Editor's Note: See also Development Regulations.
[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."
[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.
