[HISTORY Adopted by the Municipal Council of the City of Clifton as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 12-20-1960 by Ord. No. 3319 as part of Chapter 1 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Clifton, New Jersey, 1960]
[Amended 7-2-1985 by Ord. No. 4988-85]
In the construction of the Code of the City of Clifton, and of all other ordinances of the City, words and phrases shall be read and construed with their context and shall, unless inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Council or unless another or different meaning is expressly indicated, be given their generally accepted meanings, according to the approved usage of the language. Technical words and phrases, and words and phrases having a special or accepted meaning in the law, shall be construed in accordance with such technical or special and accepted meaning.
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 1-1, What constitutes "Revised Ordinances"; designation, which immediately preceded this section, was repealed 7-2-1985 by Ord. No. 4988-85.
[Amended 7-2-1985 by Ord. No. 4988-85]
A. 
Unless otherwise expressly provided, or unless there is something in the subject or context repugnant to such construction, or unless inconsistent with the manifest intent of the Council, the following words and phrases, when used in the Code of the City of Clifton, or in any other ordinances of the City, shall have the meanings herein given:
CITY
The City of Clifton in the County of Passaic.
CITY COUNCIL
See "Municipal Council."
CITY MANAGER
See "Municipal Manager."
CODE
The Code of the City of Clifton.
COUNCIL
See "Municipal Council."
COUNTY
The County of Passaic, New Jersey.
GOVERNING BODY
The Municipal Council of the City of Clifton, or such other duly authorized body as shall be charged by law with governing the City.
MONTH
A calendar month.
MUNICIPAL COUNCIL or CITY COUNCIL or COUNCIL
The governing body of the City of Clifton.
MUNICIPALITY
The City of Clifton.
MUNICIPAL MANAGER or CITY MANAGER
The person appointed by the governing body as Municipal or City Manager of the City of Clifton or the person appointed by the governing body to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the office during the absence or disability of the Municipal Manager.
OATH
Includes "affirmation."
OCCUPANT
See "tenant."
OWNER
Includes the sole owner and any part owner, joint owner, tenant in common, tenant in partnership, joint tenant or tenant by the entirety, of the whole or of a part, of a building or land, and personal property.
PERSON
Includes corporations, companies, societies, firms, partnerships, associations, organizations and any other group or entity acting as a unit, as well as an individual.
PERSONAL PROPERTY
Includes goods and chattels, rights and credits, moneys and effects, evidences of debt, choses in action and all written instruments by which any right to, interest in, or lien or encumbrances upon, property or any debt or financial obligation is created, acknowledged, evidenced, transferred, discharged or defeated in whole or in part, and every thing, except real property as herein defined, which may be the subject of ownership.
PRECEDING and FOLLOWING
Next before and next after, respectively.
PROPERTY
Includes real and personal property.
PUBLIC GROUND, PUBLIC SQUARE or PUBLIC PLACE
Severally, any and every public ground, public square, public park or other public place within the City which is within the jurisdiction and control of the City, and which is or may be in general use by all citizens, and in which all have an equal right of passage and repassage at will.
REAL PROPERTY
Includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, all rights thereto and interests therein.
SIDEWALK
Any portion of a street or highway between the curbline or the lateral line of a shoulder or, if none, the lateral line of the roadway and the adjacent property line intended for the use of pedestrians.
STATE
The State of New Jersey.
STREET
Includes highways, roads, avenues, boulevards, courts, public lanes, alleys, sidewalks, footpaths and all other public highways for vehicular or pedestrian travel.
SWEAR and SWORN
Include "affirm" and "affirmed."
TENANT or OCCUPANT
Applied to a building or land, includes any person who occupies the whole or part of such building or land, whether alone or with others.
WEEK
Seven days.
WRITING and WRITTEN
Except as to signatures, includes printing and any other mode of representing words, letters and figures.
YEAR
A calendar year.
B. 
Word usage.
(1) 
And; or. "And" may be construed as meaning "or," and "or" as "and," if the sense requires it.
