Township of Riverside, NJ Article II General Penalty

[Adopted 8-23-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-18]

§ 1-15 Violations and penalties.

A. Whenever any ordinance, rule, regulation, or order promulgated by any officer, agency, or governing body of the Township, acting under duly vested authority, shall prohibit or declare to be unlawful any act or omission, where no specific penalty is provided therefor, the violation of such provision shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,000, which, upon a guilty plea, may be paid through the Violations Bureau of the Municipal Court, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days, or by a period of community service not exceeding 90 days. Where the penalty for any particular offense is limited by state statute, such limitation shall be applicable and shall supersede the provisions of this article to the extent of any inconsistency therewith.

B. Any ordinance, rule, regulation, or order promulgated by any officer, agency, or governing body of the Township, acting under duly vested authority, which heretofore carried a fine not exceeding the amount of $1,000 as penalty for its violation, is hereby amended to carry a fine not exceeding the amount of $2,000.

§ 1-16 Repeat offenders.

Any person who is convicted of violating an ordinance within one year of the date of a previous violation 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, if one exists, or exceed the maximum fine fixed for a violation of the same ordinance, but shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed for the violation of the ordinance.

§ 1-17 Punishment in default of payment of fine.

Any person convicted of the violation of any ordinance may, in the discretion of the court by which he or she 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 Township, for any term not exceeding 90 days, or be required to perform community service for a period not exceeding 90 days.

§ 1-18 Solid waste violations.

Any person, upon conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, for the violation of an ordinance pertaining to unlawful solid waste disposal shall be fined an amount not exceeding $2,500 for each and every offense to a maximum penalty by a fine not exceeding $10,000.

§ 1-19 Housing and zoning violations.

Before filing or imposing a fine greater than $1,250 for a violation of the housing or zoning codes enacted by the Township as may be amended from time to time, the Township shall provide a thirty-day period in which the owner shall be afforded the opportunity to cure or abate the condition and 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.