[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Red Bank as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted by Ord. No. 180-68 (Sec. 3-3 of the 1987 Revised General Ordinances)]
[Amended by Ord. No. 14-81; 10-26-2023 by Ord. No. NP2023-17]
A. 
No person shall park, leave or store any inoperable motor vehicles or motor drawn vehicles, or trailer on any public streets, parking lots, rights-of-way, lands or premises except in case of emergency, and then for a period of not more than 48 hours.
B. 
No person shall park, leave, or store any unhitched trailer upon any public street, parking lot, right-of-way, lands or premises at any time.
[Added by Ord. No. 1996-14]
For purposes of this article, the following term shall have the meaning indicated:
INOPERABLE MOTOR VEHICLE
Includes all vehicles that require registration with the State of New Jersey to be legally operable. "Inoperable motor vehicles" include but are not limited to, motor vehicles which do not have current and proper registration, current and proper inspection, current and proper license plate and/or current and proper insurance.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1996-14]
This article shall not apply to lawfully operated junkyards, or to motor vehicles located or stored in garages or other buildings.
[Amended by Ord. No. 1996-14[1]]
Any person who violates or neglects to comply with any of the provisions of this article shall be subject to the penalties provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty. Each day a violation of this article is committed shall constitute a separate offense and a distinct violation and shall be punishable as such.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. IV).
[Added by Ord. No. 1996-14]
A summons alleging a violation of this article may be issued by any official or employee of the Borough of Red Bank, including but not limited to any law enforcement official or code enforcement officer. A summons alleging a violation of this article may also be issued by a private citizen.
[Adopted by Ord. No. 2004-19 (Sec. 3-20 of the 1987 Revised General Ordinances)]
As used in this article, unless other meaning is clearly apparent from the language or context or unless inconsistent with manifest intention of the article, the following is the meaning of the words:
ABANDONMENT
Any vehicle which is disabled to the extent that the operator cannot move it, or any unoccupied vehicle parking or standing upon a roadway in violation of N.J.S.A. 39:1-1 et seq., and such a vehicle shall be deemed a nuisance and a menace to the safe and proper regulation of traffic, and any peace officer may provide for the removal of such vehicle.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Red Bank.
IMPOUNDMENT OF VEHICLES
All vehicles confined per the Police Department will be stored in the designated municipal impound yard. Those situations warranting impoundment of a vehicle are abandonment, DWI offenders, serious and fatal accidents, for evidentiary purposes, registration, insurance or other violations of Title 39, Motor Vehicle and Traffic Regulations, or Title 2C, the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice, of the New Jersey Statutes, and any other seizure for police investigative purposes. The officer requesting impoundment will complete a standardized vehicle report which report shall detail the impoundment reason as well as the inventory of contents within the vehicle and denote damages and/or missing components of the motor vehicle.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any automobile, omnibus, road tractor, trailer, truck, truck tractor and vehicle as defined in N.J.S.A. 39:1-1 et seq.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company, organization or legal entity of any kind or description.
POLICE IMPOUND YARD
An enclosed area approved and designated by the Police Chief, which area shall be secured from access by unauthorized persons. The impound yard shall be monitored as well as posted concerning no trespassing or unauthorized entry into the yard.
PROPERTY
Any real property within the Borough of Red Bank which is not on a public street or highway.
STREET or HIGHWAY
The entire width between the curbs or boundary lines of every way publicly owned or maintained when any part thereof is open to the use by the public for purposes of vehicular traffic.
No person shall abandon any vehicle within the Borough and no person shall leave any vehicle at any place within the Borough for such period of time and under such circumstances as to cause such vehicle to appear to have been abandoned. Abandonment is a direct violation of this article.
No person shall leave any inoperative, wrecked or junked vehicle or any unregistered vehicle on any street or highway within the Borough. Any vehicle on a street or highway which is disabled to the extent that the operator cannot move it, or any unoccupied vehicle parked or standing in violation of this article, shall be deemed a nuisance and a menace to the safe and proper regulation of traffic and any peace officer may provide for the removal of such vehicle.
The Police Department shall cause to be designated an impoundment area to hold motor vehicles impounded by it until the vehicles can be disposed of in accordance with applicable statutes of the State of New Jersey. The aforesaid impound area should be enclosed by a chain-link fence (not less than six feet high) with "No Trespassing" signs affixed to it, and the impound area is subject to monitor surveillance by camera to preclude theft or further damage to impounded vehicles.
