Applied meaning of words and terms. Unless otherwise expressly stated,
the following terms shall, for the purposes of this code, have the
meanings indicated in this section:
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE
A building or structure, the use of which is customary and
incidental to a principal or main building and is located on the same
lot with such principal building or structure excluding, however,
any structure which is attached to a principal building.
APPROVED
As applied to a material, device or method of construction,
approved by the Building Inspector under the provisions of this code,
or approved by other authority designated by law to give approval
in the matter in question.
BASEMENT
A story, the floor of which is below grade and the ceiling
of which is not less than four feet six inches above grade, and may
also be referred to as a "cellar."
BATHROOM
An enclosed space containing one or more bathtubs, showers
or both, and which may also include toilets, lavatories or fixtures
serving similar purposes.
BEDROOM
A room or space used or intended to be used for sleeping
purposes.
BUILDING
A combination of materials, or part thereof, whether or not
used for human habitation, and shall include any appurtenances belonging
thereto or usually enjoyed therewith.
BUILDING CODE
The Building Code, latest edition and current accumulative
supplement, officially adopted by the Township of Boonton, or such
other code as may be officially designated by the legislative body
of the Township for the regulation of the construction, alteration,
addition, repair, removal, demolition, use, location, occupancy and
maintenance of buildings and structures.
BUILDING SERVICE EQUIPMENT
The mechanical, electrical and elevator equipment, including
piping, wiring, fixtures and other accessories, which provide sanitation,
lighting, heating, ventilation and fire-fighting and transportation
facilities essential for the habitable occupancy of the building or
structure for its designated use and occupancy.
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
The official authorized by the Township to administer and
enforce the Property Maintenance Code, and/or any building, construction,
zoning or similar laws and this code, and/or his/or her duly authorized
agent or subordinate.
CREDITOR
Consistent with Section 3 of P.L. 2008, N.J.R.S. 86 (N.J.S.A.
46:10B-38), a state chartered bank, savings bank, savings and loan
association or any credit union, any person required to be licensed
under the provisions of the New Jersey Residential Mortgage Lending
Act (N.J.S.A. 17:11C-51 et seq.) and any entity acting on behalf of
the creditor named in the debt obligation, including but not limited
to, servicers.
DETERIORATION
The condition or appearance of any building, structure, yard
or any unimproved land, or any part thereof characterized by holes,
breaks, decay, rot, crumbling, cracking, peeling, rusting or other
evidence of physical decay, weakness, disintegration, corrosion, loss
of effectiveness, or neglect, lack of maintenance or excessive use.
DWELLING
Any building which was or is wholly or partly used or intended
to be used for living or sleeping quarters by human occupants.
DWELLING UNITS
Any room or group of rooms located within a dwelling and
forming a single habitable unit with facilities which are used or
are intended to be used for living, sleeping, cooking and eating.
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
A building designed for and occupied exclusively by not more
than two families.
EXTERIOR PROPERTY AREAS
The open space and yards on the land and/or premises and/or
on the adjoining land or premises under the control of the owners
or operators of such land or premises, or any tenants and/or occupants
thereof.
EXTERMINATION
The control and elimination of insects, rodents, vermin,
or other pests by eliminating their harborage places, by removing
or making inaccessible materials that may serve as their breeding
ground or food, by poison, spraying, fumigating or trapping or by
any other approved pest-elimination methods.
FAMILY
A group of persons living privately together and functioning
as a single housekeeping unit, using certain rooms and cooking facilities
in common, and whose relationship is of a permanent, stable and domestic
character as distinguished from nonfamilial institutional uses, boarding
homes, fraternities, sororities, clubs, associations, transient housing
or other similar forms of housing. Nothing herein contained shall
be construed to prevent members of a domestic partnership from living
together, or the placement of foster children by the New Jersey State
Board of Child Welfare or a duly incorporated child welfare agency
with families living in a one-family zone district.
FIRE HAZARD
Any thing or any act which increases or may cause an increase
of the hazard or menace of fire to a greater degree than that customarily
recognized as normal by persons in the public service of preventing,
suppressing or extinguishing fire or which may obstruct, delay or
hinder or may become the cause of an obstruction, a delay, a hazard
or a hindrance to the prevention, suppression or extinguishment of
fire. (See also "nuisance.")
