[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Union 7-27-1943 by Ord. No. 1023A; amended in its entirety 10-26-2004 by Ord. No. 4842 (Ch. 192 of the 2004 Code). Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is adopted pursuant to the authority granted by N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.13 and 40:48-2.14.
In the event that the Construction Code Official, Health Officer or Superintendent of Public Works, or their designated agent, finds that it is necessary and expedient for the preservation of the public health, safety or general welfare, or to eliminate a fire hazard, to remove from any lands situate in the Township of Union or destroy thereon any brush, weeds, including ragweed, dead and dying trees, stumps, roots, obnoxious growths, filth, garbage, trash and debris, the Construction Code Official, Health Officer or Superintendent of Public Works, or their designated agent, is hereby authorized and directed to notify, in writing, the owner and, if occupied by a tenant, the tenant or tenants thereof, to remove or destroy the same. The notice shall contain a copy of this chapter. If the owner or tenant does not remove or destroy the same within 10 days after written notice from the Township, the Construction Code Official, Health Officer or Superintendent of Public Works is hereby authorized and directed to cause the offending material to be removed or destroyed.
Any owner or tenant affected by an order of the Township hereunder shall have the right, within the ten-day notification period, to file an appeal from the order of the Construction Code Official, Health Officer or Superintendent of Public Works to the Township Administrator. The appeal shall be in writing, and the Township Administrator shall set the matter down for hearing in a summary manner. The Township Administrator shall have the authority to affirm, deny or modify the order of the Construction Code Official, Health Officer or Superintendent of Public Works. The decision of the Township Administrator shall be in writing and, if action by the owner or tenant is required thereby, the Township Administrator shall furnish the owner or tenant an additional period of time up to a maximum of 10 days to comply. Failure of the owner or tenant to comply within said period shall authorize the Construction Code Official, Health Officer or Superintendent of Public Works to move forthwith in accord with the terms of this chapter.
A. 
In the event that any of the aforementioned are removed or destroyed by the Township of Union, the Construction Code Official, Health Officer or Superintendent of Public Works, or their designated agent, shall certify the costs thereof to the governing body, which shall review the cost and, if found correct, shall cause the cost as shown thereon to be charged as a lien against said lands.
B. 
The amount so charged shall forthwith become a lien upon the lands and shall be added to and become and form part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon said lands and shall bear interest at the same rate as taxes and shall be collected and enforced by the same officers and in the same manner as taxes.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
PERSON
Any individual, firm, corporation, partnership or group of persons, and the plural or singular, and the masculine, feminine or neuter shall be inferred, whichever is appropriate for the effectuation of this chapter.
All persons occupying residential premises within the Township of Union in the County of Union shall, for the period from September 1 to December 31 of each year, source separate leaves from solid waste generated at those premises and, unless leaves are stored or recycled for composting or mulching by the generator, place the leaves for collection in the manner hereinafter provided.
[Amended 4-26-2005 by Ord. No. 4865; 2-10-2009 by Ord. No. 5085]
A. 
Leaves must be placed in biodegradable paper bags or an open sturdy container no larger than 32 gallons and no heavier than 50 pounds for pickup.
B. 
Leaves must not contain plants, branches, shrub clippings or other foreign matter.
C. 
Leaf bags or containers must not be placed at the curb before 5:00 p.m. the day before a scheduled pickup.
D. 
No landscaper or resident shall blow, rake or place leaves curbside.
E. 
Landscapers shall comply with the requirements of this section.
[Amended 2-10-2009 by Ord. No. 5085]
Use of plastic leaf bags is prohibited; only biodegradable paper bags or an open sturdy container no larger than 32 gallons must be used for leaf collection.
[Amended 2-10-2009 by Ord. No. 5085]
A. 
Landscapers shall be responsible for the disposal of grass clippings, leaves and other yard debris which they may have generated. Landscapers may place the leaves from residential premises which they are servicing for collection by placing said leaves in biodegradable bags or an open sturdy container no larger than 32 gallons, no heavier than 50 pounds, and place at the curb not before 5:00 p.m. the day before a scheduled pickup; said leaves must not contain plants, branches, shrub clippings or other foreign matter.
B. 
Landscapers and residents may deposit grass clippings at the curb, not before 5:00 p.m. the day before a scheduled pickup for collection for recycling use as mulch or composting materials. The grass clippings must be placed out in a biodegradable paper bag or an open sturdy container no larger than 32 gallons, no heavier than 50 pounds. No grass clippings will be collected in plastic bags.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a penalty not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 90 days or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination thereof.