[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-99]
The municipal engineer shall have such powers and duties as
are prescribed in this division and elsewhere in this chapter and
shall have the power to adopt such forms, rules and regulations, not
inconsistent with this chapter, as deemed by the municipal engineer
to be desirable or necessary to carry out his or her duties.
[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-100]
Approval by the municipal engineer on such form as he or she
shall prepare shall be obtained prior to the undertaking of any development
for which permission is required under this chapter, and such undertaking
shall be in accordance with such approval and may continue only so
long as the approval is valid and subsisting.
[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-101]
The municipal engineer shall enforce the required implementation
of subdivisions, site plans and zoning variances approved under laws
or ordinances in effect prior to the adoption of this chapter and
superseded hereby, and for such purpose the municipal engineer shall
have all of the powers and duties prescribed in this division.
[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-102]
(a)
If, before final subdivision approval has been granted, any
person transfers or sells or agrees to transfer or sell as owner or
agent, except pursuant to an agreement expressly conditioned on final
subdivision approval, any land that forms a part of a subdivision
for which approval is required by this chapter, such person shall
be subject to a penalty not to exceed $1,000, and each lot disposition
so made may be deemed a separate violation.
(b)
In addition to the foregoing, the municipality may institute
and maintain a civil action for injunctive relief and to set aside
and invalidate any conveyance made pursuant to such a contract of
sale if a certificate of compliance has not been issued in accordance
with Section 10B-103. Any such action must be brought within two years
after the date of the recording of the instrument of transfer, sale
or conveyance of such land or within six years if unrecorded. In any
such action the transferee, purchaser or grantee shall be entitled
to a lien upon the portion of the land from which the subdivision
was made that remains in the possession of the developer or its successors,
to secure the return of any deposits made or purchase price paid and
also, a reasonable search fee, survey expense and title closing expense,
if any.
[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-103]
(a)
The prospective purchaser, prospective mortgagee or any other
person interested in any land that forms part of a subdivision may
apply in writing to the municipal clerk for the issuance of a certificate
certifying whether such subdivision has been approved by the Planning
Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment. Such application shall contain
a diagram showing the location and dimensions of the land to be covered
by the certificate and the name of the owner thereof.
(b)
The municipal clerk shall make and issue such certificate within
15 days after the receipt of such written application and the fees
therefor. Such officer shall keep a duplicate copy of each certificate,
consecutively numbered, including a statement of the fee charged,
in a binder as a permanent record of his or her office.
(c)
Each such certificate shall be designated a "certificate as
to approval of subdivision of land," and shall certify:
(1)
Whether there exists in the municipality a duly established
Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment and whether there is
an ordinance controlling subdivision of land adopted under the authority
of the Municipal Land Use Law;
(2)
Whether the subdivision, as it relates to the land shown in
such application, has been approved by the Planning Board or Zoning
Board of Adjustment and, if so, state the date of such approval and
any extensions and terms thereof and that the subdivision of which
the lands are a part is a validly existing subdivision; and
(3)
Whether such subdivision, if the same has not been approved,
is statutorily exempt from the requirement of approval as provided
in the Municipal Land Use Law.
(d)
The municipal clerk shall be entitled to demand and receive
for such certificate issued by him or her a reasonable fee not in
excess of those provided in Section 54:5-14 and 54:5-15 of the Revised
Statutes of New Jersey. The fees so collected by such officer shall
be paid by him or her to the municipality.
[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-104]
(a)
Any person who shall acquire for a valuable consideration an
interest in the lands covered by any such certificate of approval
of a subdivision in reliance upon the information therein contained
shall hold such interest free of any right, remedy or action which
could be prosecuted or maintained by the municipality pursuant to
the provisions of Section 10B-102.
(b)
If the municipal clerk fails to issue any such certificate within
15 days after receipt of an application and the fees therefor, any
person acquiring an interest in the lands described in such application
shall hold such interest free of any right, remedy or action which
could be prosecuted or maintained by the municipality pursuant to
Section 10B-102.
[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-105]
In case any development is undertaken, occupied or used in violation
of this chapter or any rule, regulation or order made under the authority
of this chapter, or in case such violation is threatened, the municipal
engineer, in his or her own official behalf or on behalf of the municipality
or any municipal agency or any interested party, in addition to other
remedies, may institute any appropriate action or proceedings to prevent
such violation, or to restrain, correct or abate such violation or
to prevent any illegal act, conduct, business, occupancy or use in
or about the premises that are the subject of the development; provided,
that no such action or proceeding shall be instituted by the municipal
engineer in any court other than the municipal court, except in case
of emergency, unless the Princeton Council shall first have authorized
such.
[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-106]
The municipal engineer shall have the right to enter any premises
at any reasonable time for the purpose of making inspections in the
course of his or her duties or, as permitted by law, to investigate
violations of this chapter, provided that the owner has, by virtue
of signing the application form for development approval or in such
other form as he or she provides or on which a municipality requires
signature, has consented to such entry. The application form for development
approval shall contain a provision providing for such owner consent.
[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-107]
(a)
Except as otherwise provided in Section 10B-102, any person
who violates any provision of this chapter or any rule, regulation
or order made under the authority of this chapter, shall be subject
to all penalties set forth in this Code. In cases of continuing violations,
each day that such violation continues shall be deemed a separate
offense. Any complaint to impose such penalty may be filed in municipal
court on behalf of the state by the municipal engineer, any municipal
police officer or any interested party.
(b)
Any person who is convicted of violating this chapter or any
other rule, regulation, or order promulgated pursuant to this Code
within one year of the date of a previous violation of the same provision
shall be deemed and treated as a repeat offender. The additional fine
imposed by the court upon a person for a repeated offense shall be
calculated separately from the fine imposed by the violation of the
provision.
(c)
Any person convicted of violating this chapter or any other
land use ordinance of the municipality or any other rule, regulation,
or order promulgated pursuant to this code or other municipal ordinance
and who is in default of the payment of any fine imposed for the violation
may, at the court's discretion, be imprisoned for a term not exceeding
90 days or be required to perform community service for a period not
exceeding 90 days.
[Ord. No. 2015-20 § 10B-108]
The administrative officer shall maintain in his or her office
a record of all development permits and all actions, proceedings or
complaints taken, instituted or filed by him or her.
