[1972 Code § 1-1; New]
This book shall be known and may be cited as "The Code of the
Township of Piscataway, 2011" and may also be cited as the Code, the
Revision or the Revised General Ordinances.
[1972 Code § 1-2; New]
For the purpose of this Code and in the interpretation and application
of all other ordinances heretofore or hereafter adopted, except as
the context may otherwise require, the definitions contained in this
section shall apply:
CHARTER
Shall mean the provisions of the Optional Municipal Charter
Law, L. 1950, c. 210, as amended (N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 et seq.) applicable
to that form of government provided therein known as "Mayor-Council
Plan F."
CODE
Shall mean the Code of the Township of Piscataway, New Jersey.
COUNCIL
Shall mean the Township Council of the Township of Piscataway.
COUNTY
Shall mean the County of Middlesex, New Jersey.
DEPARTMENT
Shall mean an organizational unit of the Township government
established or designated by ordinance or this Code as a department,
together with any agency or instrumentality of the Township government
assigned to such an organizational unit by the Township Council.
GENERAL LAW
Shall mean any law or provision of law, not inconsistent
with the Optional Municipal Charter Law heretofore or hereafter enacted
which is by its terms applicable or available to all municipalities,
and the following additional laws whether or not such additional laws
are so applicable or available to all municipalities; legislation
relating to taxation, local courts, education, health, public authorities
serving more than one municipality, and municipalities in unsound
financial condition.
GOVERNING BODY
Shall mean the Township Council of the Township of Piscataway,
duly elected as provided by law, or such other duly authorized body
as shall be charged by law with governing the Township.
MINOR
Shall mean a person under 18 years of age.
MONTH
Shall mean a calendar month.
NEW JERSEY STATUTES ANNOTATED or N.J.S.A.
Shall mean that body of statutory law containing revisions
of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey and known as the New Jersey
Statutes Annotated, as amended and supplemented.
OATH
Includes "affirmation"; and "swear" and "sworn" include "affirm"
and "affirmed."
ORDINANCE
Shall mean any act of local legislation heretofore or hereafter
adopted, and including this Code, so long as it shall have been adopted
by the procedure required for the adoption of an ordinance and so
long as it shall remain in force and effect pursuant to law.
OWNER
Shall mean sole owner and any part owner, joint owner, tenant
in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant, or tenant by the entirety,
of the whole or of a part of a building or land, and personal property.
PERSON
Shall mean and include corporations, companies, societies,
firms, partnerships, associations, organizations, limited liability
companies and any other group or entity acting as a unit, as well
as an individual.
PUBLIC GROUND, PUBLIC SQUARE, or PUBLIC PLACE
Shall mean any and every public ground, public square, public
park or other public place within the Township which is within the
jurisdiction and control of the Township, and which is or may be in
general use by all citizens, and in which all have an equal right
of passage and repassage at will.
SIDEWALK
Shall mean any portion of a street or highway between the
curbline or the lateral line of a shoulder, or, if none, the lateral
line of the roadway, and the adjacent property line, intended for
the use of pedestrians.
STATE
Shall mean the State of New Jersey.
STREET
Shall include highways, roads, avenues, boulevards, courts,
public lanes, alleys, circles, terraces, courts, ways, trails, sidewalks,
foot paths and all other public highways for vehicular or pedestrian
travel.
TENANT or OCCUPANT
Shall mean any person who occupies the whole or part of a
building or land, whether alone or with others.
TOWNSHIP
Shall mean the Township of Piscataway in the County of Middlesex
and State of New Jersey.
WEEK
Shall mean seven days.
YEAR
Shall mean a calendar year.
[1972 Code § 1-3; New]
For the purpose of this Code and any other ordinances heretofore
or hereafter adopted, except as the context may otherwise require:
The present tense includes the past and future tenses and the
future, the present.
The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.
The singular number includes the plural and the plural, the
singular.
"Shall" is mandatory and "may" is permissive.
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 be a Sunday or a legal holiday, that day shall be excluded.
"Writing" and "written" shall include printing, typewriting,
e-mail and other electronic communication and any other mode of communication
using paper or similar material which is in general use, as well as
legible handwriting.
"And" may be construed as meaning or, and or as and, if the
sense requires and indicates such meaning.
Whenever a specific time is used in this Code, it shall mean
the prevailing and established time in effect in the State of New
Jersey during any day in any year.
Any citation of a statute, law or ordinance contained in this
Code shall be deemed to refer to such statute, law or ordinance as
amended, whether or not such designation is included in the citation.
"Chapter" shall mean one of the major divisions of the Code,
identified by an Arabic number, and divided by subject matter.
"Section" shall mean a major subdivision of a chapter.
"Subsection" shall mean a subdivision of a section, identified
by a decimal number.