GARBAGE
Putrescible animal and vegetable waste resulting from the
handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food. Garbage shall
also mean and refer to all "solid wastes" which the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection has defined and identified by "waste ID
number," including, but not limited to:
(1)
Household waste and refuse;
(3)
Commercial waste which originates in wholesale, retail or service
establishments, such as restaurants, stores, markets, theatres, hotels,
and warehouses;
(4)
Institutional waste material originating in schools, hospitals,
research institutions, or public buildings;
(5)
Industrial waste resulting from manufacturing, research and
development processes and operations;
(6)
Dry and/or liquid sludge, sewage, and septic tank clean-out
waste;
(7)
Processed or unprocessed construction and/or demolition waste
and debris, including waste building material and rubble resulting
from construction, remodeling, repair and/or demolition operations
on houses, commercial buildings, pavements, roadways, bridges or other
structures, such as treated and untreated wood scrap, plaster and
wallboards, sheetrock, plastic, wood, ferrous and nonferrous metal,
roofing materials, shingles, concrete, bricks, asphalt, blocks, pilings
and other masonry, building insulation, plastic scrap, carpets and
padding, glass windows and doors, cesspools, septic tanks and oil
tanks, waste consisting of asbestos;
(8)
Unused construction materials exposed to the elements for such
time to become decayed, rusted, rotted, or otherwise unusable;
(9)
Landscape and other vegetative waste, such as grass clippings,
cut tree parts (except usable household firewood), cut brush, tree
stumps, stockpiled leaves and tree waste processed through a wood
chipper; and
(10)
Bulky waste such as appliances, discarded construction and/or
landscaping equipment, furniture; discarded/inoperable motor vehicles,
trucks, trailers, motorbikes, mopeds, motorcycles and off-road/all-terrain
vehicles; discarded large vehicle parts, including tires.
HABITABLE SPACE
Space in a structure for living sleeping, eating, or cooking,
but not including bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries,
serving and storage pantries, corridors, foyers, vestibules, heater
rooms, boiler rooms, utility rooms, porches and similar areas.
HOTEL/MOTEL
Any building kept, used, maintained, advertised as or held
out to be a place where sleeping accommodations are supplied for pay
to transient or permanent guests, in which rooms are rented, furnished
or unfurnished, including any room found to be arranged for or used
for sleeping purposes, with or without meals, for the accommodation
of such guests.
IMMINENT DANGER
A condition which could cause serious or life-threatening
injury or death at any time.
INFESTATION
The presence, within or contiguous to a structure or premises,
of insects, rodents, rats, vermin or other pests.
INOPERABLE MOTOR VEHICLE
Any motor vehicle which cannot be driven or moved upon the
public streets for reason including but not limited to being unlicensed
or unregistered; or any motor vehicle which cannot be driven or moved
under its own power from place to place by reason of being in a state
of disrepair, being wrecked, or by reason of having mechanical defects
or inadequate equipment, including but not restricted to having one
or more flat tires or the lack of having one or more tires; and which
shall remain in such condition for a period of 14 days or more.
KITCHEN
Any room or part of a room used for cooking or the preparation
of food.
MOTOR VEHICLE
An automobile, omnibus, bus, road tractor, trailer, truck, truck tractor or other vehicle defined in Chapter
1 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes of the State of New Jersey, as amended (N.J.S.A. 39:1-1 et seq.); and "motor vehicle" shall also include motorcycles, motorbikes, motorized bicycles, mopeds, and off-road/all-terrain vehicles.
NEGLECT
The lack of proper maintenance or repair to the yards, land,
building or structure.
NONHABITABLE SPACES
A space that is not a habitable room, including bathrooms,
water closet compartments, laundries, serving and storage pantries,
corridors, foyers, vestibules, heater rooms, boiler rooms, utility
rooms, porches and similar areas.
NUISANCE
(1)
Any public nuisance known at common law or equity jurisprudence
or as provided by the statutes of the State of New Jersey or the ordinances
of the Township of Boonton.
(2)
Any attractive nuisance which may prove detrimental to the health
and safety of persons, whether in a building, on the premises of a
building or upon an unoccupied lot. This includes but is not limited
to abandoned wells, shafts, basements, excavations, abandoned iceboxes,
refrigerators, motor vehicles, any structures, unsound structures,
lumber, trash, fences, debris or vegetation such as poison ivy, oak
or sumac.
(3)
Physical conditions dangerous to human life or detrimental to
the health of persons on or near the premises where the conditions
exist.
(4)
The overcrowding of a room with occupants in violation of this
code.
(5)
Insufficient ventilation or illumination in violation of this
code.
(6)
Inadequate or unsanitary sewerage or plumbing facilities in
violation of this code.
(7)
Unsanitary conditions or anything dangerous to health in violation
of this code.
(8)
Whatever renders air, food or drink unwholesome or detrimental
to the health of human beings.
OCCUPANCY
The purpose for which a building or portion thereof is utilized
or occupied.
OCCUPANT
Any person living, sleeping or having actual possession of
a business, dwelling unit or room unit, including a tenant, lessee,
sublessee, subtenant, and/or holdover tenant as defined under the
laws of the State of New Jersey.
OPENABLE AREA
That part of a window, skylight or door that is available
for unobstructed ventilation and which opens directly to the outdoors.
OPERATOR
Any person who has charge, care or control of a building,
structure, and/or premises, whether with or without the knowledge
and consent of the owner, including any property manager and/or a
creditor that has instituted a proceeding in a court of law or equity
to foreclose on such building, structure and/or premises.
OWNER
The owner or owners of record title to a premises, or lesser
estate therein or a mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee of
rents, receiver, executor, trustee, lessee or other person, firm or
corporation in control of a building, or their duly authorized agents.
PERSON
An individual, firm, corporation, association or partnership.