(2) 
Gender. Words imparting the masculine gender shall apply to females as well as to males, and to firms, associations, bodies corporate and other artificial persons.
(3) 
Number. Words used in the singular number include the plural, and words used in the plural include the singular number.
(4) 
"Officer" or "official" and the title of an officer or official or of an official body shall be construed as if the words "of the City of Clifton" followed it.
(5) 
Or. See Subsection B(1), And; or.
[Added 7-3-1973 by Ord. No. 4165-73]
A. 
Wherever used in any ordinance of the City of Clifton, the word "minor" shall be deemed to mean a person under the age of 18 years; the word "minority" shall be deemed to mean any age under the age of 18 years.
B. 
Wherever any ordinance of the City of Clifton contains a provision requiring attainment of the age of 21 years or words of similar import, such provision is hereby revised and amended to require attainment of the age of 18 years.
C. 
This section is intended to implement the policy underlying and the terms and provisions of Chapter 81 of the Laws of 1972 (N.J.S.A. 9:17B-1 et seq.).
D. 
The provisions of this section are hereby expressly made subject, however, to any statute of the State of New Jersey which may require attainment of the age of 21 years, notwithstanding the enactment into law of Chapter 81 of the Laws of 1972.
E. 
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed as to such inconsistency only.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 1-4, Revised Ordinances construed as continuation of heretofore existing ordinances, which immediately followed this section, was repealed 7-2-1985 by Ord. No. 4988-85.
[Amended 7-2-1985 by Ord. No. 4988-85]
All references in the Code of the City of Clifton to chapters, articles or sections are to chapters, articles or sections of the Code of the City of Clifton. Such references to chapters or articles shall be construed to refer to all the sections within the chapters or articles to which such references are made.
Whenever an ordinance that repeals an earlier ordinance or part thereof is itself repealed, such repeal shall not revive the former ordinance or part thereof, unless specific provision is made therefor.
[Amended 7-2-1985 by Ord. No. 4988-85; 2-22-2006 by Ord. No. 6555-06]
A. 
Whenever no specific penalty is provided in the Code of the City of Clifton or in any other ordinance of the City for the punishment of an act which is prohibited or which is declared to be unlawful or an offense, or for the nonperformance of an act which is required to be done, the violation of any such provision shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000 and/or by imprisonment in the county jail or in any place provided by the municipality for the detention of prisoners, for a term not exceeding 90 days; and/or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days; provided, however, that when the maximum penalty fixed by an applicable state statute is less than the penalty fixed in the Code of the City of Clifton, then the limitations of such state statute shall be applicable.
B. 
Any person who is convicted of violating an ordinance within one year of the date of a previous violation of the same ordinance, and who was fined for the previous violation, shall be sentenced by a court to an additional fine as a repeat offender. The additional fine imposed by the court upon a person for a repeated offense shall not be less than the minimum, if any, or exceed the maximum fine, if any, fixed for a violation of the ordinance, but shall be calculated separately from the fine imposed for the violation of the ordinance.
C. 
Any person convicted of the violation of any ordinance may, in the discretion of the court by which he was convicted, and in default of the payment of any fine imposed therefor, be imprisoned in the county jail or place of detention provided by the municipality, for any term not exceeding 90 days, or be required to perform community service for a period not exceeding 90 days.
D. 
Where a fine in an amount greater than $1,250 is sought to be imposed upon an owner for violations of housing or zoning codes, a thirty-day period shall be provided in which the owner shall be afforded the opportunity to cure or abate the condition and the owner shall also be afforded an opportunity for a hearing before the municipal court for an independent determination concerning the violation. Subsequent to the expiration of the thirty-day period, a fine greater than $1,250 may be imposed if the court has not determined otherwise or, upon reinspection of the property, it is determined that the abatement has not been substantially completed.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Section 1-10, Severability; effect of partial invalidity, which immediately followed this section, was deleted 7-2-1985 by Ord. No. 4988-85.
[The 1985 Code of the City of Clifton was adopted 7-2-1985 by Ord. No. 4988-85. A complete copy of this ordinance is on file in the municipal offices.]