[Adopted 7-14-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-026]
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:
AFFECTED AREA OF ICE
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.
ICE RETARDANT SYSTEM
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.
OWNER or OPERATOR
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.
PERSON
Any individual, association or individuals, corporation or
partnership
PIERHEAD LINE
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.
PROTECTED STRUCTURE
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.
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.
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.