This chapter shall be known as the "Property Maintenance Ordinance
of the Borough of Berlin."
It is hereby found and declared that there exists, in the Borough
of Berlin, buildings and premises used for residential and nonresidential
purposes which are or may become substandard with respect to structural
integrity and maintenance, and further, that such conditions including
but not limited to structural deterioration, lack of maintenance of
the exterior of the premises, infestation and existence of fire hazards
constitute a menace to health, safety, welfare and reasonable comfort
of the citizens and inhabitants of the Borough of Berlin.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide minimum standards
of property maintenance:
A.
To promote the public health, welfare and safety.
B.
To make buildings and premises fit for human cohabitation, occupancy
and use.
C.
To fix certain responsibilities and duties upon owners and operators.
D.
To foster a clean community.
E.
To prevent blighting conditions.
F.
To authorize and establish procedures for the inspection of such
premises.
G.
To correct violations or to fix penalties for the violations of this
chapter.
H.
To preserve the quality, character and property values of the Borough.
I.
To provide owners and operators with a system to enforce the standards
set forth herein.
J.
To avoid, prevent and eliminate conditions which, if permitted to
exist or continue, will depreciate the value of adjacent or surrounding
properties.
K.
To avoid, prevent and eliminate the maintenance or creation of hazards
to the public health and safety.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A destructive force; something that spoils or damages things
severely.
Any structure which has enclosed walls, floor and roof, is
affixed to the land and has one or more floors or stories. A building
shall not include such structures as billboards, signs, fences or
structures with interior surfaces not normally accessible to human
use, such as gas tanks or similar structures. A building may be used
for agricultural, commercial, industrial, public, institutional, or
residential purposes.
Any motor vehicle licensed by the state as a commercial vehicle.
The condition of a building or a part thereof characterized
by holes, breaks, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling, rusting or other
evidence of physical decay, neglect, lack on maintenance or excessive
wear.
A private roadway providing access for vehicles to a parking
space, garage, dwelling or other structure.
Any container that has the ability to hold more than two
fifty-gallon trash cans of debris.
The part of a dwelling designed for use by one family only
and containing one or more rooms and facilities for living, including
cooking, sleeping, storage of possessions, and sanitary needs.
Any building or premises or part thereof that which may be
lawfully viewed by the public or any member thereof from a path, sidewalk,
walk, street, alleyway or parking lot.
Those portions of a building or structure which are exposed
to public view or are visible from adjoining or adjacent lots, including
all outside surfaces and appurtenances thereto and to the open land
space of any premises outside of any building or structure erected
thereon viewed by adjoining property owners or the public.
The control and elimination of insects, rodents and other
pests as determined by the County Department of Health by eliminating
their harborage places, by removing or making inaccessible materials
that may serve as their food by poison, spraying, fumigating, trapping
or by any other approved pest elimination methods.
Anything or any act which increases or may cause any increases
of the hazard or menace of fire to a greater degree than that customarily
recognized as normal by persons in the public service of preventing,
suppressing or extinguishing fire or which may obstruct, delay or
hinder or may become the cause of an obstruction, delay, hazard or
hindrance to the prevention, suppression or extinguishment of fire.
Waste resulting from handling, preparing, cooking and consumption
of food or other products. (See also "refuse" or "rubbish.")
A space in structure which is used for living, sleeping,
eating, cooking, etc.; does not include basements, attics, patios,
porches, garages, etc. A habitable space must have a clear height
from finished floor to finished ceiling of not less than 7 1/2
feet. A habitable room must have a minimum area of 70 square feet
between enclosed walls, exclusive of closet space. A habitable space
which is partly below and partly above grade must have at least one
half its height above grade. The grade is a reference line representing
the average of finished ground level adjoining the building at all
exterior walls. Spaces under sloping roofs must be at least five feet
in height to be considered habitable space.
Materials or liquids that pose a threat present or future
to the environment, whether in use, storage or transit.
Inhabited or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough
to be harmful, threatening or obnoxious.
Work that is done regularly to keep a building or premises
in good condition.
Any building containing one or more dwelling units and also
having a portion thereof devoted to nonresidential uses. The applicable
provisions for residential and nonresidential shall control.
A trailer, horse trailer, utility trailer or other mobile
device licensed to be lawfully used on public streets and which attaches
to and is pulled or pushed by a powered vehicle and used for transporting
or carrying personal recreational vehicle(s), recreational homes,
watercraft, off-road vehicle(s) or any other similar device, or any
types of items such as wood, dirt, building materials, etc.
A freestanding residential building of three or more dwelling
units, with common walls and floors, constructed on one lot or adjacent
lots, having an indirect entrance from the outside to each dwelling,
unit, and having a yard area as common to all dwelling units.
An interference with the enjoyment and use of property.
Any public or private condition that would constitute a nuisance
according to the statutes, laws and regulations of the State of New
Jersey, its governmental agencies or the ordinances of the Borough.
Any physical condition existing in or on the exterior of any
premises which is potentially dangerous, detrimental or hazardous
to life, health, safety of persons on, near or passing within the
proximity of the premises where such condition exists.
