[New]
This book shall be known and may be cited as "The Revised General
Ordinances of the Town of Guttenberg (1993)", and is herein referred
to as the "Revision" or "Code."
[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:
Shall mean the Governing Body of the Town of Guttenberg elected
pursuant to law.
Shall mean the Municipal Clerk duly appointed pursuant to
law.
Shall mean the County of Hudson.
Shall mean the calendar days.
Shall mean an organizational unit of the Town government
established or designated by ordinance or this Code as a department,
together with any agency or instrumentality of the Town government
assigned to such organizational unit by the Board of Council.
Shall mean licensed in accordance with the appropriate section
or chapter of this Code.
Shall mean a calendar month unless otherwise specifically
provided.
Shall be construed to include an affirmation where an affirmation
may be substituted for an oath. In such cases, the words swear and
sworn shall be construed to be equivalent to the words affirm and
affirmed.
See tenant.
And the title of an officer or official shall be construed
as if the words "of the Town of Guttenberg" followed it.
Shall mean any act of local legislation heretofore or hereafter
adopted, 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.
When applied to a building or land shall include any part
owner, any corporation, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership,
joint tenant or tenant by the entirety, of the whole or of a part
of such building or land.
Shall mean any individual, natural person, partnership, joint
venture, society, association, club, firm, trustee, trust, corporation
or unincorporated group; or any officers, agents, employees, servants,
factors of any kind or personal representatives of any kind thereof
in any capacity, acting either for himself or for any other person,
under either personal appointment or pursuant to law.
Shall mean next before and next after, respectively.
Shall mean real and personal property.
Shall severally be construed to mean any and every public
ground, public square, public park or other public place within the
Town.
Shall include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights
thereto and interests therein.
Shall mean any portion of a street between the curb line
and the adjacent building line, intended for the use of pedestrians,
excluding parkways.
Shall mean and include an avenue, road, alley, lane, highway,
boulevard, concourse, driveway, culvert, sidewalk and crosswalk, and
every class of road, square, place or municipal parking field used
by the general public. "Street" shall be considered to include a sidewalk
or footpath, unless the contrary is expressed or unless such construction
is inconsistent with the apparent intent.
As applied to a building or land, shall include any person
who occupies the whole or a part of such building or land, whether
alone or with others.
Shall mean the Town of Guttenberg, in the County of Hudson
and the State of New Jersey. The word "Town" shall be construed as
if the words "of Guttenberg, New Jersey" followed it.
Shall mean seven days.
Shall mean a calendar year unless otherwise specifically
provided.
[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" includes printing, typewriting, and
any other mode of communication using paper or similar material which
is in general use, as well as legible handwriting.
"Chapter" shall mean one of the major divisions of the Code,
identified by Arabic numbers, 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.
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.
[New]
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 has
not been declared 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.
[1]
Editor's Note: Penalty provision taken from N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29.
[New; Ord. No. 23-12]
For violation of any provision of this Code, or other ordinance
of the Town of Guttenberg 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 municipality
for the detention of prisoners, for any term not exceeding 90 days;
and/or by a fine not exceeding $2,000; and/or by a period of community
service not exceeding 90 days.[1]
[1]
Note: Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29, any municipality that
chooses to impose a fine in an amount greater than $1,250 upon an
owner for violations of housing or zoning codes 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. (N.J.S.A. 40:69A-29)
[New]
The Board of Council may prescribe that for the violation of
any particular provision of the 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. The court
before which any person is convicted of violating any ordinance or
Code provision shall have power to impose any fine, term of punishment,
or period of community service not less than the minimum and not exceeding
the maximum fixed in the Code or such ordinance.
[New]
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 a 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.
[New]
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 Town, for any term not exceeding 90 days, or be required to
perform community service for a period not exceeding 90 days.
[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 Town exists shall constitute a separate violation.
[New]
The maximum penalty stated in this section is not intended to
state an appropriate penalty for each and every violation. At the
discretion of the Court, any lesser penalty, including a nominal penalty
or no penalty at all, may be appropriate for a particular case or
violation.
[Added 3-28-2022 by Ord.
No. 02-2022]
Where a violation of these Revised General Ordinances is found
to exist, a written notice from the enforcing official shall be served
on the person or persons responsible for the correction thereof.
[Added 3-28-2022 by Ord.
No. 02-2022]
The notice shall specify the location of the property by Tax Map reference, the violation or violations committed, what must be done to correct same, a reasonable period of time not to exceed 30 days to correct or abate the violation, the right of the person served to request a hearing and that the notice shall become an order in 10 days after service unless a hearing is requested pursuant to Subsection 1-5.10. The notice shall also advise the recipient that if the violation is found to be harmful to the health and safety of the occupants and the general public and is not corrected or abated, the Town may do same, the cost of which shall become a lien on the subject property.
[Added 3-28-2022 by Ord.
No. 02-2022]
a.
Notice may be served personally or by mail, certified return receipt
requested, addressed to the last known address of the person to be
served. Where it is ascertained that the owner does not reside on
the premises, the last known address shall be the address of the owner
as shown in the office of the Tax Collector. Service upon an owner
or operator may also be attained by personal service of any notice
upon a member of the family of the owner or operator over the age
of 14 years, residing with the owner or operator.
b.
