anyone violating this section or any part of this ordinance shall be subject, upon conviction, to one or more of the following: a fine of not more than $2,000, imprisonment for not more than 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, in the discretion of the Judge imposing the same.
Each section of the Code and every part of each section is an independent section or part of a section, and the holding of any section or a part thereof to be unconstitutional, void or ineffective for any cause shall not be deemed to affect the validity or constitutionality of any other sections or parts thereof.
Each section of this ordinance is an independent section, and the holding of any section or part thereof to be unconstitutional, void or ineffective for any cause shall not be deemed to affect the validity or constitutionality of any other sections or parts thereof.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances of a general and permanent nature adopted and in force on the date of the adoption of this ordinance and not contained in the Code are hereby repealed as of the effective date of this Adopting Ordinance, except as hereinafter provided.
The adoption of this Code and the repeal of ordinances provided for in § 1-12 of this ordinance shall not affect the following ordinances, rights and obligations, which are hereby expressly saved from repeal:
A. 
Any ordinance adopted subsequent to 5-26-2009.
B. 
Any right or liability established, accrued or incurred under any legislative provision prior to the effective date of this ordinance or any action or proceeding brought for the enforcement of such right or liability.
C. 
Any offense or act committed or done before the effective date of this ordinance in violation of any legislative provision or any penalty, punishment or forfeiture which may result therefrom.
D. 
Any prosecution, indictment, action, suit or other proceeding pending or any judgment rendered, prior to the effective date of this ordinance, brought pursuant to any legislative provision.
E. 
Any franchise, license, right, easement or privilege heretofore granted or conferred.
F. 
Any ordinance providing for the laying out, opening, altering, widening, relocating, straightening, establishing of grade, changing of name, improvement, acceptance or vacation of any right-of-way, easement, street, road, highway, park or other public place or any portion thereof.
G. 
Any ordinance or resolution appropriating money or transferring funds, promising or guaranteeing the payment of money or authorizing the issuance and delivery of any bond or other instruments or evidence of the Village's indebtedness.
H. 
Ordinances authorizing the purchase, sale, lease or transfer of property or any lawful contract, agreement or obligation.
I. 
The levy or imposition of taxes, assessments or charges or the approval of the municipal budget.
J. 
The dedication of property or approval of preliminary or final subdivision plats.
K. 
All currently effective ordinances pertaining to the rate and manner of payment of salaries and compensation of officers and employees.
L. 
Any ordinance adopting or amending the Zoning Map.
M. 
Any ordinance relating to or establishing a pension plan or pension fund for municipal employees.
A. 
In compiling and preparing the ordinances for adoption and revision as part of the Code pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-4, certain grammatical changes and other minor changes were made in one or more of said ordinances. It is the intention of the Board of Commissioners that all such changes be adopted as part of the Code as if the ordinances so changed had been previously formally amended to read as such.
B. 
In addition, the changes, amendments or revisions as set forth in Schedule A attached hereto and made a part hereof are made herewith, to become effective upon the effective date of this ordinance. (Chapter and section number references are to the ordinances as they have been renumbered and appear in the Code.)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: In accordance with § 1-14D, the chapters, parts and sections that were added, amended, adopted or deleted by this ordinance are indicated throughout the Code by a footnote referring to Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I. During routine supplementation, these footnotes will be replaced with the following history: [Amended (added, deleted) 10-27-2009 by Ord. No. 09-11]. Schedule A, which contains a completed description of all changes, is on file in the Village offices.
C. 
Nomenclature. The following nomenclature changes have been made throughout the Code:
(1) 
"Mayor and Council" to "Board of Commissioners."
(2) 
"Dog Warden" and "Animal Control Authority" to "Animal Control Officer" and "Animal Control Authority."
(3) 
"Department of Building Inspection" to "Building Department."
(4) 
"Building Inspector" or "Building Officer" to "Construction Official."
(5) 
"Sanitary Code of the Village" to "State Sanitary Code."
(6) 
"Magistrate" to "Judge."
(7) 
"Magistrate's Court" to "Municipal Court."
D. 
Violations and penalties. Violations and penalties sections throughout the Code have been updated to reference the General Penalty in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II. A list of sections being added or amended is included in Schedule A attached hereto.
[Adopted 3-26-1985 by Ord. No. 6-85 as § 1-15 of the 1985 Code]
A. 
Whenever no specific penalty is provided in the Code of the Village of Ridgefield Park or in any other ordinance of the Village for the punishment of an act which is prohibited or which is declared to be unlawful or an offense or for the nonperformance of an act which is required to be done, the violation of any such provision shall be punishable by one or more of the following: a fine not exceeding $2,000, or imprisonment in the county jail or in any place provided by the municipality for the detention of prisoners for any term not exceeding 90 days, or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days; provided, however, that when the maximum penalty fixed by an applicable state statute is less by force of said statute or by judicial construction than any penalty fixed in the Code, then the limitations of such state statute shall be applicable.
[Amended 10-27-2009 by Ord. No. 09-11]
B. 
A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation of the Code or of any other ordinance of the Village punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, occurs or continues.
C. 
The imposition of a fine or imprisonment as punishment for a violation of the Code or of any other ordinances of the Village shall not be deemed to be in lieu of any other provision therein providing for revocation or suspension of any license or permit issued thereunder.
D. 
The provisions of this section shall be applicable to the violation of any ordinance adopted as an amendment of or addition to the Code of the Village of Ridgefield Park and in which no other penalty provision is included.
[Added 10-27-2009 by Ord. No. 09-11]
If a fine in an amount greater than $1,250 is imposed upon an owner for violations of housing or zoning codes, the Village shall provide a thirty-day period in which the owner shall be afforded the opportunity to cure or abate the condition, and the owner shall also be afforded an opportunity for a hearing before a court of competent jurisdiction for an independent determination concerning the violation. Subsequent to the expiration of the thirty-day period, a fine greater than $1,250 may be imposed if a court has not determined otherwise or, upon reinspection of the property, it is determined that the abatement has not been substantially completed.