Within 10 days following receipt of a notice to abate an unlawful
occupancy in violation of the Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Woodcliff
Lake or within 10 days following receipt of a summons for violation
of this article or the Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Woodcliff
Lake or prior to the institution of dispossess proceedings to correct
an illegal occupancy, whichever first occurs, the owner of residential
premises within the Borough of Woodcliff Lake shall serve upon all
of the unlawful occupants using or occupying said residential premises
a copy of this article and shall post a copy of this article in a
common area of the premises accessible to all the occupants thereof
for inspection.
The Mayor and Council are authorized to enact, by adopting an appropriate resolution, a program whereby any person providing information which leads to the discovery of, and elimination of, a violation of §
380-116 of this article be paid a finder's fee not to exceed $500. If such a program is established by the Mayor and Council, by duly adopted resolution, the resolution shall establish the amount of the finder's fee, which shall not exceed the amount specified in this article, as well as the terms, conditions and provisions of how same is to be paid.
The Mayor and Council hereby determine that the use and occupancy
of illegal residential apartments, as set forth above, are detrimental
to the general health, safety and welfare of the Borough, and that
such illegal occupancies generate the utilization of Borough services,
including fire, police, sanitation, public works and general administration,
and further generate the use of motor vehicles which take parking
spaces and create traffic, while escaping real estate taxation. The
Borough finds this to be an unfair and inequitable situation. The
Borough further determines that the harm and detriment to the Borough
is difficult to measure and hereby determines that the most reasonable
way to calculate the damage and detriment caused to the Borough by
illegal occupancies is by calculating same as a percentage of the
rental payment charged by the owner to the occupant on account of
the illegal occupancy. The Borough determines a percentage of 10%
of the rent to be fair and reasonable as a measure of the damage and
detriment caused to the Borough, and the Mayor and Council may authorize
the Borough Attorney to recover from any person who charges, demands,
receives or accepts rent or payment for such an illegal occupancy
to make restitution to the Borough for the damage and detriment caused
to the Borough during a period of illegal occupancy.
The Mayor and Council hereby find and declare that there has
been a proliferation of what are commonly known as "illegal apartments,"
meaning residential dwelling units which are occupied in violation
of zoning laws. Most typically, these illegal apartments manifest
themselves as a second residential unit in a building in a one-family
zone, and a third residential unit in a building in a two-family zone.
The Mayor and Council hereby further find and declare that such illegal
units have a deleterious effect on the quality of life of Borough
residents, require the provision of Borough services, generate young
people who attend Borough schools, increase the utilization of Borough
programs and services, contribute to the costs of the Borough by increasing
the generation of refuse (garbage) and sewer flow, contribute to overcrowding,
generate traffic within the Borough, generate automobiles which contribute
to parking shortages throughout the Borough and lead to the maintenance
of dwelling units which often fail to meet health, safety and building
code standards. By their nature, such units generally escape taxation
as their maintenance and existence is normally hidden and not used
for tax assessment purposes. The use and maintenance of said illegal
apartments is also unfair to the vast majority of Borough residents
who abide by zoning laws.
The Borough of Woodcliff Lake hereby declares it to be the policy
of the Borough to eliminate all illegal dwelling units within the
Borough of Woodcliff Lake and prevent them from reoccurring.