The persons charged with the responsibility of enforcement of this chapter shall also be known as the "Construction Official" and "subcode officials" or their designated representatives.
All buildings and premises subject to this chapter are subject to inspection from time to time by the enforcing officer of the city. At the time of such inspections, all rooms in the building and all parts of the premises must be available and accessible for such inspections, and the owner, operator and occupant are required to provide the necessary arrangements to facilitate inspections. Such inspections shall be made between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., prevailing time, unless one of the following conditions exists:
A. 
There is reason to believe that violations are occurring on the premises which can only be apprehended and detected by inspections during other than the prescribed hours or which require immediate inspection after being reported, such as failure to supply heat.
B. 
There is reason to believe a violation exists of a character which is an immediate threat to health or safety, requiring inspection and abatement without delay.
Inspectors shall be supplied with official identification and, upon request, shall exhibit such identification when entering any dwelling unit, rooming unit or any part of any premises subject to this chapter. Inspectors shall conduct themselves so as to avoid intentional embarrassment or inconvenience to occupants.
In addition to the provisions of Section 115-27, the public officer may, upon affidavit, apply to the Municipal Court Judge of the City of South Amboy for a search warrant, setting forth factually the actual conditions and circumstances that provide a reasonable basis for believing that a nuisance or violation of this chapter exists on the premises, and if the Judge is satisfied as to the matter set forth in the said affidavit, he shall authorize the issuance of a search warrant permitting access to and inspection of that part of the premises on which the nuisance or violations exists. Warrant for access may be issued by the Judge upon affidavit of the public officer establishing grounds therefor. Upon the request of the inspecting officer, the Chief of Police or his designee shall assign a police officer to accompany the inspecting office on his inspection.
Where the public officer or his agent after obtaining a warrant is refused entry or access or is otherwise impeded or prevented by the owner or operator from conducting an inspection of the premises, such person shall be in violation of this chapter and subject to the penalties hereunder.
Except as provided in Section 115-39, where a violation of this chapter or the regulations hereunder is found to exist, a written notice from the public officer shall be served on the person or persons responsible for the correction thereof.
The notice shall specify the violation or violations, what must be done to correct same, a reasonable period of time not to exceed 30 days within which to correct or abate the violation unless extenuating circumstances warrant otherwise, the right of the person served to request a hearing and that the notice shall become an order of the public officer within 10 days after service unless a hearing is requested pursuant to Section 115-34.
Notice may be served personally or by registered or regular mail, with postage prepaid, addressed to the last known address of the person to be served. In the case of an occupant, notice may be posted upon the door of his dwelling unit or rooming unit. 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. If the last known address cannot be ascertained, the notice may be posted on the outside front entrance of the building. The public officer shall file and provide notice to any owner, operator or occupant of any violation at any address other than the last known address provided hereunder if such address is filed with the public officer personally or by certified mail addressed to the public officer. Service upon an owner, operator or occupant may be also attained by service of any notice upon a member of the family of the owner, operator or occupant. Date of service of the notice shall be determined, where service is by mail, as of the day following the day of mailing for notice to addresses within the city and as of the fourth day after the day of mailing for notice to addresses outside the city. Where the day of service would fall upon a Sunday or other day when mail is not ordinarily delivered, then the day of service shall be the next regular delivery day.
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, serving a written request within the ten-day period in person or by mail on the public officer. 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 public officer, upon receipt of the request, shall, within 30 days therefrom and upon five days' notice to the party aggrieved, set the matter down for hearing.
At any hearing provided hereunder, the public 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 and to enforce any such subpoena as provided by law. Determination shall be made within 10 days from the completion of the hearing. The public officer shall issue an order either incorporating the determinations and directions contained in the notice, modifying the same or withdrawing the notice.
Where the violation or condition existing on the premises is of such a nature as to constitute an immediate threat to life and limb or is severely inimicable to the welfare and well-being of the citizens of South Amboy unless abated without delay, the public officer 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 public officer shall abate the condition immediately thereafter.
[Ord. No. 20-2013]
Where the abatement of any nuisance as defined herein, correction of a defect in the premises or bringing the premises into compliance with the requirements of any municipal ordinance or state law applicable thereto requires expending city moneys therefor, the public officer shall present a report of work done to accomplish the foregoing to the City Council along with a summary of the proceedings undertaken by the public officer to secure compliance. After review of the same, the City Council may approve the said expenses and costs, whereupon the same shall become a lien against the said premises, collectible as provided by law. The said expenses and costs shall include an Administration Fee to be paid to the City, in the amount of $250. A copy of the resolution approving the said expenses and costs shall be certified by the City Council and filed with the Tax Collector of the city, who shall be responsible for the collection thereof.
Where there exists a violation of occupancy standards hereunder, an owner or operator, upon receipt of a notice of a violation, if unable to eliminate the violation by peaceable means within the period of time specified in said notice, shall commence within such period legal action to dispossess, evict or eject the occupants who cause the violation. No further action hereunder shall then be taken against the owner or operator so long as the action aforesaid is pending in the court and is prosecuted expeditiously and in good faith.
Notwithstanding the requirements of Sections 115-32 and 115-35, violations of the following provisions may be prosecuted without notice by the filing of a complaint by the public officer in the Municipal Court:
A. 
