[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee (now Township Council)
of the Township of Hillside 12-21-1971 as Ch. VI, Sec.
6-6, of the 1971 Code; amended in its entirety by the Township Council 10-29-2002.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
It is hereby determined and declared that the abandonment or storage
out-of-doors of any motor vehicle not currently in use for transportation
and not currently licensed or registered on any public street or on any public
or private lands within the Township of Hillside is contrary and inimical
to the public welfare in that such vehicles so abandoned or stored attract
or may attract persons of tender years who, being so attracted, may play in
and about them and be injured in so doing and in that such vehicles so abandoned
or stored out-of-doors deteriorate and are unsightly and are detrimental to
and depreciate the value of properties in the neighborhood where they are
located and in the Township as a whole.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any motor vehicle, omnibus, road tractor, trailer, truck, truck-trailer
or vehicle which is found without the current year's registration or
identification markers as required by law for a period of five continuous
days, or which is so disabled as to constitute an obstruction to traffic and
the driver or person owning or in charge thereof neglects or refuses to move
the same to a place where it will not obstruct traffic, or which is found
to be mechanically inoperative and is allowed to remain inoperative for a
period of 48 hours (said period of time may be extended for good cause by
the Police Department).
Any automobile which is no longer in actual use a motor vehicle,
which is wholly unfit without rebuilding or reconditioning for use in highway
transportation or which has been discarded for use as a motor vehicle or otherwise
abandoned.
Any individual, firm, partnership or corporation being the owner
or having any legal right in, of or to the motor vehicle or other vehicle
as herein defined.
The Police Department of the Township of Hillside.
As defined in N.J.S.A. 39:1-1 et seq. of the Revised Statutes of
the State of New Jersey.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for any person to abandon or suffer
or permit the abandoning of any vehicle, omnibus, road tractor, trailer, truck
or truck-trailer or other vehicle as defined herein out-of-doors upon any
public or private lands in the Township of Hillside or on any public street
or between the right-of-way therein. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed
to prohibit the placing, keeping or storage of any such vehicle in a carport,
enclosed garage, barn or other building.
B.Â
This chapter shall not apply to lawfully operated junkyards
nor to motor vehicles located or stored in garages or other buildings, nor
to motor vehicles being held for sale, resale, repair or maintenance if at
a regular place of business where such commercial activity is permitted, nor
to vehicles used for agricultural, business or property maintenance purposes,
which vehicles are not required to be registered because they remain and are
used solely on private property.
A.Â
The Police Chief or any member of the Police Department
designated by him shall remove or have removed any vehicle left at any place
within the Township, including private property, which reasonably appears
to be in violation of this section or lost, stolen or unclaimed. A police
officer may treat a vehicle as abandoned when:
(1)Â
Such vehicle is parked without identification markers
as prohibited by the laws of the State of New Jersey.
(2)Â
The vehicle, in the judgment of the police officer, is
so disabled as to constitute an obstruction to traffic and the driver or person
owning or in charge of it willfully neglects or refuses to move the vehicle
to a place where it shall not obstruct traffic.
(3)Â
The police officer has reasonable grounds to believe
the vehicle has been abandoned.
B.Â
Continuous parking of a vehicle on a public highway or
in any municipal parking lot or area for a period of at least 48 hours shall
be deemed sufficient evidence of abandonment.
A police officer who impounds a vehicle may move or cause the removal
of such vehicle to a garage or place designated by the Police Chief or police
officer in charge of the Police Department as a garage or place for the impounding
of such vehicles, provided that the garage or place so designated has first
furnished satisfactory proof of competency, including possession and availability
of proper equipment, experience in its use and personnel and financial responsibility,
including the furnishing of adequate surety bonds in a minimum amount as per
contractual provisions between the Township of Hillside and the towing contractor,
protecting both the Township of Hillside and the owner of the vehicle impounded
against any and all damages and loss due to the acts of the garage, its agents
and employees and all loss and damage to the vehicle while in possession of
the garage.
A.Â
A vehicle impounded shall be retained and impounded at
the garage or designated place until the person owning it pays the cost of
the taking and removal in accordance with the contractual provisions between
the Township of Hillside and the towing contractor.
B.Â
After a vehicle is removed, the Police Chief or his designate
shall notify the registered and legal owner within 10 days, in writing, by
personal service or certified mail at his last known address of the removal
of the vehicle, the reason therefor and its location.
After the vehicle has been impounded in accordance with this chapter
for one month and the owner is unknown and cannot be found or refuses to receive
it, the Police Chief or officer in charge of the Police Department may proceed
to sell the vehicle in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey,
specifically N.J.S.A. 39:10A-1.
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be punishable by a fine not exceeding
$1,000; imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days; and/or a period of
community service not exceeding 90 days.
