[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Township
of Mount Olive 3-11-2014 by Ord. No. 6-2014. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Land use procedures — See Ch. 550.
It is the intent of this chapter to regulate the installation
and use of ice-retardant systems on all waterfront properties within
the Township of Mount Olive for the protection of persons and property
and to provide for the public health, safety and welfare of the Township
of Mount Olive and its inhabitants.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The area of the water body or ice surface disturbed by the
operation of an ice-retardant system. Said disturbed or affected area
includes open water, weakened ice (excessively cracked), thin ice
(less than four inches in depth) and area where adjacent ice is covered
by a film of water.
The high-water mark of 10.30 feet above the dam as recorded
at Lake Hopatcong State Park or the line established by the Bureau
of Navigation, State Department of Environmental Protection, defining
the lake's permanent shoreline.
A mechanical device(s) or a series of mechanical devices
designed to retard or prevent the formation of ice in or around lakefront
structures. Said devices utilize as their mode of operation one or
more of the following mechanisms: pumped air, artificial water turbulence
or the addition of heat to the water body.
The average winter conditions to be utilized in the design
or operation of an ice-retardant system and to be utilized in gauging
compliance with the terms of this chapter. Said "normal operating
conditions" are defined as an average of four or more inches of ice
on the applicable water body. Such term excludes any time period characterized
by unseasonably warm temperature (average daily temperature above
40° F. for three or more consecutive days) or rainfall (greater
than 1/2 inch of rainfall per day) and the three dates immediately
thereafter. In any enforcement action under the terms of this chapter,
the burden is on the operator of the ice-retardant system to establish
that normal operating conditions were not existent on the date of
the alleged violation.
The owner of record of a tract of land according to the tax
rolls of the Township of Mount Olive or any person occupying said
premises or utilizing the property.
Any individual, association of individuals, corporation or
partnership.
A line running parallel to the bulkhead line and extending
not more than 50 feet from said bulkhead line, as approved by the
Natural Resources Council and Bureau of Navigation, State Department
of Environmental Protection, beyond which no dock, pier or marina
or other structure, permanent or temporary, floating or affixed to
shore or lake bottom, may be located.
Any lakefront or within-lake structure which the ice-retardant
system is designed to protect. Such protected structures include but
are not limited to docks, piers, bulkheads, catwalks, seawalls and
boathouses.
A.
Utilization of ice-retardant systems is hereby authorized within
the municipal limits of the Township of Mount Olive from December
1 of each year through April 1 of the following year.
B.
No person shall operate an ice-retardant system within the municipal
limits of the Township of Mount Olive unless said operation is in
conformance with this chapter.
A.
All ice-retardant systems shall be marked with an appropriate sign
placed along the shore or on the protected structure specifying "Danger,
Thin Ice." Such sign shall be a minimum of two feet by three feet
in size and shall feature letters of a minimum height of three inches
and colors in such a way as to be clearly visible on the ice from
a distance of 100 feet. Where the ice-retardant system will disturb
a distance measured horizontally along the shoreline of more than
25 feet, an additional sign shall be required for each 25 feet of
shoreline or fraction thereof.
B.
Under normal operating conditions, the affected area of ice created
by the ice-retardant system shall not extend more than 25 feet beyond
the protected structure.
C.
Under normal operating conditions, the affected area of ice created
by the ice-retardant system shall not extend more than 25 feet, measured
along the shoreline, from the protected structure.
D.
Irrespective of the standard appearing in Subsections B and C above, the affected area of ice, under normal operating conditions, should not extend beyond the side property lines of the property for which the ice-retardant system is being used, as if said property lines were extended into the lake. Said requirement may be waived if the owner and/or operator of the ice-retardant system obtains written permission from the adjacent property owner.
The Township Council may, by resolution, waive the requirements
of this chapter in situations of hardship or exceptional public necessity.
"Exceptional public necessity" shall include but not limited to a
necessity to maintain an open channel of water on the lake. In considering
such an application, the Township Council may refer the application
to a lake commission, such as the Lake Hopatcong Commission, for comment.
In adopting the resolution, the Township Council shall specify requirements
as to markings and lighting. Such requirements can include but are
not limited to requiring buoys to be placed in the frozen water body
to clearly mark the approach, requiring nighttime illumination or
flashing light to indicate that open water is present, limiting the
size of the affected ice area to the minimal necessary for the use
and/or publishing public notice of the condition to specify minimal
levels of insurance requirements.
A.
The Construction Official is hereby designated as the enforcement
officer under the terms of this chapter. All complaints received by
any municipal agency concerning the operation of ice-retardant systems
shall be referred to the Construction Official. Upon receipt of a
complaint, the Construction Official shall investigate within five
days and, if the complaint is found justified, notify the owner and
operator of the terms of this chapter and require compliance within
an additional 10 days. The Construction Official may reduce the time
period for compliance when the interest of public safety so requires.
If the owner or operator of the system fails to undertake the corrections
within the specified time frame, the Construction Official may cause
a summons to be issued in the Municipal Court of the Township of Mount
Olive to enforce the requirements of this chapter.
B.
A violation of the terms of this chapter, including the operational
requirements, shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $50 for
the first offense, $100 for the second offense and $250 for the third
and subsequent offenses. Each day that a violation of this chapter
continues may be deemed to be a separate offense.
Compliance and/or noncompliance with the requirements of this
chapter shall not preclude any civil action for damages arising from
injuries incurred through the operation of an ice-retardant system.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as repealing any
provision of any other municipal ordinance. In the event that any
regulation provided above shall vary from the same of a similar regulation
of any other municipal ordinance, the more restrictive provision of
such ordinance shall be deemed to control.
