[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of West Milford as Sec. 6-10 of the 1976 Revised General Ordinances. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Auctioneers — See Ch. 78.
Peddling and soliciting — See Ch. 263.
Zoning — See Ch. 500.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
GARAGE SALES
All sales entitled "garage sale," "lawn sale," "attic sale," "rummage sale" or "flea market sale," or any similar casual sale of tangible personal property which is advertised by any means whereby the public at large is or can be made aware of the sale.
GOODS
Any goods, warehouse merchandise or other property capable of being the object of a sale regulated hereunder.
[Amended 3-17-1982 by Ord. No. 1982-7]
It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct a garage sale in the Township, without first filing with the Township Clerk the information hereinafter specified and obtaining from the Clerk a license in the form of a garage sale license sign.
[Amended 3-17-1982 by Ord. No. 1982-7; 6-6-1990 by Ord. No. 1990-19]
A. 
No more than two licenses shall be issued to any one person or for property on which the sale is to be conducted, within a twelve-month period, and no license shall be issued for more than nine consecutive calendar days.
B. 
The fee for a license is set forth in Chapter 135, Fees and Costs. Each license issued under this section shall be prominently displayed on the premises upon which the garage sale is conducted throughout the entire period of the licensed sale.
[Amended 5-2-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-013; 12-5-2007 by Ord. No. 2007-030]
[Amended 3-17-1982 by Ord. No. 1982-7]
The application shall contain the following information:
A. 
Name of owner of property on which the sale is to be conducted, and consent of the owner if the applicant is other than the owner.
B. 
Number of days of sale.
C. 
Sworn statement or affirmation by the person signing that the information therein given is full and true known to him to be so.
All sales shall be conducted between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. only, prevailing time.
[Amended 3-17-1982 by Ord. No. 1982-7]
A. 
All persons are prohibited from making, causing to be made or erecting signs other than those signs provided by the Township. One sign shall be provided by the Township and shall constitute the garage sale license. Additional signs may be purchased from the Township.
B. 
The signs shall be uniform in size and form and shall have a space allotted for the name and address of the person running the sale.
C. 
All signs are to be removed within 48 hours after the completion of the sale.
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to or affect the following persons or sales:
A. 
Persons selling goods pursuant to an order or process of a court of competent jurisdiction.
B. 
Persons acting in accordance with their powers and duties as public officials.
C. 
Any person selling or advertising for sale an item or items of personal property which are specifically named or described in the advertisement and which separate items do not exceed five in number.
D. 
Any publisher of a newspaper, magazine or other publication or other communication media who publishes or broadcasts in good faith without knowledge of its false, deceptive or misleading character or without knowledge that the provisions of this chapter have not been complied with.
E. 
Any sale conducted by any merchant or mercantile or other business establishment from or at a place of business wherein such sale would be permitted by the zoning regulations of the Township, or under the protection of the nonconforming use section thereof[1] or any other sale conducted by a manufacturer, dealer or vendor and which sale would be conducted from properly zoned premises and not otherwise prohibited in the Code of the Township of West Milford.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 500, Zoning.
F. 
Any bona fide charitable, eleemosynary, educational, cultural, or governmental institution or organization. The burden of establishing the exemption under this subsection shall be on the organization or institution claiming such exemption.
A. 
This chapter shall be enforced by the Zoning Administrator. It shall be the duty of the Zoning Administrator to investigate any violations of this chapter coming to his attention, whether by complaint or arising from his own knowledge, and if a violation is found to exist, he shall prosecute a complaint before the local Municipal Court pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. It shall be the duty of the Police Department to bring to the attention of the Zoning Administrator for further investigation any violations of this chapter of which the Department becomes aware during the course of its normal duties.
B. 
The person to whom the license is issued and the owner or tenant of the premises on which the sale or activity is conducted shall be jointly and severally responsible for the maintenance of good order and decorum on the premises during all hours of the sale or activity. No person shall permit any loud or boisterous conduct on the premises nor permit vehicles to impede the passage of traffic on any roads or streets in the area of such premises. All persons shall obey the reasonable orders of any member of the Police Department or Division of Fire Suppression of the Township to maintain the public health, safety and welfare.
Any person conducting any sale or similar activity without being properly licensed therefor or who shall violate any of the other items and regulations of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be fined a sum not exceeding $200 or be imprisoned for a period not to exceed 10 days for each violation. Each day that the sale shall continue without being duly licensed shall be considered a separate violation.
[Added 11-12-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-010; amended 2-15-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-005]
Each year on the third Friday, Saturday and Sunday of September there shall be a Town-wide garage sale. For the three days of the Town-wide garage sale the permit, fee and sign requirements contained in this chapter shall be waived. During such sales all nonproperty owners must obtain approval from the property owner to participate in the Town-wide garage sale. All other provisions of the chapter shall prevail during the Town-wide garage sale.