[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of West Milford as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 7-14-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-026[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This article was originally adopted as Ch.
159, but was renumbered for organizational purposes.
It is the intent of this article to regulate the installation
and use of the ice retardant systems on Greenwood Lake properties
within the Township of West Milford for the protection of persons
and property and to provide for the public health, safety and welfare
of the Township of West Milford and its inhabitants.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The area of water body or ice surface disturbed by the operation
of an ice retardant system. Said disturbed or affected area includes
open water, weakened ice (excessively cracked), thin ice (less than
four inches in depth) and area where adjacent ice is covered by a
film of water.
A mechanical device(s) or a series of mechanical devices
designed to retard or prevent the formation of ice in or around lakefront
structures. Said devices utilize as their mode of operation one or
more of the following mechanisms: pumped air, artificial water turbulence
or the addition of heat to the water body.
The owner of record of a tract of land according to the tax
rolls of the Township of West Milford or any person occupying said
premises or utilizing the property.
Any individual, association or individuals, corporation or
partnership
A line running parallel to the bulkhead line and extending
not more than 40 feet from said bulkhead line beyond which no dock,
pier, marina, or other structure, permanent or temporary, floating
or affixed to shore or lake bottom, may be located.
Any lakefront or within-lake structure which the ice retardant
system is designed to protect. Such protected structures include but
are not limited to docks, piers, bulkheads, catwalks, seawalls and
boathouses.
Utilization of ice retardant systems is hereby authorized within
the municipal limits of the Township of West Milford from November
1 of each year through April 15 of the following year for Greenwood
Lake.
A.
The affected
area of ice, under normal operating conditions, shall not extend to
within 10 feet of a side property line. Said requirements may be waived
if the owner and/or operator of the ice retardant system obtains written
permission from the adjacent property owner.
B.
Unless
the ice retardant system has been designed and approved in accordance
with this article, no system shall be designed or operated in such
a way as to prevent ingress or egress to any portion of the water
body or to foreclose the formation of ice across a channel.
The Township Council may, by resolution, waive the requirements
of this article in situations of hardship or exceptional public necessity.
“Exceptional public necessity” shall include but not be
limited to a necessity to maintain an open channel of water for access
to island lakefront homes. In adopting the resolution, the Township
Council may specify requirements as to markings and lighting. Such
requirements can include but are not limited to requiring buoys to
be placed in the frozen water body to clearly mark the approach, requiring
nighttime illumination or fishing lights to indicate that open water
is present, limiting the size of the affected ice area to the minimal
levels of insurance requirements.
A.
The Construction
Official and/or another municipal official designated by the Township
Administrator are hereby designated as the enforcement officers under
the terms of this article for the use of an ice retardant system that
is inconsistent with the provisions set forth in this article.
B.
A violation
of the terms of this article, including the operational requirements,
shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $250, nor more than
$2,000, or by imprisonment for a term not to exceed 15 days, or by
both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation of an offense against
the provisions of this article shall constitute, for each day the
offense is continued, a separate and distinct offense hereunder
Compliance and/or noncompliance with the requirements of this
article shall not preclude any civil action for damages arising from
injuries incurred through the operation of an ice retardant system.
Residents using ice retardant systems shall post three eighteen-inch-by-twenty-four-inch
weather-resistant signs at their own cost. The signs shall read “Danger-Thin
Ice” and they shall be posted along the shoreline, two at each
of the property lines and one on the dock on the end furthest from
the property. The signs will be made available by the Township in
order to ensure uniformity. The cost of the signs to property owners
is to be the actual cost of the signs rounded up to the nearest dollar.
