[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Westville 6-13-1967 (Ch. 112 of the 1974 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
It is hereby determined and declared that the placing, abandonment,
leaving, keeping or storage out-of-doors of any motor vehicle not
currently in use and not licensed for the current license year or
any unused machinery or equipment on public or private lands in the
Borough of Westville is contrary and inimical to the public welfare
in that such articles so placed, abandoned, left, kept or stored attract
or may attract persons of tender years who, being so attracted, may
play in and about them and be injured in so doing, and in that such
articles so placed, abandoned, left, kept or stored out-of-doors,
exposed to the elements, deteriorate and in themselves are unsightly
and, deteriorating, become more unsightly and are detrimental to and
depreciate the value of properties in the neighborhood where they
are located and in the Borough of Westville as a whole.
No person or corporation shall place, abandon or leave, keep or store, or suffer or permit the placing, abandoning, leaving, keeping or storage of, any article described in § 368-1 of this chapter out-of-doors upon any public or private land in the Borough of Westville or between the right-of-way side lines of any public street or thoroughfare therein. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prohibit the placing, keeping or storage of any such article in an enclosed building.
If any article described in § 368-1 of this chapter shall be left, placed, kept or stored on private lands for 30 days or more, it shall be presumed that the owner or tenant in possession of said land left, placed, kept or stored it there or permitted or suffered it to be left, placed, kept or stored there.
[Amended 3-8-2000]
Whenever it shall appear to any member of the Police Department
of the Borough of Westville or the designated Borough inspection representative
that this chapter is being violated and that the land on which the
violation exists is privately owned, he/she shall, in writing, notify
the owner, tenant, or occupant in possession of the land on which
the violation exists, if privately owned, to abate the violation by
removing the article or articles constituting the violation from the
Borough of Westville or into an enclosed building within 10 days of
the service of the notice. Such notice shall be served upon such owner,
tenant, or occupant, if he/she resides in the Borough of Westville,
personally or by leaving it at his/her usual place of abode with some
member of his/her household over the age of 14 years. If any such
owner, tenant, or occupant shall reside outside the Borough of Westville,
the notice shall be served upon him/her by registered or certified
mail addressed to him/her at his usual residence if ascertainable;
otherwise, such notice shall be published in the newspaper in which
the legal notices of the Borough of Westville may be published. The
said owner, tenant, or occupant shall so abate the violation within
the time fixed by the notice.
[Amended 3-8-2000]
A.
Whenever it shall appear to any member of the Police Department of
the Borough of Westville or the designated Borough inspection representative
that this chapter is being violated and that the violation exists
on public lands or between the right-of-way side lines of any public
street or thoroughfare, he/she shall:
(1)
Determine whether any vehicle or article constituting the violation
constitutes or may constitute a traffic hazard, and if so, he/she
shall move it or cause it to be moved to a nonhazardous location or
into an enclosed storage place forthwith.
(2)
Ascertain, if he/she can, who is the owner of the vehicle or article(s), and shall, in writing, notify such owner to abate the violation forthwith and in all events within 10 days after the service of such notice upon him/her, which notice shall be given as required in § 368-4 for the service of notice thereunder.
B.
If any vehicle or article constituting the violation constitutes or may constitute a traffic hazard and it cannot be moved to a nonhazardous location, or if the name and address of the owner of the article cannot be ascertained, or if the violation is not abated within the time required by the notice given under Subsection A(2), he/she shall determine whether the vehicle or article(s) have a value in excess of the cost of removing it or them to enclosed storage and the cost of storing it or them for 30 days in the case of motor vehicles and for six months for all other articles.
(1)
Unless the vehicle or article(s) appear to have a value clearly in
excess of such costs, he/she shall arrange, if he/she can, for the
removal of it or them by someone who will undertake that removal without
cost to the Borough of Westville. Otherwise, he/she shall arrange
for that removal at the expense of the Borough of Westville to an
authorized area.
(2)
If the vehicle or article(s) appear to have a value clearly in excess
of said cost, he/she shall remove it or them or cause it or them to
be removed at the expense of the Borough of Westville to enclosed
storage.
C.
If the vehicle or articles are removed under Subsection A(1) or Subsection B(1) or (2), he/she shall, in the manner required by § 368-4 for service of notice thereunder, give notice to the owner of that removal and of the place to which the vehicle or article(s) have been removed and of the owner's right to reclaim it or them by paying the cost of removal and interim storage charges.
[Amended 3-8-2000]
A.
Vehicles. Any vehicle(s) impounded by the Police Department of the
Borough of Westville under this chapter shall, after notice of the
impounding, and remaining in its possession after 30 days, be deemed
to have been impounded and forfeited by the owner, and the governing
body of the Borough of Westville shall sell and dispose of said vehicle(s)
as provided by N.J.S.A. 39:10A-2 et seq.
B.
Articles. Any article(s) impounded by the Police Department of the
Borough of Westville under this chapter shall, after notice of the
impounding, and remaining in its possession after six months, be deemed
to have been impounded and forfeited by the owner, and the governing
body of the Borough of Westville shall sell and dispose of said article(s)
as provided by N.J.S.A. 40A:14-157.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to new car agencies
nor to licensed used car dealers located in the Borough of Westville.[1]
[Amended 9-13-1977; 3-8-2000]
B.
Any person who is convicted of violating the provisions of this chapter
within one year of the date of a previous violation of the same article
and who was fined for the previous violation shall be sentenced by
the court to an additional fine as a repeat offender. The additional
fine imposed by the court for a repeated offense shall not be less
than the minimum or exceed the maximum fine fixed for a violation
of this chapter, but shall be calculated separately from the fine
imposed for the original violation of this chapter. The continuation
of such violation for each successive day shall constitute a separate
offense.