A. 
The designated storage impound yard area will be of sufficient size to accommodate the needs of the Police Department and shall be available during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, for the release of the towed vehicles to the owners, unless other off-hour release conditions are preauthorized by the Police Chief or his designee. The impoundment/storage and release of such vehicles will follow established guidelines in accordance with Police Department Standard Operating Procedures.
B. 
While in storage, the municipality shall not assume any liability from vehicle owner or person having legal right to the vehicle which is beyond the municipality's control.
C. 
The storage fee for the municipal designated impound yard will be consistent at $25 per day, starting 24 hours after the time the vehicle was towed and accruing every day thereafter.
A. 
An employee of the Red Bank Police Department shall be assigned by the Police Chief to investigate the last title-owner of the impounded vehicle in an attempt to determine the person responsible for each vehicle and to prosecute all culpable persons for any violation of this article.
B. 
The impoundment of a vehicle shall be reported by the Police Department to the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles on a form prescribed by the Director for verification of ownership. If a vehicle remains unclaimed by the owner or other person having a legal right, the same may be sold at auction in a public place.
C. 
When a motor vehicle which cannot be certified for a junk title certificate under N.J.S.A. 39:10A-3 remains unclaimed by the owner or other person having a legal right thereto for a period of 20 business days, the motor vehicle may be sold at auction in a public place, but shall be sold no later than 90 business days after the public agency takes possession of the vehicle, except that a waiver of the ninety-day limit may be obtained for good cause from the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs.
D. 
The Borough shall give notice of any sale conducted pursuant to Subsection B or C of this section, by certified mail, to the owner, if his name and address be known and to the holder of any security interest filed with the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicle, and by publication in a form to be described by the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles, which publication shall be one insertion, at least five days before the date of the sale, in one or more newspapers, published in New Jersey and circulating in the Borough of Red Bank and in the municipality in which such motor vehicle is held.
E. 
The Police Department shall also be responsible for the sale or disposition of the impounded vehicles, with minimum bid starting at towing and storage charges to date. If no minimum bid is received, then the best offer may be accepted.
[Added by Ord. No. 2004-20]
At any time prior to sale, the owner or other person entitled thereto may reclaim possession of the motor vehicle upon payment of costs incurred for removal and storage of the vehicle and any fine or penalty and court costs assessed against such person for a violation which gave rise to seizure or taking possession of such vehicle.
If the Police Department, in its report to the Director of Division of Motor Vehicles, certifies on an application prescribed by the Director that such motor vehicle is incapable of being operated safely or of being put in safe operational condition except at a cost in excess of the value thereof, the Division shall, without further certification or verification issue to the Borough, for a fee of $2 or as otherwise fixed by law, a junk title certificate for such vehicle, with proper assignment thereto, which junk title certificate shall be assigned and delivered to the purchaser of the vehicle at public sale.
Upon the sale of any motor vehicle for which no junk certificate shall have been issued, the Borough shall execute and deliver to the purchaser an application for certificate of ownership prescribed by the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles in the same form and manner as provided in N.J.S.A. 39:10A-15, which shall also contain the name and address, if known, of the former owner. Such application shall be accepted by the Director of Division of Motor Vehicles for issuance of a certificate of ownership upon payment of the Division's established fee.
Upon the sale of a motor vehicle pursuant to this article and N.J.S.A. 39:10A-1 et seq., all claims of interest therein shall be forever barred and the proceeds realized therefrom after payment of the expenses of possession and sale shall be remitted to the Borough treasury as the Borough's sole property.
In accordance with Chapter 652, Towing, of the Code of the Borough of Red Bank, the respective towing operator shall submit an itemized bill to the Police Department Records Bureau for processing, which bill shall be forwarded to the Borough's Chief Financial Officer for payment within 45 days from date of service. These funds will be reimbursed to the municipal treasury upon disposition, through release or auction of said vehicle, inclusive of towing and storage fees.
Any towing company that materially violates the terms of this article shall be suspended from the towing list by the Police Department. Additionally, the company shall be subject to penalties for each violation, by fine, consistent with Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty, of the Code of the Borough of Red Bank.