"Paragraph" shall mean a subdivision under a subsection, identified
by an alphabetical letter and/or Arabic number.
[1972 Code § 1-4]
If any chapter, section, subsection or paragraph of this Code
shall be declared to be unconstitutional, invalid or inoperative,
in whole or in part, by a court of competent jurisdiction, such chapter,
section, subsection or paragraph shall, to the extent that it is not
unconstitutional, invalid or inoperative, remain in full force and
effect, and no such determination shall be deemed to invalidate the
remaining chapters, sections, subsections or paragraphs of this Code.
[1972 Code § 5-8.1; Ord. No. 08-22 § 5-8.1; N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29]
a. For violation of any provision of this Code or other ordinance of
the Township of Piscataway, unless a specific penalty is otherwise
provided in connection with the provision violated, the maximum penalty
upon conviction of the violation shall be by one or more of the following:
imprisonment in the County Jail or in any place provided by the Township
for the detention of prisoners, for any term not exceeding 90 days;
or by a fine not exceeding $2,000; or by a period of community service
not exceeding 90 days.
b. Unlawful Solid Waste Disposal. The Governing Body may prescribe that
for the violation of an ordinance or Code provisions pertaining to
unlawful solid waste disposal at least a minimum penalty shall be
imposed which shall consist of a fine which may be fixed at an amount
not exceeding $2,500 or a maximum penalty by a fine not exceeding
$10,000.
[1972 Code § 5-8.4; N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29]
The Township of Piscataway may prescribe that for the violation
of any particular provision of this Code or of any particular ordinance
at least a minimum penalty shall be imposed which shall consist of
a fine which may be fixed at an amount not exceeding $100.
[New]
The Court before which any person is convicted of violating
any ordinance or Code provision shall have power to impose any fine,
term of imprisonment, or period of community service not less than
the minimum and not exceeding the maximum fixed in the Code or in
such ordinance.
[N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29]
Any person who is convicted of violating this Code or an ordinance
within one year of the date of a previous violation of the same provision
of this Code or of the same ordinance and who was fined for the previous
violation, shall be sentenced by the 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 or
Code provision, but shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed
for the violation of the ordinance or Code provision.
If the Township Council (or Municipal Court) chooses not to
impose an additional fine upon a person for a repeated violation of
any municipal ordinance, in its discretion, the Council may waive
the additional fine by ordinance or resolution.
[N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29]
Any person convicted of the violation of any provision of this
Code or any ordinance may, in the discretion of the court by which
he was convicted, and in default of the payment of any fine imposed
therefor, be imprisoned in the County Jail or place of detention provided
by the Township, for a period not exceeding 90 days or be required
to perform community service for a period not exceeding 90 days.
[N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29]
If the municipality chooses to impose a fine in an amount greater
than $1,250 upon an owner for violations of housing or zoning codes
the municipality shall provide a thirty-day period in which the owner
shall be afforded the opportunity to cure or abate the condition and
shall also be afforded an opportunity for a hearing before a court
of competent jurisdiction for an independent determination concerning
the violation. Subsequent to the expiration of the thirty-day period,
a fine greater than $1,250 may be imposed if a court has not determined
otherwise or, upon reinspection of the property, it is determined
that the abatement has not been substantially completed.
[1972 Code § 5-8.2; New]
Except as otherwise provided, each and every day in which a
violation of any provision of this Code or any other ordinance of
the Township of Piscataway exists shall constitute a separate violation.
[New]
It shall be the duty of the Municipal Clerk or someone authorized
and directed by the Municipal Clerk to keep up-to-date the certified
copy of the book containing "The Code of the Township of Piscataway,
2011" required to be filed in the office of the Municipal Clerk for
the use of the public. All changes in the Code and all ordinances
adopted by the Township Council subsequent to the adoption of the
Code which the Township Council shall adopt specifically as a part
of the Code, shall, when finally adopted, be included herein by reference
until such change or new ordinances are printed as supplements to
the Code, at which time such supplements shall be inserted therein.
[New]
It shall be unlawful for anyone to improperly change or amend,
by additions or deletions, any part or portion thereof or to alter
or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever which will cause
the law of the Township of Piscataway to be misrepresented thereby.
[1972 Code § 2-1A.1]
The Bicentennial Commission has recommended to the Township
Council that they adopt an official seal for the Township of Piscataway.
The official seal, which the Bicentennial Commission has recommended
was designed in 1965 by an artist and delivered to the Township.
The Department of Police and other Township organizations have
been utilizing the new seal for a period of time and the Township
Council desires that the seal be utilized throughout the Township
and be recognized as the official seal of the Township.
[1972 Code § 2-1A.2]
The Official Seal of the Township is the design of Liam Dunne,
as accepted by the Township Council and as received on October 27,
1965. This seal is hereby officially adopted.