[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Leonia 4-14-1969 by Ord. No. 665 (Ch. 112 of the 1982 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Outdoor cafes — See Ch. 186.
Food handlers — See Ch. 306.
The following words in this chapter shall be defined as follows:
COOKING
The preparation of food by the employment of heat in stoves, ovens, grills, ranges, deep fat fryers, broilers and similar devices or utensils.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, corporation or other local entity, and shall include the plural as well as the masculine or feminine.
The emission of odors or odorous gases and fumes from restaurants or retail food establishments as a result of cooking on the premises in such quantity as to be readily detectable without instruments is hereby declared a nuisance and is prohibited.
A. 
All restaurants and retail food establishments shall install and continuously maintain in good operating condition an air-purifying system or odor-neutralizing system which will effectively prevent the emission of odors or odorous gases and fumes in such quantities as to be readily detectable without instruments.
B. 
No such air-purifying system or odor-neutralizing system shall contain less than the odor filtration produced by the equivalent of 30 pounds of activated charcoal per 1,000 cubic feet per minute of exhaust air.
Any person who owns or operates a restaurant or retail food establishment and violates the provisions of § 143-2 or 143-3 of this chapter, upon receipt of notice, in writing, duly served upon the owner, operator or an employee thereof by a member of the Board of Health or its duly authorized agent, shall within seven days thereafter correct such violation. Failure to correct the condition shall comprise a distinct and separate violation for each day that the condition remains in effect beyond the seven-day period.
No certificate of occupancy shall be issued to any restaurant or retail food establishment with cooking on the premises until a satisfactory and adequate air-purifying system or odor-control system as prescribed herein shall be approved by the Building Inspector and installed in accordance with the plans and specifications.
In any case where the provisions of this chapter impose a higher standard then that set forth in any other ordinance of the Borough of Leonia or laws of the State of New Jersey applicable thereto, then the standards as set forth herein shall prevail, but if the provisions of this chapter impose a lesser standard than such other Borough ordinance or law of the State of New Jersey, then the higher standard contained in such other ordinance or law shall prevail.
[Added 12-3-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-19]
A. 
Purpose. This section is enacted to restrict the sale and use of polystyrene foam disposable food serviceware products and replace the material with recyclable and/or compostable food serviceware products to further protect the public health and safety of the residents, visitors, the environment, waterways, and wildlife, and advance the goal of developing an environmentally friendly borough.
B. 
Definitions. For the purpose of this section, certain words and phrases are defined as follows:
ASTM STANDARD
Meeting the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International Standards D6400 or D6868 for biodegradable and compostable plastics, as those standards may be amended.
BOROUGH
The Borough of Leonia in the County of Bergen.
BOROUGH FACILITIES
Any building, structure or vehicles owned or operated by the Borough of Leonia.
COMPOSTABLE
All materials in the product or package are capable of undergoing biological decomposition or otherwise becoming part of a usable compost (e.g., soil conditioning material or mulch) in a safe and timely manner in an appropriate composting program or facility. Compostable disposable food serviceware includes ASTM-standard bio-plastics or plastic-like products that are clearly labeled, such that any compost collector and processor can easily distinguish the ASTM-standard compostable plastic from non-ASTM-standard compostable plastic.
DISPOSABLE FOOD SERVICEWARE
All containers, bowls, plates, trays, cartons, cups, lids, straws, forks, spoons, knives and other items that are designed for one-time use; and on or in which any restaurant or retail food vendor directly places or packages prepared foods for consumption. This includes, but is not limited to, serviceware for takeout foods and/or leftovers from partially consumed meals prepared at restaurants or retail food vendors.
DISTRIBUTE
The sale, offer for sale, or other transfer of possession of an item for compensation, either as a separate transaction or as part of the sale, offer for sale, or other transfer of possession of another item for compensation.
FOOD VENDOR
Any restaurant or retail food vendor located or operating within the Borough that sells prepared food for consumption on, near, or off its premises. For purposes of this section, the term includes a restaurant operating from a temporary facility, cart, vehicle or mobile unit.
PERSON
An individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, corporation including a government corporation, partnership, or association.
POLYSTYRENE FOAM
Includes blown polystyrene and expanded and extruded foams (sometimes called Styrofoam®, a Dow Chemical Co. trademarked form of polystyrene foam insulation) which are thermoplastic petrochemical materials utilizing a styrene monomer and processed by any number of techniques including, but not limited to, fusion of polymer spheres (expandable bead polystyrene), injection molding, foam molding, and extrusion-blow molding (extruded foam polystyrene). Polystyrene foam is generally used to make cups, bowls, plates, trays, clamshell containers, meat trays and egg cartons.
PREPARED FOOD
Food or beverages which are served, packaged, cooked, chopped, sliced, mixed, brewed, frozen, squeezed or otherwise prepared on the food vendor's premises or within the Borough. For the purposes of this section, prepared food includes food which may be eaten on or off the premises, including take-out food.