PLUMBING and PLUMBING FIXTURES
All of the following supplies, facilities and equipment:
gas pipes, gas-burning equipment, water pipes, garbage-disposal units,
waste pipes, water closets, sinks, installed dishwashers, lavatories,
bathtubs, shower baths, installed clothes washing machines, catch
basins, vents and any other similar fixtures, together with all connections
to water, sewer or gas lines and water pipes and lines utilized in
conjunction with air-conditioning equipment.
PREMISES
A lot, plot or parcel of land, whether improved or unimproved,
including the buildings or structures thereon. For the purposes of
this code, a "vacant lot" shall be considered a lot. For the purposes
of this code, "premises" shall also include the area between the sidewalk
and the curb where applicable.
ROOM
Space in an enclosed building or space set apart by a permanent
partition or partitions.
ROOMING UNIT
Any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit
used or intended to be used for living and sleeping, but not for cooking
or eating purposes.
RUBBISH
All combustible and noncombustible waste materials, including
paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood, excelsior, rubber, leather, tree
branches, yard trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass,
crockery, and the residue from burning wood, coal, coke or other combustible
materials, solid market and industrial waste.
SEWAGE
Waste from a flush toilet, bathtub, sink, lavatory or dishwashing
or laundry machine, or the water-carried waste from any other fixture
or equipment or machine.
STRUCTURE
That which is built or constructed, or any piece of work
artificially built or composed of parts joined together in some definite
manner, the use of which requires more or less permanent location
on or in the ground. The word "structure" shall be construed as if
followed by the words "or part thereof" and shall be construed to
include a building or buildings.
SUPPLIED
Paid for, furnished or provided by or under the control of
the owner or operator.
UTILITIES
Gas service and equipment therefor, electric service and
equipment therefor and water supply, including hot water, and equipment
therefor.
VACANT
Not occupied by an incumbent or possessor.
VACANT AND ABANDONED RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
Consistent with Section 1 of P.L. 2010, N.J.R.S. 70 (N.J.S.A.
2A:50-73), a residential premises for which a notice of violation
has been issued pursuant to this Code and Subsection b of Section
1 of P.L. 2014, N.J.R.S. 35 (N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.125). A residential
premises shall further be deemed vacant and abandoned where a mortgaged
property is not occupied by a mortgagor or tenant and at least two
of the following conditions exist:
(1)
Overgrown or neglected vegetation;
(2)
The accumulation of newspapers, circulars, flyers or mail on
the premises;
(3)
Disconnected gas, electric, or water utility services to the
premises;
(4)
The accumulation of hazardous, noxious, or unhealthy substances
or materials on the premises;
(5)
The accumulation of garbage, litter, trash or debris on the
premises;
(6)
The absence of window treatments, such as blinds, curtains or
shutters;
(7)
The absence of furnishings and personal property;
(8)
Statements of neighbors, delivery persons, or government employees
indicating that the residential premises is vacant and abandoned;
(9)
Windows or entrances to the property that are boarded up or
closed off, or multiple window panes are damaged, broken and unrepaired;
(10)
Doors to the property are broken off, smashed through, unhinged
or continuously unlocked;
(11)
A risk of the health, safety or welfare of the public or any
adjoining or adjacent property owners exists due to acts of vandalism,
loitering, criminal conduct, or the physical destruction or deterioration
of the property;
(12)
A risk of collapse from damage to any portion of a building's
structural system due from fire, flooding, explosion, extensive exposure
to the elements, or an abandoned construction project;
(13)
An uncorrected violation of a municipal building, housing, property
maintenance, construction or similar code during the preceding year,
or an order by municipal authorities declaring the premises to be
unfit for occupancy and to remain vacant and unoccupied;
(14)
The mortgagee or other authorized party has secured or winterized
the property due to the property being deemed vacant and unprotected
or in danger of freezing;
(15)
A written statement issued by any mortgagor expressing the clear
intent of all mortgagors to abandon the property; and/or
(16)
Any other reasonable indicia of abandonment.
WASHROOMS
Enclosed space containing one or more bathtubs, showers or
both, and which shall also include toilets, lavatories or fixtures
serving similar purposes.
WATER CLOSET COMPARTMENTS
Enclosed space containing one or more toilets which may also
contain one or more lavatories, urinals and other plumbing fixtures.
WEATHERING
Deterioration, decay or damage caused by exposure to the
elements.
WORKMANSHIP STATE OF MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR
Repairs, maintenance work, alterations, or installations
which executed in a skilled manner, generally plumb, level, square,
in line, undamaged and without marring adjacent work; and shall also
mean any such repairs, maintenance work, alterations or installations
caused directly or indirectly by the enforcement of this Property
Maintenance Code, executed and installed in accordance with all applicable
Federal, State and local laws, codes, ordinances and regulations,
including but not limited the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code
Act, the ordinances of the Township of Boonton, any generally accepted
industry standards not otherwise preempted by applicable state and
local law, and otherwise in accordance with the manufacturer's
instructions.
YARD
An open unoccupied space on any lot, whether improved or
unimproved, and such land extending in whole or in part, interrupted
or uninterrupted, along the entire length of any adjacent right-of-way,
public or private street or drive, or rear, sider or interior lot
line.