[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of West Deptford 1-12-1995 by Ord.
No. 94-23. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Chapter 157, formerly reserved, shall be enacted and may be cited as the "Unfit Dwellings Ordinance of the Township of West Deptford."
A.
The Township Committee of the Township of West Deptford finds that
dwellings that are old, dilapidated or so out of repair as to be dangerous,
unsafe, insanitary or otherwise unfit for human habitation pose a
serious hazard to the health, safety, general welfare and the quality
of the life of the citizens of West Deptford Township. As such a danger
can be abated and the people have a right to and should be ensured
a neighborhood free from any such dangers posed by unfit dwellings,
it is the policy of the Township of West Deptford to ensure that such
unfit dwellings do not remain erected so as to protect the health
and welfare or safety of the citizens or degrade the quality of life.
B.
This chapter shall apply to all dwellings that are classified as
unfit for human habitation within the limits of the Township of West
Deptford.
The following terms, whenever used or referred to in the chapter,
shall have the following respective meanings for the purposes of this
chapter, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
Any building or structure or part thereof, used and occupied
for human habitation or intended to be so used, and includes any outhouses
and appurtenances belonging thereto or usually enjoyed therewith.
The holder of the title in fee simple.
All individuals, associations and corporations who have interest
of record in a dwelling and any who are in possession thereof.
Any housing authority or any officer who is in charge of
any department or branch of the government of the Township of West
Deptford, County of Gloucester or State of New Jersey, relating to
health, fire, building regulations or to their activities concerning
dwellings in the Township of West Deptford.
The officer who is authorized by this chapter to exercise
the powers prescribed for him.
For the administration and enforcement of this chapter, the
Construction Official of the Township of West Deptford is hereby designated
as the public officer, and he shall serve in such capacity without
any additional salary or fees.
In addition to the powers herein granted to the public officer,
he shall also have the following powers:
A.
To investigate the dwelling conditions in the Township of West Deptford
in order to determine which dwellings therein are unfit for human
habitation.
B.
To administer oaths, affirmations, examine witnesses and receive
evidence.
C.
To enter upon the premises for the purpose of making examinations,
provided that such entries shall be made in such manner as to cause
the least possible inconvenience to the persons in possession.
D.
To exercise such other and additional powers as are reasonably necessary
and convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions
of this chapter.
Whenever it shall be found that there exists in the Township
of West Deptford dwellings which are unfit for human habitation due
to dilapidation, disrepair, structural defects, defects increasing
the hazards of fire, accidents or other calamities, lack of adequate
ventilation, light or sanitary facilities, or due to other conditions
rendering such dwellings unsafe or unsanitary and dangerous and detrimental
to the health or safety or otherwise inimical to the welfare of the
residents, the public officer, hereinafter designated, shall upon
the filing of a petition by a public authority or by at least five
residents of the Township of West Deptford, charging that any dwelling
is unfit for human habitation, or if it shall appear to the public
officer (on his own motion) that any dwelling is unfit for human habitation,
the said public officer shall make a preliminary investigation or
cause such preliminary investigation to be made concerning the basis
for such charges.
If a preliminary investigation shall disclose to the said public
officer a basis for the charges filed, he shall issue and cause to
be served upon the owner of and parties in interest in such dwelling
a complaint stating the charges in that respect. The complaint shall
also contain a notice that a hearing will be held before the public
officer (or his designated agent) at a place therein fixed not less
than seven days nor more than 30 days after the serving of said complaint.
The complaint shall state that the owner and parties in interest
shall be given the right to file an answer to the complaint and to
appear in person, by counsel or otherwise, and give testimony at the
place and time fixed in the complaint.
The rules of evidence prevailing in the courts shall not be
controlling in hearings before the public officer.
When after such notice and hearing the public officer determines
that the building under consideration is unfit for human habitation
or occupancy or use, he shall state, in writing, his findings of fact
in support of such determination and shall issue and cause to be served
upon the owner thereof and parties in interest an order as follows:
A.
