[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Lincoln Park as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Residential property maintenance — See Ch. 367.
[Adopted 11-12-1991 by Ord. No. 1,032 as Ch. 160 of the 1991 Code]
This article shall be known as the "Property Maintenance Code
for Industrial and Commercial Premises of the Borough of Lincoln Park"
and is referred to in this article in the short form as "this code."
The Borough of Lincoln Park finds that certain unsafe, unsightly,
unsanitary and unhealthy conditions tend to occur at various industrial
and commercial premises in the Borough unless proper maintenance procedures
are followed. Since many persons are attracted to and actually use
the facilities of these industrial and commercial premises, the public
health, safety and welfare require prevention of unsafe, unsightly,
unsanitary and unhealthy conditions on any industrial and commercial
premises in the Borough.
The purpose of this code is to protect health, safety and welfare
by establishing minimum standards governing the maintenance of industrial
and commercial premises; to ensure continued compliance with the approved
site plan; to fix certain responsibilities and duties on owners and
operators and distinct and separate responsibilities and duties on
occupants; to authorize and establish procedures for the inspection
of industrial and commercial premises; to fix penalties for violations
of this code; and to provide for the right of access to permit repairs
when necessary. This code is declared to be remedial and essential
for the public interest, and it is intended that it be liberally construed
to effectuate the purposes stated herein.
The following terms, wherever used herein, shall have the following
meanings, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
Those portions of a building which are exposed to public
view and the open space of any premises outside of any building erected
thereon.
Any condition, man-made or natural, which affords a breeding
place or hiding place for harmful rodents, insects or other pests.
Any lot or parcel of land on any part of which industrial
or commercial activity of any kind takes place. Such activity may
include, but is not necessarily limited to, all industrial and commercial
uses permitted or conditionally permitted in the Business, Limited
Business, Commercial Recreation, Transitional Industrial, Planned
Industrial, Industrial and Airport Industrial Zones, whether such
uses are actually in those zones or in other zones, or any lot or
parcel of land upon which there is located any public utility or railroad
use.
Any common law nuisance as provided for by the laws of the State
of New Jersey or the ordinances of the Borough of Lincoln Park.
Any attractive nuisance which may prove detrimental to the health
or safety of children, whether in a building or upon a lot. This includes
but is not limited to any structurally unsound fences or structures,
lumber, trash, debris or vegetation, such as poison ivy, poison oak
or poison sumac, which may prove a hazard for inquisitive minors.
Physical conditions dangerous to human life or detrimental to
the health of persons on or near the premises where the condition
exists.
Unsanitary conditions or anything unreasonably offensive to
the senses or dangerous to health in violation of this code.
Whatever renders air, food or drink unwholesome or detrimental
to the health of human beings.
Fire hazards.
Any person having actual possession of the premises or any
part thereof.
Any person who has charge, care or control of the premises
or any part thereof, whether with or without the consent of the owner.
Any person who, alone or jointly or severally with others,
shall have the legal or equitable title to any industrial or commercial
premises, with or without accompanying actual possession thereof,
or shall have charge, care or control of any industrial or commercial
premises as owner or agent of the owner, or as a fiduciary, including
but not limited to executor, executrix, administrator, administratrix,
trustee, receiver or guardian of the estate, or as a mortgagee in
possession, regardless of how such possession was obtained. Any person
who is a lessee subletting or reassigning all or any part of the industrial
or commercial premises shall be deemed a co-owner with the lessor
and shall have joint responsibility over the portion of the premises
sublet or assigned by said lessee.
A.
All industrial and commercial premises situated in the Borough of
Lincoln Park, used or intended to be used for industrial or commercial
purposes, shall comply with this code, whether or not such building
shall have been constructed, altered or repaired before or after the
enactment of this code. This code establishes minimum standards for
the initial and continued occupancy and use of all such industrial
and commercial buildings and does not replace or modify standards
otherwise established for the construction, repair or alteration therein.
Where there is mixed occupancy with industrial or commercial uses
and other uses on the same premises, all such uses shall be nevertheless
regulated by the provisions of this code.
B.
In any case where the provisions of this code impose a higher standard
than is set in any other ordinance of the Borough of Lincoln Park
or under the laws of the State of New Jersey, then the standards as
set forth herein shall prevail, but if the provisions of this code
impose a lower standard than any other ordinance of the Borough of
Lincoln Park or the laws of the State of New Jersey, then the higher
standard contained in any other ordinance or law shall prevail.
Owners and operators shall have all the duties and responsibilities
prescribed in this code, and no owner or operator shall be relieved
from such duty and responsibility or be entitled to defend against
any charge of violation thereof by reason of the fact that the occupant
is also responsible therefor and in violation thereof.
Occupants shall have all the duties and responsibilities as
prescribed in this article, and the occupant shall not be relieved
from any such duty and responsibility nor be entitled to defend any
charge of violation thereof by reason of the fact that the owner or
operator is also responsible therefor and in violation thereof.
The exterior of the premises and structures thereon shall be
kept free of all nuisance; any hazards to the safety of occupants,
pedestrians and other persons utilizing the premises; and unsanitary
conditions, and any of the foregoing shall be promptly removed and
abated by the owner or operator. It shall be the duty of the owner
or operator to keep the premises free of hazards, which include but
are not limited to the following:
A.
Refuse. Broken glass, filth, garbage, trash, litter and debris.
B.
Natural growth. Brush, weeds, ragweed, stumps, roots and obnoxious
growths, dead and dying trees and limbs or other natural growth which,
by reason of rotting or deteriorating conditions or storm damage,
constitutes a hazard to persons in the vicinity thereof. Trees shall
be kept pruned and trimmed to prevent such conditions.
