[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Harding as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 12-12-1967 by Ord. No. 3-67; amended in its entirety 3-12-1990 by Ord. No. 1-90 (Ch. 1, Art. I of the 1990 Code)]
As used in this Code, and in the interpretation and application of all other ordinances hereafter adopted, unless otherwise specifically defined or unless the context clearly indicates a contrary intent, the following words and terms shall include the meanings given herein:
ADMINISTRATOR
The Township Administrator as appointed by the Township Committee.
CLERK
The Township Clerk appointed by the Township Committee.
[Amended 11-17-2010 by Ord. No. 15-10]
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL
The Township Administrator and/or his/her duly authorized designee, which may include the Township Zoning Officer, who shall be responsible for enforcing those provisions of the Code, where a Township official, employee, or department is not otherwise designated in the Code or under state law as the person or entity responsible for enforcement. The Code Enforcement Official's duties and responsibilities shall include designating Township employees and/or officials to conduct field investigations and to issue summonses to persons found in violation of the Code.
[Added 11-24-2014 by Ord. No. 12-14]
COMMITTEE
The Township Committee consisting of five members duly elected pursuant to law.
DEPARTMENT
An organizational unit of the Township government established or designated by ordinance or this Code as a department together with any agency or instrumentality of the Township government assigned to such organizational unit by the Township Committee.
MONTH
A calendar month.
N.J.S.A. (New Jersey Statutes Annotated), N.J.S. (New Jersey Statutes) OR R.S. (Revised Statutes)
The Statutes of New Jersey.
[Amended 11-17-2010 by Ord. No. 15-10]
ORDINANCE
An act of Township legislation, including this Code, so long as it shall have been adopted by the procedure required for the adoption of an ordinance and so long as it shall remain in force and effect pursuant to law.
OWNER
As applied to a building or land, a part owner, corporation, tenant in partnership, tenant in common, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety of the whole or of a part of such building or land.
PERSON
Any corporation, company, firm, partnership, association, society, organization, political body or other legal entity, as well as an individual.
PUBLIC PLACE
A road, as defined herein, or a public park, square, space, ground, building or any other public property or place dedicated to the public use, including but not limited to a schoolhouse, church, firehouse, community house or store.
ROAD
The full width of the area dedicated to public use or subject to public easement, extending from the lot line on one side to the lot line on the other side, including the roadway of any public highway, avenue, street, lane, alley, driveway, sidewalk, footpath, culvert, bridge or other public way.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Harding in the County of Morris and State of New Jersey.
WRITING and WRITTEN
Include printing, typewriting and any other mode of communication using paper or similar material, as well as legible handwriting.
YEAR
A calendar year.
In the construction of this Code and of all other ordinances hereafter adopted, the following rules of construction shall be observed unless the context clearly indicates a contrary intent:
A. 
And and or. The words "and" and "or" may be interchanged if the sense requires.
B. 
Gender. The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter genders.
C. 
Number. The singular number includes the plural number, and the plural includes the singular.
D. 
Shall and may. "Shall" is mandatory, and "may" is permissive.
E. 
Tense. The present tense includes the past and future tenses, and the future includes the present.
F. 
Time. The hours referred to shall be the prevailing time in the State of New Jersey.
G. 
Computation of time. In computing any period of time within which an act is to be done, the day of the act or event after which the designated period begins to run is to be excluded. The last day of the period so computed is to be included, unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, in which event the period runs until the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.
[Amended 9-13-1999 by Ord. No. 12-99; 8-13-2003 by Ord. No. 17-03; 3-1-2006 by Ord. No. 6-06; 11-17-2010 by Ord. No. 15-10]
The following penalty provisions apply to ordinances enacted by the Township Committee:
A. 
Maximum penalty. Except as set forth in Subsection C below, the maximum penalty for violation of any provisions of this chapter, any other chapter of this Code or any other ordinance of the Township, unless another penalty is included within the chapter, article or ordinance, the maximum penalty, upon conviction, shall be one or more of the following: 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 fine not exceeding $2,000; or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days.
B. 
A minimum penalty not exceeding $100 shall apply for any and all violations of any section of the Code of the Township of Harding.
C. 
The violation of any ordinance or section of the Code pertaining to the unlawful disposal of solid waste shall be subject to a minimum penalty not exceeding $2,500 or a maximum penalty not exceeding $10,000.
D. 
The court shall have the power to impose any fine, term of imprisonment, or period of community service not less than the minimum and not exceeding the maximum set forth in this section upon any person convicted of violating any section of the within Code or ordinances of the Township of Harding.
E. 
Any person convicted of violating an ordinance and/or a section of this Code within one year of the date of a previous violation of the same ordinance and/or a section of this Code 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 upon a person for a repeated offense shall not be less than the minimum or exceed the maximum fine established in this section, but shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed for the violation of the ordinance and/or section of this Code.
F. 
The Township of Harding may waive the additional fine by ordinance or resolution for a repeated violation of any ordinance and/or section of the Code. Any person convicted of the violation of any ordinance and/or section of the Code in the discretion of the court and in default of the payment of any fine imposed therefor, shall be imprisoned in the county jail or place of detention provided by the municipality, for any term not exceeding 90 days, or be required to perform community service for a period not exceeding 90 days.
G. 
In the event the court wishes to impose a fine in an amount greater than $1,250 upon an owner of real property for violations of housing or zoning codes of the Township, then and in that event a thirty-day grace period shall be provided to said owner in order to cure or abate the violative condition, and said owner shall also be afforded an opportunity for a hearing before a court of competent jurisdiction for an independent determination concerning said 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 the court determines that the abatement has not been substantially completed.
H. 
Separate violations. Except as otherwise provided, each and every day in which a violation of any provision of this Code or any other ordinance of the Township exists shall constitute a separate violation.
I. 
The maximum penalty stated in this section is not intended to be an appropriate penalty for every violation. Any lesser penalty, including a nominal penalty or no penalty at all, may be appropriate for a particular case or a particular violation.
[Adopted 11-17-2010 by Ord. No. 15-10]
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-4, the ordinances of the Township of Harding of a general and permanent nature adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Harding, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters and sections by General Code, and consisting of Chapters 1 through 388, together with an Appendix, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Code of the Township of Harding," 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.
A copy of the Code in loose-leaf form has been filed in the office of the Township 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 Township of Harding by impressing thereon the Seal of the Township, as provided by law, and such certified copy shall remain on file in the office of the Clerk of the Township, 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 Township of Harding" 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 Township of Harding, pursuant to law, shall cause this Adopting Ordinance to be published, in the manner required, in a newspaper of general circulation in the Township. 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 Township. 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 Township of Harding 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 $1,250, 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 § 1-15 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 6-18-2010.
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 Township'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 Township Committee 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.[1] (Chapter and section number references are to the ordinances as they have been renumbered and appear in the Code.)
[1]
Editor's Note: In accordance with § 1-17B, the chapters, parts and sections which were added, amended, adopted or deleted by this ordinance are indicated throughout the Code by a footnote referring to Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II. During routine supplementation, footnotes indicating amendments, additions or deletions will be replaced with the following history: "Amended (added, deleted) 11-17-2010 by Ord. No. 15-10." Schedule A, which contains a complete description of all changes, is on file in the Township offices.
C. 
The following nomenclature changes are executed:
(1) 
"Construction Code Official" is changed to "Construction Official."
(2) 
"Soil Conservation Service" is changed to "Natural Resources Conservation Service."
(3) 
"Dog Warden" is changed to "Animal Control Officer."
(4) 
"Treasurer" is changed to "Chief Financial Officer."