RAW FOOD
Food or beverages which are served, packaged, cooked, chopped, sliced, mixed, brewed, frozen, squeezed or otherwise sold on the food vendor's premises or within the Borough. For the purposes of this section, "raw food" includes meat, fish, poultry, eggs and vegetables on trays made, in whole or in part, from polystyrene foam either as separate items or as part of the sale to consumers from a refrigerator case or similar retail appliance.
RECYCLABLE
Material that can be sorted, cleansed, and reconstituted using recycling services offered in the Borough for the purpose of using the altered form in the manufacture of a new product. Recycling does not include burning, incinerating, converting, or otherwise thermally destroying solid waste.
C. 
Prohibited food serviceware.
(1) 
Food vendors are prohibited from providing prepared food and/or raw food in disposable food serviceware that contains polystyrene foam.
(2) 
No person may sell, offer for sale, or otherwise distribute within the Borough any disposable food serviceware that contains polystyrene foam. There will be a six-month phase-in period with requirements for notice and education by the Borough of Leonia.
(3) 
All Borough facilities, Borough-managed concessions, Borough-of-Leonia-sponsored events, and Borough-permitted events are prohibited from using polystyrene foam disposable food serviceware. This prohibition shall apply to the event organizers, agents of the event organizers, event food vendors and any other party, including nonprofit organizations, who enter into an agreement with one or more of the co-sponsors of the event to distribute prepared food at the event or otherwise provide an event-related service.
(4) 
Borough departments are prohibited from purchasing polystyrene foam disposable food serviceware.
D. 
Required recyclable or compostable disposable food serviceware.
(1) 
All food vendors using any disposable food serviceware shall use recyclable or compostable disposable food serviceware unless it can be shown that a compostable or recyclable product is not available for a specific application. Food vendors are strongly encouraged to use reusable food serviceware in place of using disposable food serviceware.
(2) 
All disposable food serviceware sold, offered for sale, or otherwise distributed within the Borough shall be recyclable or compostable.
(3) 
All Borough facilities, Borough-managed concessions, Borough-sponsored events, and Borough-permitted events using any disposable food serviceware shall use recyclable or compostable disposable food serviceware.
(4) 
Borough departments using any disposable food serviceware shall use recyclable or compostable disposable food serviceware.
E. 
Exemptions.
(1) 
Raw or prepared foods prepared or packaged outside the Borough are exempt from the provisions of this section. Purveyors of food prepared or packaged outside the Borough are encouraged to follow the provisions of this section.
(2) 
Food vendors will be exempted from the provisions of this section for specific items or types of disposable food serviceware if the Borough Administrator or his/her designee, in consultation with the Environmental Commission, determines that a suitable recyclable or compostable alternative does not exist.
(3) 
Any person may seek an exemption from the requirements of this section by filing a request with the Borough Administrator. The Borough Administrator, consistent with this section and in consultation with the Environmental Commission, may waive any specific requirement of this section for a period of not more than one year if the person seeking the exemption has demonstrated that strict application of the specific requirement would cause undue hardship. A person granted an exemption must re-apply prior to the end of the one-year exemption period and demonstrate continued undue hardship if the person wishes to have the exemption extended. The Borough Administrator's decision, in consultation with the Environmental Commission, to grant or deny an exemption or to grant or deny extension of a previously issued exemption shall be in writing and shall be final. "Undue hardship" shall be construed to include, but not be limited to:
(a) 
Situations where there are no acceptable alternatives to polystyrene foam packaging for reasons which are unique to the applicant;
(b) 
Situations where compliance with the requirements of this section would deprive a person of a legally protected right.
F. 
Enforcement; notices of violation; penalties.
(1) 
The Borough Administrator or his/her designee shall have primary responsibility for enforcement of this section. The Borough Administrator or his/her designee is authorized to promulgate regulations and to take any and all other actions reasonable and necessary to enforce this section, including, but not limited to, inspecting any vendor's premises to verify compliance.
(2) 
If the Borough Administrator or his/her designee determines that a person is in violation of this section, he/she shall issue a written notice warning of the violation. If, after issuance of such notice, the Borough Administrator finds continued violations of the provisions of this section, the Borough Administrator may apply for or impose the various sanctions provided in this section.
(3) 
Any person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine or punishment as set forth in Chapter 1, Article I, General Penalty.
(4) 
The Borough Administrator may issue an administrative civil liability citation to anyone violating or failing to comply with any of the requirements of this section, in an amount not exceeding $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second violation in the same year, and $400 for each subsequent violation in the same year.
(5) 
The Borough Attorney may seek legal, injunctive, or other equitable relief to enforce this section.
(6) 
The remedies and penalties provided in this section are cumulative and not exclusive of one another.