C.
Overhanging. Loose and overhanging objects and accumulations of ice
and snow which, by reason of locations above ground level, constitute
a danger of falling on persons in the vicinity thereof.
D.
Ground surface hazards or unsanitary conditions. Holes, broken or
missing pavement, loose stones, excavations, breaks, projections,
ice, uncleared snow and excretions of pets and other animals on paths,
walks, driveways, parking lots and parking areas and other parts of
the premises which are accessible to and used by persons on the premises.
All such holes and excavations shall be filled and repaired, walks
and steps repaired and other conditions removed where necessary to
eliminate hazards or unsanitary conditions with reasonable dispatch
upon their discovery. It shall be the responsibility of owners and
operators to take reasonable steps to discover any such hazards or
unsanitary conditions which may exist on their premises.
E.
Recurring accumulations of stormwater. Adequate runoff drains shall
be provided and maintained to eliminate any recurrent or excessive
accumulation of stormwater.
F.
Sources of infestation.
Premises shall be kept landscaped, and lawns, hedges and bushes
shall be kept trimmed and be kept from becoming overgrown and weed-infested.
Plantings required by site plan approval shall be replaced when the
same have died. All exterior lighting shall be maintained in accordance
with the approved site plan.
All signs, pavement markings and printed matter and pictures
or illustrations contained thereon permitted by reason of other regulations,
whether by site plan approval or not, or as a lawful nonconforming
use, shall be maintained in good repair.
The exterior of every structure or accessory structure, including
fences, signs and storefronts, shall be maintained in good repair.
All structural surfaces shall be maintained free of safety hazards
and fire hazards, such as broken windows, loose and falling shingles
and crumbling stone or brick, and at all times be kept in compliance
with the approved site plan.
A.
The owner, operator and occupant shall have the duty and responsibility
of removing refuse at least twice a week, except that, in a shopping
area with four stores or more, refuse and garbage shall be removed
at least three times a week.
B.
Every owner, operator and occupant shall have the duty and responsibility
of providing sufficient and suitable receptacles with tight-fitting
covers for receiving and holding garbage and refuse, and the receptacles
shall be maintained in a manner with the cover in place so as to prevent
the creation of a nuisance and shall be kept in an enclosed space
separate and apart from sidewalks and other pedestrian areas except
when set out for collection on the days of the week scheduled for
such collection.
Every day that industrial or commercial premises are open for
business, the occupant shall be responsible for removing litter from
the sidewalk or other pedestrian areas, if any, in front of the occupant's
industrial or commercial premises. The area shall be swept as often
as necessary to maintain it free of litter, spillage and other debris.
All parts of the premises under control of the occupant shall
be kept in a clean and sanitary condition, and the occupant shall
refrain from performing any acts which would render other parts of
the premises unclean or unsanitary or which would obstruct the owner
or operator from performing any duty required hereunder or maintaining
the premises in a clean and sanitary condition.
Every operator and occupant shall be responsible for the elimination
of infestation in and on the premises subject to his control.
All buildings and premises subject to this code are subject
to inspection from time to time by the Building Inspector, Zoning
Officer, Health Officer, Registered Environmental Health Specialist
(REHS), Police Department, Fire Department or any other Borough official
charged with the duty of enforcing regulations governing any aspect
or conduct of the activity housed in said premises. At the time of
such inspections, all parts of the premises must be available and
accessible for such inspections, and the owner, operator and occupant
are required to provide the necessary arrangements to facilitate such
inspections. Such inspections shall be made during normal working
hours of the industrial or commercial business occupying the premises
unless there is reason to believe a violation exists of a character
which is an immediate threat to health or safety requiring inspection
or abatement without delay.
Where the violation or condition which exists on the premises
is of such a nature as to constitute an immediate threat to life and
limb unless abated without delay, the Police Department, Fire Department,
Zoning Officer, Building Inspector, Health Officer, Registered Environmental
Health Specialist (REHS) or any other appropriate public official
may order the owner, operator or occupant to correct said condition,
and the appropriate official shall abate said condition immediately
thereafter.
Where abatement of any nuisance, as defined herein, or correction
of a defect on the premises or the maintenance of the premises in
a proper condition to conform to applicable ordinances of the Borough
of Lincoln Park or the laws of the State of New Jersey requires the
expenditure of Borough of Lincoln Park moneys therefor, either by
supplying of labor by Borough employees, the furnishing of material
by the Borough or the hiring of outside contractors, the Police Department,
Fire Department, Building Inspector, Zoning Officer, Health Officer,
Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) or any other appropriate
public official shall present a report of the work accomplished to
the governing body of the Borough of Lincoln Park, along with a summary
of the proceedings undertaken to secure compliance, including notice
served upon owners, operators, occupants or their agents, as the case
may be, by telephone, telegram, personal service or by any other means
of communication utilized. The governing body shall then approve the
expenditures, whereupon they shall then become a lien against the
premises, collectible as provided by law. A copy of the resolution
approving said expenditures shall be certified by the Borough Clerk
and filed with the Tax Collector of the Borough of Lincoln Park, who
shall be responsible for the collection thereof, and a copy of the
report and resolution shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt
requested, to the owner.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article on or after the effective date of this article may, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a penalty as provided in § 1-2 of this Code. Each day of continued violation shall constitute a separate and distinct violation of the provisions hereof.
The provisions of this article shall be subject to enforcement
by the Construction Code or Building Subcode Official, Zoning Officer,
Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS), Health Officer
or any other public official charged with the duty of enforcement.
