[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Town of Secaucus 6-18-62, Section 148-16 amended at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 137, General Provisions, Board of Health, Article I. Amended 5-1-72, 3-16-81, 5-21-84, 6-20-88. Amended in its entirety by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Secaucus 10-8-13 by Ord. No. 2013-30. Other amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Secaucus Anti-Litter Ordinance." The purpose of this chapter is to establish requirements to control littering in the Town of Secaucus so as to protect public health, safety and welfare, and to prescribe penalties for the failure to comply.
A. 
Terms defined. For the purposes of this chapter the following terms, phrases, words and their derivatives shall have the meaning given herein.
GARBAGE
Putrescible animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
LITTER
Garbage, refuse and rubbish as defined herein, and any used or unconsumed substance or waste material which has been discarded, whether made of aluminum, glass, plastic, rubber, papers, or other natural or synthetic material, or any combination thereof, including, but not limited to, any bottle, jar or can, or any top, cap or detachable tab of any bottle, jar or can, any unlighted cigarette, cigar, match or any flaming or glowing material or any trash, debris, grass clippings or other lawn or garden waste, newspapers, magazines, glass, metal, plastic or paper containers or other packaging or construction materials, but does not include the waste of the primary processes of mining or other extraction processes, logging, sawmilling, farming or manufacturing.
PARK
A park, reservation, playground, beach, recreation center or any public area in the Town of Secaucus owned or used by the town and devoted to active or passive recreation.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.
PRIVATE PREMISES
Any dwelling, house, building or other structure designed or used either wholly or in part for private residential purposes, whether inhabited or temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant, and shall include any yard, grounds, walk, driveway, porch, steps, vestibule or mailbox belonging or appurtenant to such dwelling, house, building or other structure.
PUBLIC PLACE
Any area that is used or held out for use by the public, whether owned or operated by public or private interests. This includes, but is not limited to, any and all streets, sidewalks, boulevards, alleys or other public ways and any and all public parks, squares, spaces, grounds and buildings.
RECEPTACLE
A container suitable for the depositing of litter.
REFUSE
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes (except body wastes), including garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleaning, dead animals, abandoned automobiles, furniture, refrigerators, appliances, building material and solid market and industrial wastes.
RUBBISH
Nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and noncombustible wastes such as paper, wrappings, cigarettes, cardboard, tin cans, wood, glass, bedding, crockery and similar materials.
TOWN
The Town of Secaucus; in the County of Hudson.
VEHICLE
Every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway.
B. 
Word usage. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words used in the plural number include the singular number and words used in the singular number include the plural number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.
No person shall burn any litter in any open place, whether public or private, or in any outside receptacle, incinerator or outdoor fireplace.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also prohibitions against burning in Ch. 43, Air Pollution, § 43-4.
No person shall throw or deposit litter or garbage in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public place within town except in designated public receptacles or in approved private receptacles for collection. No person shall place any litter or garbage in public places for collection prior to 6:00 p.m. of the evening prior to regular garbage collection day. Empty cans shall be removed within eight hours after the regular collection. All litter and garbage shall be securely wrapped or deposited in properly covered private receptacles in such a manner as to prevent it being carried or deposited by the elements upon any streets, sidewalks, other private places or upon other private property.
A. 
No person while a driver or passenger in a motor vehicle or boat shall throw or deposit litter upon any street, body of water or other public place within the town or upon private property.
B. 
Whenever any litter is thrown or discarded or allowed to fall from a motor vehicle or boat in violation of this chapter, the operator, or both, of the motor vehicle or boat shall also be deemed to have violated this chapter.
Persons owning or occupying places of business within the town shall keep the sidewalk in front of their business premises free of litter.
Persons owning or occupying property shall keep the sidewalk in front of their premises free of litter.
No person shall drive, load or move any truck or other vehicle within the town unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded as to prevent any load, contents or litter from being blown or deposited upon any street, alley or other public place. Nor shall any person drive or move any vehicle or truck within the town, the wheels or tires of which carry onto or deposit in any street, alley or other public place an excessive amount of mud, dirt, sticky substances, litter or foreign matter of any kind.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any park within the town except in public receptacles and in such a manner that the litter will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any part of the park or upon any street or other public place. Where public receptacles are not provided, all such litter shall be carried away from the park by the person responsible for its presence and properly disposed of elsewhere as provided herein.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any fountain, pond, lake, stream, lagoon, bay or any other body of water in a park or elsewhere within the town.
No person shall throw, drop, discard, deposit, or otherwise place any litter on any occupied private property within the town, whether owned by such person or not, except that the owner or person in control of private property may maintain authorized private receptacles for collection in such a manner that litter will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public place or upon any private property. This section shall not prohibit the storage and deposit of litter on private or public property licensed by the Board of Health of the Town of Secaucus.
The owner or person in control of any private property, whether occupied or vacant, shall at all times maintain the premises free of litter; provided, however, that this section shall not prohibit the storage of litter in authorized private receptacles for collection. If the owner of a property shall fail or neglect to comply with this provision, the Town of Secaucus, its agents or servants, under the direction of the Construction Code Official, may enter upon said premises in order to remove such litter, and the costs paid and incurred by the Town for removing same shall be certified by said Construction Code Official to the Council, which shall examine such certification and, if found to be correct, shall cause the cost as shown in said certification to be charged against said property. The amount so charged shall forthwith become a lien on the property and shall be added to and become and form a part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon the lands and shall bear interest at the same rate as other taxes and be collected and enforced by the same officers and in the same manner as taxes.
No person shall throw, drop, discard, deposit, or otherwise place any litter on any open or vacant public or private property within the town, whether owned by such person or not.
No person shall leave or abandon any shopping cart upon the sidewalks, streets or roadways of the Town of Secaucus.
[1]
Editors Note: See also Ch. 110, Shopping Carts.
Any litter boxes or litter baskets which are now provided by the town shall not be used by any person or persons for the depositing of garbage, rubbish or refuse therein.
Litter receptacles and proper servicing thereof shall be provided for in the below situations. "Proper servicing" means that no litter receptacle shall be allowed to overflow any of its contents or allow litter to be piled above the top of the receptacle.
A. 
Buildings used for commercial purposes or held out for public use, including but not limited to: restaurants, self-service refreshment areas, government buildings, gasoline service station islands, shopping centers and bus stations.
B. 
Special or temporary events, including but not limited to carnivals, fairs, festivals and construction sites.
A. 
Any person violating or failing to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 in the discretion of the Judge. The continuation of such violation for each successive day shall constitute a separate offense, and the person or persons allowing or permitting the continuance of the violation may be punished as provided above for each separate offense.
B. 
Any person who is convicted of violating this chapter within one year of the date of a previous violation of the same chapter 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 this chapter, but shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed for the violation of this chapter.
This chapter shall take effect upon final adoption and publication as required by law.
This chapter shall be enforced by the Construction Code Official, Board of Health and Police Department of the Town of Secaucus.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent or in conflict with this chapter are hereby repealed as to said inconsistencies or conflicts.
If any provision or portion of a provision of this chapter is held to be unconstitutional, preempted by federal or state law, or otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions of the chapter shall not be invalidated.