If the whereabouts of the person to be served is unknown and the
same cannot be ascertained by reasonable diligence, the serving of
such notice upon such persons may be made by publishing the same once
each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper printed and published
in the county and circulating in the Town of Guttenberg. A copy of
such notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises
affected by the notice, and a copy of such notice shall be duly recorded
or lodged for record in the office of the Town Clerk.
c.
Where the manner of service of notice for a particular type of matter
is prescribed by a state statute in a manner different from above,
then such statutory provision shall be applicable to the service of
the notice in question, notwithstanding the provisions of this section.
[Added 3-28-2022 by Ord.
No. 02-2022]
Within 10 days of the date of service of a notice, the notice
shall constitute a final order, unless any person affected by the
notice requests a hearing thereon and serves a written request within
the ten-day period in person or by mail to the Town Clerk. Such request
for a hearing shall set forth briefly the grounds or reasons on which
the request for a hearing is based and the factual matters contained
in the notice of violation which are to be disputed at the hearing.
The Town Clerk, upon receipt of the request, shall, within 45 days
therefrom and upon five days' notice to the party aggrieved,
set the matter down for hearing.
[Added 3-28-2022 by Ord.
No. 02-2022]
At any hearing provided hereunder, the hearing officer shall
be vested with all the powers provided by law to compel the attendance
of witnesses and parties in interest by issuance and service of subpoena,
to require by subpoena the production of books, records or other documents
at any such hearing which may be pertinent to matters to be determined
by him/her and to enforce any such subpoena as provided by law. Determination
shall be made within 10 days from the completion of the hearing. The
hearing officer shall issue an order either incorporating the determinations
and directions contained in the notice, modifying the same or withdrawing
of the notice.
[Added 3-28-2022 by Ord.
No. 02-2022]
Where the violation or condition existing on the premises is
of such a nature as to constitute an immediate threat to public health
or life and limb unless abated without delay, the enforcement official
may either abate the violation or condition immediately or order the
owner, operator or occupant to correct the violation or condition
within a period of time not to exceed three days, and upon failure
to do so, the enforcement official may abate the condition immediately
thereafter.
[Added 3-28-2022 by Ord.
No. 02-2022]
Where abatement of any nuisance, as defined herein, correction
of a defect in the premises, or the maintenance of the premises in
a proper condition so as to conform to municipal ordinances or state
law applicable thereto involves a condition harmful to the health
and safety of the occupants or the general public and requires expending
Town moneys to correct it, the enforcing officer shall present a report
of work proposed to be done to accomplish the foregoing to the Town
Administrator with an estimate of the cost thereof, along with a summary
of the proceedings undertaken by him/her or under his/her direction
to secure compliance, including notices served upon the owners, operators,
lessors or agents, as the case may be, and summaries of hearings and
copies of orders of the Town with reference thereto. The Town Council
may thereupon order the abatement of the nuisance, correction of the
defect or any work necessary to place the premises in proper condition
and in compliance with ordinances of the Town and laws of the state,
by resolution adopted after notice and hearing to the owner in the
manner provided above to the extent applicable. The Town may thereafter
proceed to have the work performed in accordance with such resolution
at Town expense, not to exceed the amount specified in the resolution.
Upon completion thereof, the Town Council, by resolution, may approve
the expenses and costs, whereupon the same shall become a lien against
the premises, collectible as provided by law. A copy of the resolution
approving the expenses and costs shall be certified by the Town Clerk
and filed with the Tax Collector of the Town, who shall be responsible
for the collection thereof, and a copy of the resolution shall be
sent by certified mail to the owner.
[Added 3-28-2022 by Ord.
No. 02-2022]
If the Town incurs costs for emergency abatement including legal fees and costs as provided in Subsection 1-5.13, the enforcing officer shall present to the Town Council a report of the work done and the cost thereof with a summary of the proceedings undertaken and the reasons for the emergency abatement. The Town Council, after notice and hearing to the owner in the manner provided above to the extent applicable, may by resolution approve the costs, including legal fees and costs, whereupon the same shall become a lien against the premises collectible as provided by law.
[Added 3-28-2022 by Ord.
No. 02-2022]
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, violations of any
provision of this section may be prosecuted without the prior notices
and hearings required by this section by the filing of a complaint
by the Town, or a person designated by it, in the appropriate Court,
it being the intention that the remedies and penalties provided herein
shall be cumulative and not exclusive.
[New]
It shall be the duty of the Town Clerk or someone authorized
and directed by the Clerk to keep up-to-date the certified copy of
the book containing "The Code of the Town of Guttenberg, 1992" required
to be filed in the office of the Town Clerk for the use of the public.
All changes in the Code and all ordinances adopted by the Board of
Council subsequent to the adoption of the Code, which the Board of
Council shall adopt specifically as a part of the Code, shall, when
finally adopted, be included therein 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 of the Code, or to alter or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever, which will cause the law of the Town of Guttenberg to be misrepresented thereby. Anyone violating this section of this ordinance shall be subject, upon conviction, to the penalty stated in Section 1-5.