Inadequate or unsanitary sewerage or plumbing facilities in
violation of this chapter.
Fire hazards.
Any person residing, living or sleeping in or on the premises
or having actual possession, use or occupancy of a dwelling, premises
or unit or operating a business therein, or any person or entity in
possession of or using any premises or part thereof, whether or not
the owner thereof and regardless of the duration of time of such possession,
use or occupancy.
Any person, persons or entity, but not the owner, who has
charge, care or control of a dwelling or premises or a part thereof,
with or without the knowledge, consent or authority of the owner.
Any person, persons, or entity who shall have legal or equitable
title in any form whatsoever to any premises or part thereof, with
or without accompanying actual possession thereof or who shall have
charge, care or control of any lot, premises, building, structure
or part thereof, as owner or agent of owner, or as a fiduciary, trustee,
receiver, guardian, lessee or mortgagee in possession, regardless
of how such possession was obtained. Any person, group of persons
or entity who is a lessee, sublessee or assignee of a lease of any
part or all of any building, structure or land shall be deemed to
be a co-owner with the lessor for the purposes of this chapter and
shall have the responsibility over the portion of the premises so
sublet, leased or assigned.
A cleared way for pedestrians and/or bicycles that may or
may not be paved or otherwise improved.
Any movable item or thing that is subject to ownership.
Any container, storage unit, shed-like container, or other
portable structure designed for the storage of personal property that
is typically rented to owners or occupants of property for their temporary
use, and which is customarily delivered and removed by truck, and
which is located for such purposes outside an enclosed building other
than an accessory building or shed complying with all building codes
and land use requirements. For the purposes of this chapter, a "portable
storage unit" may also be identified as simply a "unit(s)."
All buildings, structures or objects erected or placed upon
any land, in addition to the land itself, and right-of-way or multiples
thereof, which includes any naturally occurring conditions or things
thereon.
The Mayoral appointee, with the advice and consent of the
Council, as set forth in N.J.S.A. 40A:60-4(g), to conduct inspections,
regulations and enforcement of this chapter.
Includes any street, sidewalk, highway, public lane, alley,
right-of-way, Borough parking lot or other public place in the Borough.
Any enclosed mobile structure that can be used as temporary
living accommodations, and which contains either built-in cooking
facilities or lavatory facilities, and is self-motorized, placed on
another vehicle for transport, or towed by another vehicle, including,
but not limited to, items such as motor coaches, motor homes, fifth
wheelers, recreational vehicles, campers or camper trailers.
Any motorized, human powered, electrical powered, or wind-powered
vehicle used primarily for recreational purposes, including, but not
limited to, such items such as boats, sailboats, snowmobiles, canoes,
kayaks, motorbikes, off-road vehicles, jet skis and other equipment
or vehicles of similar nature.
All solid waste matter or materials, combustible or noncombustible,
including but not limited to garbage, trash, ashes, paper goods and
products, wrappings, cans, bottles, containers, yard clippings, garden
refuse, brush and containers of waste materials, chemicals or oil
other than garbage containers used and intended to be picked up in
the normal weekly scavenger collection service; debris, junk, glass,
boxes, crockery, wood, mineral matter, plastic, rubber, leather, furniture,
household goods, appliances, fixtures, bedding, scrap lumber, scrap
metal, construction material (except during construction); inoperable
machinery or parts thereof; dead or rotting vegetation, excluding
compost piles which are not otherwise prohibited in this section;
abandoned, inoperative, unused or unusual automobiles and vehicles,
or parts and components of automobiles, motor vehicles, motorcycles
or vehicles of any kinds; and solid and commercial waste.
A paved, surfaced or leveled area, paralleling and usually
separated from the street, used as a pedestrian walkway.
A combination of materials to form a construction for occupancy,
use or ornamentation, having a fixed location on, above or below the
surface of land or attached to something having a fixed location on,
above or below the surface of land, including, without limitation,
buildings, fences, tanks, towers, signs, advertising devices, patios
or swimming pools.
Material which is capable of causing detrimental effects
to the physical or economic well-being of individuals, animals, or
other living organisms.
Discarded, unwanted, or worthless materials or objects.
The New Jersey Uniform Construction Code (UCC) Act authorizes
the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs to adopt and
enforce rules pertaining to the construction codes and provides for
the administration and enforcement of those rules throughout the State.
The Uniform Construction Code contains the UCC Act and all rules issued
under the Act relating to the administration of the and enforcement
of construction regulations. The UCC is comprised of four basic technical
subcodes for construction: building, electrical, fire protection,
and plumbing. In addition, the UCC contains technical subcodes for
fuel gas installations; mechanical installations; one- and two-family
dwellings; accessible (barrier-free) construction; the rehabilitation
of existing buildings; the construction of manufactured homes; asbestos
hazard abatement; radon hazard abatement; and playground safety.
Destructive animals or insects, such as rats or cockroaches,
that are destructive, annoying or injurious to health and harm people,
livestock, property or crops as determined by the County Department
of Health.
Any sidewalk or walkway that is intended or suitable for
pedestrian use.
The deterioration, decay or damage caused by exposure to
the elements.
