[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Somers Point as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 3-14-1991 by Ord. No. 6-1991]
Be it ordained and enacted by the City Council of the City of Somers Point, County of Atlantic, State of New Jersey, as follows:
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-4, the various Chapters and Articles of the 1968 Code of the City of Somers Point and the other Ordinances of the City of Somers Point of a general and permanent nature adopted by the City Council of the City of Somers Point, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters and sections by General Code Publishers Corp., and consisting of Chapters 1 through 265, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Code of the City of Somers Point," hereinafter known and referred to as the "Code."
This ordinance and the Code shall supersede the 1967 Code of the City of Somers Point and 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 City 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 by the Clerk of the City of Somers Point by impressing thereon the Seal of the City, as provided by law, and such certified copy shall remain on file in the office of the Clerk of the City, 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 City of Somers Point" 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 City of Somers Point, pursuant to law, shall cause to be published, in the manner required, a copy of this adopting ordinance in a newspaper of general circulation in the City. 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 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 book containing the Code may be purchased from the Clerk upon the payment of a fee to be set by resolution of the City Council, which may also arrange, by resolution, for procedures for the periodic supplementation thereof.
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 City of Somers Point to be misrepresented thereby. Anyone violating this section or part of this ordinance shall be subject, upon conviction, to a fine of not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both, 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 ordinance 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 saved from repeal.
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 April 26, 1990.
B. 
Any right of 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 forefeiture 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 City's indebtedness.
H. 
Ordinances authorizing the purchase, sale, lease or transfer of property, or any lawful contract or obligation.
I. 
The levy or imposition of taxes, assessments or charges.
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 or section thereof dealing with the appointment of any officer or employee of the City of Somers Point.
M. 
Ordinance No. 8-1984, adopted on April 13, 1984, and any subsequent amendments thereto.
N. 
Any ordinance regulating garbage, rubbish or refuse or providing for the collection and disposal thereof from or in the City of Somers Point.
O. 
Any ordinance regulating property restrictions in the City of Somers Point.
P. 
Any ordinance relating to civil defense and emergency management in the City of Somers Point.
Q. 
Any ordinance relating to peddling and soliciting in the City of Somers Point.
R. 
Any ordinance relating to or regulating land development in the City of Somers Point.
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 City Council 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. There are additional changes, amendments and revisions which are designated § 1-14B(1) through (39), which are incorporated herein by reference. The entirety of these changes is not included at length for purposes of brevity and to avoid unnecessary costs of publication. A copy of Subsection B(1) through (39) is on file in the City Clerk's office for use and examination of the public pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40:49-4. Said section shall be included with and become a part of the City's Code upon the adoption of this ordinance.
[Adopted 12-9-2010 by Ord. No. 18-2010]
Any person who shall violate any provision of this Code or other ordinance of the City of Somers Point, where no specific penalty is provided regarding the section violated, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by one or more of the following: a fine not exceeding $2,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, at the discretion of the Judge of the Municipal Court, provided that if the violation is a violation of housing or zoning codes, then the owner shall be provided a thirty-day period in which to cure or abate the condition and shall also be afforded an opportunity for a hearing before the Court 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 the Court has not determined otherwise, or, upon reinspection of the property, it has determined that the abatement has not been substantially completed.
The Somers Point City Council may prescribe that for the violation of any particular provision of the Code or of any particular ordinance, at least a minimum penalty shall be imposed which shall consist of a fine which may be fixed at an amount not exceeding $100. The court before which any person is convicted of violating any ordinance or Code provision shall have power to impose any fine, term of punishment or period of community service not less than the minimum and not exceeding the maximum fixed in the Code or in such ordinance.
A. 
Any person who is convicted of violating any provision of the Somers Point Municipal Code or any ordinance within one year of the date of a previous violation of the same provision of this Code or of the same ordinance, and who was fined for the previous violation, shall be sentenced by a 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 fixed for a violation of the ordinance or Code provision, but shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed for the violation of the ordinance or Code provision.
B. 
If the City Council chooses not to impose an additional fine upon a person for a repeated violation of any municipal ordinance, the Council may waive the additional fine by ordinance. Otherwise, the additional fine shall be imposed.
Any person convicted of the violation of any provision of the Somers Point Municipal Code or any ordinance may, in the discretion of the court by which such person was convicted, and in default of the payment of any fine imposed therefor, be imprisoned in the County jail or place of detention provided by the City, for any term not exceeding 90 days, or be required to perform community service for a period not exceeding 90 days. This shall be in addition to the continuing obligation to make payment of the fine imposed.
Except as otherwise provided, each and every day in which a violation of any provision of this Code or any other ordinance of the City of Somers Point exists shall constitute a separate violation.
The maximum penalty stated in this section is not intended to state an appropriate penalty for each and every violation. At the discretion of the Judge of the Municipal Court, and unless otherwise precluded by the penalty fixed by Code or ordinance, any lesser penalty, including a nominal penalty or no penalty at all, may be imposed if deemed appropriate for a particular violation.