[Ord. No. 404 § 1]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited by the short from title of "Resource Extraction Licensing Regulations of Maurice River Township."
Editor's Note: See also Development Regulations.
[Ord. No. 404 § 2]
As used in this chapter:
Shall mean the dredging, digging, extraction, mining and quarrying of sand, gravel, or minerals for commercial purposes, not including, however, the private or agricultural extraction and use of extracted material by the landowner for personal use.
[Ord. No. 404 § 3]
In any area, district or zone of the Township, no sand, gravel, rock, earth, minerals, clay or overburden or other resource shall be extracted until approval has been granted by the Township Committee as evidenced by the issuance of a license for such work. Applications for such licenses shall be made in writing and shall contain the following information and meet the following requirements:
a.
The Name and Address of the Applicant. In the case of a lease agreement between land owner and mining operator, both the lessee and the lessor become joint parties to the application for a license and are both bound to the conditions of the license.
b.
The official Township Zoning Map classification in the area where the applicant proposes to engage in a mining operation.
c.
A description of the land upon which the applicant proposes to engage in an extraction operation and the total number of acres for which a mining license is requested.
d.
A sketch plan of the total area involved showing the location of all structures, processing equipment and major stockpiles, together with points of ingress and egress.
e.
A plan for the eventual rehabilitation, reclamation, and use of the site covered by the license after the resources have been removed which conforms with the terms of the Development Regulation Ordinance, its amendments or supplements.
f.
The estimated time period during which extractions and land rehabilitation operations will be conducted.
g.
The application for a license or the renewal of a license shall be accompanied by a promise from the applicant to faithfully perform and comply with all applicable standards set forth in this chapter and the Development Regulation Ordinance, its amendments or supplements or any other ordinance which has a bearing upon resource extraction. In the event the Township Committee has reasonable doubt about the applicant's financial responsibility to perform the promise, it may request the applicant to submit reasonable satisfactory evidence of financial responsibility which will be reviewed on a confidential basis and not made public in any manner. In the event there is not reasonably satisfactory evidence of the applicant's financial responsibility to perform the promise, the Township Committee may require as a condition of the granting of the permit, the applicant deposit, pledge, place in escrow or in some other fashion, including the possible use of a surety bond, certain reasonable amounts of security with rights of substitution for the faithful performance of and compliance with all of the performance standards set forth in this chapter, the Rehabilitation/Reclamation Plan, the Development Regulation Ordinance or any other applicable ordinance. In the event security is required, no security shall be required in excess of an amount equal to five hundred ($500.00) dollars multiplied by the number of acres to be rehabilitated/reclaimed as designated within a licensed area, but not less than ten thousand ($10,000.00) dollars. Any security required shall be held or continue for the term of the license while the land is rehabilitated/reclaimed or until adequate evidence of financial responsibility is presented. Any promise of security required herein shall be terminated twenty (20) days after the applicant or others on his behalf have delivered to the Township Committee the certificate of a registered professional engineer or licensed surveyor or professional planner setting out that the area upon which release of the security is sought has been rehabilitated/reclaimed in substantial compliance with the requirements of the Rehabilitation/Reclamation Plan or some amended or alternative plan mutually satisfactory to the Planning Board and the Township Committee after consultation with the Township Engineer. Any security shall be placed so that if the license expires as provided herein and the site is not rehabilitated/reclaimed within eighteen (18) months thereafter, the security shall be forfeited to pay for the rehabilitation/reclamation of the site according to the Rehabilitation/Reclamation Plan.
h.
Approval and receipt of a conditional use permit from the Planning Board under the regulations and requirements set forth in the Development Regulation Ordinance or its amendments or supplements.
i.
The Township Committee may also require additional information from the applicant when necessary because of the specific nature of the lands to be mined; any unusual request made by the applicant or because of surrounding property use and condition, including but not limited to, environmental impact statements, wetlands information, surrounding property use and traffic management and flow. The information received when requested shall be taken into consideration by the Township Committee and shall be used to determine the applicability of the property in question for use as a mining site or may be used in placement of conditions upon any mining license granted.
[Ord. No. 404 § 4; Ord. No. 521 § 4]
If the application and applicant complies with this chapter and all other applicable ordinances as set forth, a license shall be issued by the Township Committee. The license shall be valid for a period of five (5) years from the date of issuance thereof. Such license shall be renewed by the Township Committee for succeeding five (5) year periods provided an application accompanied by either the promise of the applicant or such reasonable security as may be required, as provided above is received from the applicant and provided that the applicant meets all terms and conditions of this chapter or any other applicable ordinances or their amendments or supplements thereto. The application for renewal of the license shall be filed within sixty (60) days after receipt of written notice from the Township Committee of the upcoming expiration of the license but not more than four (4) months before the expiration of the license, and provided the applicant is carrying out the requirements of the original license as evidenced by the absence of a judicial determination at the time to the contrary. Issuance of a license or renewal license commits the applicant, and the applicant's successors and assigns to faithful compliance with the Rehabilitation/Reclamation Plan and the provisions of this chapter and the Development Regulations Ordinance, its amendments or supplements.
[Ord. No. 404 § 5; Ord. No. 521 § 5; Ord. No. 608]
After the approval of the license or any renewal license by the Township Committee, the applicant/licensee shall pay to the Township Clerk on an annual basis the sum of fifty ($50.00) dollars per acre for each acre or part of an acre of land licensed by the Township Committee for the five (5) year term of the license fee. The fee shall be collected by the Township Clerk at the beginning of each year of the five (5) year license. The calculation of the license fee shall be made by the Township Clerk after consultation with the Township Engineer and shall be based upon the actual land proposed to be mined under the license as shown by the applicant/licensee's site plan and shall not be based upon the total number of acres owned by the applicant/licensee. The payment of the license fee for the first year shall be made before any license is issued to the applicant/licensee by the Township Clerk. Failure of the applicant/licensee to pay subsequent year licensing fees shall result in revocation of the license. The applicant/licensee shall be advised in writing of the failure to pay and given thirty (30) days to pay the licensing fee. Failure to pay within thirty (30) days shall result in license revocation.
[Ord. No. 404 § 6; Ord. No. 521 § 6]
After the initial license term of five (5) years, each license shall be renewed for an additional five (5) year term, provided all conditions of this chapter are met as more fully set forth above. The commencement date for any renewal license shall be the date of the expiration of the prior license. There shall be no gap in licenser of active mining sites, unless the applicant/licensee discontinues active mining of the licensed site and does not seek to renew the license. A site not actively mined and not licensed shall be treated as a new site for mining licensure if the site is unused for a period of twelve (12) consecutive months and the prior license has expired and the applicant has not sought to renew the license. Rehabilitation/reclamation of the site must be ongoing even if no license renewal is sought.
[Ord. No. 404 § 7]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any terms or provisions of this chapter or any conditions of the issued mining license shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ninety (90) days or a fine not less than two hundred fifty ($250.00) dollars nor more than one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars or both, in the discretion of the Judge of the Municipal Court. Each violation of any provision of this chapter or any other ordinance applicable to resource extraction in the Township or any condition of the issued mining license or any rule or regulation of the Township dealing with mining and resource extraction shall constitute a separate offense. Each day a violation continues shall be considered a separate chargeable violation and the Court may impose fines and penalties accordingly.