Where the public officer shall determine that there was a violation and a notice was served upon the owner, operator or occupant, whether or not said violation was abated prior to the issuance of an order, if thereafter within the space of one year there shall be a second violation by the same owner, operator or occupant of the same provision of this chapter discovered on the same premises, the offender may be prosecuted on the second violation without the public officer's first giving notice and opportunity for a hearing to the owner, operator or occupant, by the filing of a complaint by the public officer in the Municipal Court.
B. 
Where the public officer has on two different occasions found violations by the same owner, operator or occupant on the same premises and has issued notices on each, upon discovering a third or subsequent violation by the same owner, operator or occupant on the same premises within the space of one year, whether of the same sections or of any other sections of this chapter, he may thereupon prosecute the offender by filing a complaint in the Municipal Court of the city for the said third or subsequent violation occurring within the said period of one year without first providing notice and opportunity for a hearing by the public officer.
For the purpose of enforcement of this chapter, the service of a notice to an owner, whether or not the owner is also the operator, shall constitute notice of violations set forth therein until said violations are abated in conformity with this chapter and other applicable ordinances of the City of South Amboy.
A. 
Where the owner, operator or lessor of any structure containing two or more dwelling units which is let or rented to another in whole or in part violates this chapter or any other municipal ordinance pertaining to said structure or fails to abate any violations of this chapter or violates an order of the public officer with respect thereto, the public officer, upon resolution duly approved by the City Council, may commence an action in the Superior Court seeking appointment of the public officer as receiver ex officio of the rents and income from the said property.
B. 
The said rents and income shall be collected by the said receiver and shall be:
(1) 
Expended and allotted to secure compliance with the ordinances of the city and laws of the state as set forth in the order of the public officer.
(2) 
Utilized to defray such costs and expenses of the receivership as may be adjudged by the Superior Court.
(3) 
Applied toward payment to the City of South Amboy of any fines or penalties with costs which may have been imposed on the owner, operator or lessor for violation of the ordinances of the City of South Amboy and which have remained unpaid.
A. 
Fines. A violation of any section or subsection of this chapter shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $500 for each violation committed hereunder. Each violation of a section or subsection of this chapter shall constitute a separate and distinct violation independent of any other section or subsection. Each day's failure to comply with any such section or subsection shall constitute a separate violation.
B. 
Penalties in addition. Where an owner, operator or occupant has been convicted of a violation of this chapter and within 12 months thereafter is found by the Judge of the Municipal Court to be guilty of a second violation of this chapter, the Court may, if it finds that the second offense was willful and inexcusable, sentence the offender, in addition to or in lieu of the fine set forth in the above subsection, to imprisonment in the county jail for a period of time not to exceed 90 days.
C. 
Liability of officers and agents. Where the defendant is other than a natural person or persons, the above two subsections shall also apply to any agent, superintendent, officer, member or partner who shall, alone or with others, have charge, care or control of the premises.
[New]
The Mayor is hereby authorized and empowered to promulgate such written rules and regulations as may be necessary for the proper interpretation and administration of the provisions of this chapter, provided that such rules and regulations do not conflict with this chapter and conform to the general standards prescribed by this chapter. The Mayor shall file copies of such rules and regulations with the City Clerk and shall make available in the Mayor's office a copy for inspection by members of the public during regular business hours.
A. 
The public officer shall have the power to withhold strict enforcement of the requirements of this chapter upon written application therefor by an owner, operator or occupant, after making determination that:
(1) 
Any variation or modification of structure or use approved by the public officer will not in any material way alter the standards of this chapter and cannot affect detrimentally the health or safety of occupants or owners of adjacent premises in the neighborhood.
(2) 
Strict enforcement would constitute an undue and unnecessary hardship on the owner, operator or occupant because it would compel expenditures on the premises which would be substantially disproportionate to any benefit to health, safety or welfare that might be derived therefrom.
(3) 
The owner, operator or occupant is without any practical or feasible means to comply with the strict provisions of this chapter.
B. 
Upon denial of any such application, the owner, operator or occupant may request a hearing, which shall be held in accordance with the provisions of Section 115-35. Such application shall not constitute a defense of any violation of this chapter concerning which proceedings are pending in the Municipal Court when the application is filed, nor shall any variance or modification allowed hereunder constitute a vested right against any ordinance enacted hereinafter by the City Council compelling strict enforcement of any provisions of this chapter.
Whenever an owner, operator or occupant, prospective purchaser, mortgagee or prospective occupant shall apply to the public officer for an inspection in order to ascertain if any section of this chapter has been violated, the public officer shall, upon payment of the fee hereunder stated, cause an inspection to be made of the premises and issue an informal certificate or report of the inspection to the applicant, indicating therein any violations of this chapter on the premises. The applicant for inspection shall state in writing his full name and residence and the reasons and basis for which the inspection is requested. The public officer may deny the application for failure to comply with this requirement. The fee for any inspection made under this section shall be $25 for dwellings of 10 or less units, $5 additional for each unit in excess of 10, and $5 for each reinspection subsequent to the first reinspection.
Any person who sells or conveys any dwelling or dwelling unit in the City of South Amboy shall include, as a part of the agreement of sale, a statement that there is or is not any outstanding notice or order issued by the public officer citing violations of the provisions of this chapter. The failure of a seller or conveyor to conform to the requirements of the above statement, even with the consent of the purchaser or transferee, shall be in violation of this chapter and subject said seller or conveyor to the penalties as set forth in Section 115-42. Upon written request and payment of a fee as stipulated under Section 115-45 by persons seeking compliance with this section, the public officer shall cause an inspection to be made and shall mail a report of such inspection to the person requesting it.