[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Hamilton as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted as Ch. 1, §§ 1-2 and 1-3, of the
1994 Code of Ordinances]
A.Â
CODE or THIS CODE
COUNCIL and TOWNSHIP COUNCIL
COUNTY
DEPARTMENT
DIVISION
GENDER
MAYOR
MONTH
N.J.S.A.
NUMBER
OFFICE, OFFICER, DEPARTMENT, BOARD, COMMISSION OR OTHER AGENT
OR AGENCY
PERSON
PROPERTY
SHALL; MAY
STATE
STREET
TENSE
TIME
TOWNSHIP
WRITING and WRITTEN
YEAR
As
used in this Code, and in any other ordinance of the Township, the
following terms shall have the meanings indicated in this section,
unless the context clearly indicates another meaning or unless otherwise
specifically provided in another chapter of the Code or ordinance
of the Township:
The Code of Ordinances, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, as cited in Article II of this chapter.
The governing body of the Township as provided for in the
Mayor-Council Plan E of the Optional Municipal Charter Law (N.J.S.A.
40:69A-1 et seq.).
Mercer County, New Jersey.
A unit of a department, as provided for in Chapter 5, Administration of Government.
Words importing the masculine gender only shall also mean
and include the feminine and neuter genders, and shall also apply
to firms, associations, corporations and other artificial persons.
The chief executive officer of the Township as provided for
in the Mayor-Council Plan E of the Optional Municipal Charter Law
(N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 et seq.).
A calendar month, unless otherwise specifically provided.
The latest edition of the New Jersey Statutes Annotated.
Words importing the singular number only shall include the
plural number, and words importing the plural number only shall include
the singular number.
The naming of any officer, department, board, commission
or other agent or agency shall be construed as if followed by the
words "of Hamilton Township, New Jersey." Any such reference shall
be deemed to include any person authorized by law to perform the duties
of any such office, officer, department, board, commission or other
agent or agency.
Any natural person, partnership, firm, association, corporation,
utility, governmental agency or other entity capable of being sued.
Whenever used in any section prescribing and imposing a penalty, the
term "person," as applied to associations, shall mean the partners
or members thereof, and, as applied to corporations, the officers
thereof.
Includes real and personal property.
"Shall" is mandatory, and the word "may" is permissive.
The State of New Jersey.
Includes streets, avenues, boulevards, roads, alleys, lanes,
viaducts and all other public highways in the Township.
The present tense includes the past and future tenses, and
the future tense includes the present tense.
The time within which an act is to be done shall be computed
by excluding the first and including the last day, and, if the last
day is a Sunday or a legal holiday, that day shall be excluded.
The Township of Hamilton in the County of Mercer and State
of New Jersey.
Includes printing, typewriting and any other mode of communication
using paper or similar material which is in general use, as well as
legible handwriting.
A calendar year, unless otherwise specifically provided.
B.Â
Any
term not specifically defined in this section or in any other chapter
of the Code or ordinance of the Township shall be construed according
to its common usage.
C.Â
In
interpreting and applying the provisions of the Code, they shall be
held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public
health, safety, comfort, convenience and general welfare. Where the
provisions of the Code impose greater restrictions or requirements
than those of any law, other ordinance or regulation, the provisions
of the Code shall control. Where the provisions of any law, other
ordinance or regulation impose greater restrictions or requirements,
the provisions of such law, other ordinance or regulation shall be
controlling.
[Amended 8-21-2002 by Ord. No. 02-027; 2-7-2006 by Ord. No.
06-007]
A.Â
General
penalty.
(1)Â
Unless a specific penalty is provided elsewhere in the Code, in state
law or in other ordinances of the Township for a particular violation,
any person who shall violate any provision shall, upon conviction
thereof, be punishable by one or more of the following penalties:
by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by imprisonment for a term not
exceeding 90 days, or by a period of community service not exceeding
90 days, in the discretion of the judge.
(2)Â
The maximum penalty provided in this subsection is not intended to
state an appropriate penalty for each and 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.
B.Â
Continuing violations. Where applicable, and for the purpose of assessing penalties, the continuation of a particular violation for each successive day shall constitute a separate offense, and the person allowing or permitting the continuation of the violation may be punished as provided in Subsection A of this section for each separate violation.
C.Â
Additional remedies. The imposition of a penalty as provided in Subsection A of this section, or as specifically provided in any other chapter of this Code, or in another ordinance of the Township, shall be in addition to any injunctive or remedial relief which is authorized under the laws of the state, with the same force and effect as though provided for in this Code. Such penalty shall not be deemed to be in lieu of any provision for revocation or suspension of any license or permit.
D.Â
Repeat
offender. 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 or exceed the maximum fine fixed for
a violation of the ordinance, but shall be calculated separately from
the fine imposed for the violation of the ordinance.
[Adopted 7-18-2017 by Ord. No. 17-029]
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-4, the ordinances of the Township of Hamilton of a general and permanent nature adopted by the Council of the Township of Hamilton, as revised, codified and consolidated into chapters and sections by General Code, and consisting of Chapters 1 through 583, together with an Appendix, are hereby approved, adopted, ordained and enacted as the "Code of the Township of Hamilton," 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. This ordinance also supersedes the Code of
Ordinances, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, adopted November 1, 1994,
by Ord. No. 94-050, amended and supplemented.
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 Municipal 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 Hamilton 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 Hamilton" 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 Hamilton, 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 Hamilton 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 $2,000, imprisonment for not more than 90 days or
a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, in the discretion
of the Judge imposing 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 of 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 § 1-14 of this ordinance shall not affect the following ordinances, rights and obligations, which are hereby expressly saved from repeal:
A.Â
Any ordinance adopted subsequent to February 7, 2017.
B.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
Any franchise, license, right, easement or privilege heretofore granted
or conferred.
F.Â
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.Â
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.Â
Ordinances authorizing the purchase, sale, lease or transfer of property
or any lawful contract, agreement or obligation.
I.Â
The levy or imposition of taxes, assessments or charges or the approval
of the municipal budget.
J.Â
The dedication of property or approval of preliminary or final subdivision
plats.
K.Â
All currently effective ordinances pertaining to the rate and manner
of payment of salaries and compensation of officers and employees.
L.Â
Any ordinances adopting or amending the Zoning Map.
M.Â
Any ordinance relating to or establishing a pension plan or pension
fund for municipal employees.
A.Â
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 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.
B.Â
In addition, the changes, amendments or revisions as set forth in
Schedule A[1] attached hereto and made a part hereof are made herewith,
to become effective upon the effective date of this ordinance. (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 § 1-16B, the chapters, articles and sections which were added, amended, adopted or repealed 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, repealed) 7-18-2017 by Ord. No. 17-029." Schedule A, which contains a complete description of all changes, is on file in the Township offices.