[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. 
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:
CODE or THIS CODE
The Code of Ordinances, Hamilton Township, New Jersey, as cited in Article II of this chapter.
COUNCIL and TOWNSHIP COUNCIL
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.).
COUNTY
Mercer County, New Jersey.
DEPARTMENT
An organizational unit of the Township government established pursuant to Chapter 5, Administration of Government, together with any agency or instrumentality of the Township government assigned to such organizational unit by Chapter 5, Administration of Government, or by the Mayor.
DIVISION
A unit of a department, as provided for in Chapter 5, Administration of Government.
GENDER
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.
MAYOR
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.).
MONTH
A calendar month, unless otherwise specifically provided.
N.J.S.A.
The latest edition of the New Jersey Statutes Annotated.
NUMBER
Words importing the singular number only shall include the plural number, and words importing the plural number only shall include the singular number.
OFFICE, OFFICER, DEPARTMENT, BOARD, COMMISSION OR OTHER AGENT OR AGENCY
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.
PERSON
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.
PROPERTY
Includes real and personal property.
SHALL; MAY
"Shall" is mandatory, and the word "may" is permissive.
STATE
The State of New Jersey.
STREET
Includes streets, avenues, boulevards, roads, alleys, lanes, viaducts and all other public highways in the Township.
TENSE
The present tense includes the past and future tenses, and the future tense includes the present tense.
TIME
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.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Hamilton in the County of Mercer and State of New Jersey.
WRITING and WRITTEN
Includes printing, typewriting and any other mode of communication using paper or similar material which is in general use, as well as legible handwriting.
YEAR
A calendar year, unless otherwise specifically provided.
B. 
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. 
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. 
General penalty.
(1) 
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) 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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.
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. 
Any ordinance adopted subsequent to February 7, 2017.
B. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
Any franchise, license, right, easement or privilege heretofore granted or conferred.
F. 
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. 
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. 
Ordinances authorizing the purchase, sale, lease or transfer of property or any lawful contract, agreement or obligation.
I. 
The levy or imposition of taxes, assessments or charges or the approval of the municipal budget.
J. 
The dedication of property or approval of preliminary or final subdivision plats.
K. 
All currently effective ordinances pertaining to the rate and manner of payment of salaries and compensation of officers and employees.
L. 
Any ordinances adopting or amending the Zoning Map.
M. 
Any ordinance relating to or establishing a pension plan or pension fund for municipal employees.
A. 
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. 
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.