Requiring the repair, alteration or improvement of the said building
to be made by the owner, within a period of not more than 90 days
from the date of the order, or at the option of the owner to vacate
or have the said building vacated and closed within 90 days of the
date of the order; and if the building is in such a condition as to
make it dangerous to the health and safety of persons on or near the
premises, and the owner fails to repair, alter or improve the said
building within the 90 days of the date of the order, then the owner
shall be required to remove or demolish said building within 120 days
of the date of the order to repair, alter or improve.
If the owner fails to comply with an order to repair, alter
or improve, or, at the option of the owner, to vacate and close the
building, as the case may be, then the public officer may cause such
building to be repaired, altered or improved, or to be vacated and
closed. The public officer may cause to be posted, on the main entrance
of any building so closed, a placard with the following words: "This
building is unfit for human habitation or occupancy or use; the use
or occupation of this building is prohibited and unlawful."
If the owner fails to comply with an order to remove or demolish
the dwelling, the public officer may cause such dwelling to be removed
or demolished or make contracts for the removal or demolition thereof
after advertisement for, and receipt of, bids therefor.
The amount of the cost of the filing of legal papers, expert
witnesses' fees, search fees and advertising charges, incurred in
the course of any proceeding taken under this chapter determines in
favor of the municipality, and the amount of the cost of such repairs,
improvements, alterations or improvements, or vacating or closing,
or removal or demolition, by the public officer or if the amount of
the balance thereof remaining after deduction of the sum, if any,
realized from the sale of materials derived from such buildings or
from any contract for removal or demolition thereof, shall be a municipal
lien against the real property upon which such cost was incurred.
If the building is removed or demolished by the public officer, he
shall sell the materials of such building. There shall be credited
against the cost of the removal or the demolition thereof, including
the clearance and, if necessary, leveling of the site, the proceeds
of any sale of such materials or any sum derived from any contract
for the removal or demolition of the building. If there are no such
credits or if the sum total of such costs exceeds the total of such
credits, a detailed statement of the aforesaid costs and the amount
so due shall be filed with the Municipal Tax Assessor or other custodian
of the records of tax of liens, and a copy thereof shall be forthwith
forwarded to the owner by registered mail. If the total of the credits
exceeds such costs, the balance remaining shall be deposited in the
Superior Court by the public officer, shall be secured in such manner
as may be directed by such Court, and shall be disbursed according
to the order or judgment of the Court to the persons found to be entitled
thereto by final order or judgment of such Court. Any owner or party
in interest may, within 30 days of the date of the filing of the lien
certificate, proceed in a summary manner in the Superior Court to
contest the reasonableness of the amount or the accuracy of the cost
set forth in the municipal lien certificate.
Complaints or orders issued by the public officer pursuant to
this chapter shall be served upon persons either personally or by
registered mail, but if the whereabouts of such person or persons
is unknown and the same cannot be ascertained by the public officer
in the exercise of reasonable diligence, then the public officer shall
make an affidavit to that effect, then the serving of such complaint
or order upon such persons may be made by publishing the same once
in a newspaper printed and published in the municipality or, in the
absence of such newspaper, in one printed and published in the county
and circulating in the municipality in which the buildings are located.
A copy of such complaint or order shall be posted in a conspicuous
place on premises affected by the complaint or order. A copy of such
complaint or order shall be duly recorded or lodged for record with
the County Clerk of Gloucester County.
The remedies herein provided shall be exclusive remedies, and
no person affected by an order of the public officer shall be entitled
to recover any damages for action taken pursuant to any order of the
public officer or because of noncompliance by such person with any
order of the public officer.
If an actual and immediate danger to life is posed by the threatened
collapse of any fire damaged or other structurally unsafe building,
the public officer may, after taking such measures as may be necessary
to make such building temporarily safe, seek a judgment in summary
proceedings for the demolition thereof.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to abrogate or impair
the powers of the Courts or of any Township department to enforce
any provisions of the Township Charter or its ordinances or regulations,
nor to prevent or punish violations thereof; and the powers conferred
by this chapter shall be in addition and supplemented to the powers
conferred by any other law or chapter.
