All owners or tenants of lands within the City of Passaic shall keep
all brush, hedges and other plant life, growing within 10 feet of any roadway
and within 25 feet of the intersection of two roadways, cut to a height of
not more than 2 1/2 feet, and maintained at such height, and no higher,
within 10 days after receipt of notice to cut the same from any official employed
by the City of Passaic. In the event that the owner or tenant owning or leasing
such lands shall not comply with the demand to cut such brush, hedges and
other plant life, within the ten-day period set forth in the preceding sentence,
any official or employee of the City of Passaic, duly ordered to do so by
the Director of the Department of Community Development, may cut such brush,
hedges or other plant life.
In every case where brush, hedges and other plant life are cut by personnel
employed by the City of Passaic, where the owner or tenant of such lands has
failed to do so, after notice given to do so by the City of Passaic, the Director
of Community Development, or any official designated by him, shall certify
the cost of cutting such brush, hedges and other plant life to the City Council
of the City of Passaic, which shall examine the certification of such official.
If the amount set forth in said certificate is correct, the Council shall
direct the Tax Collector of Passaic to charge said amount against said land,
and such amount shall become a lien on said land and shall be added to and
become part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon said land and
shall bear interest at the same rate as other taxes and shall be collected
and enforced by the Tax Collector in the same manner as taxes. In the event
that the amount certified as the cost of cutting said shrubs, hedges and other
plant life is excessive, the City Council of Passaic shall fix the reasonable
cost of such cutting and shall transmit said amount to the Tax Collector,
who shall then proceed as indicated in this section.
In addition to the provisions contained in §§
93-1 and
93-2 of this chapter, any owner or tenant who violates this chapter may be punished, after complaint filed against him/her/it in the Municipal Court of the City of Passaic, by fine and/or imprisonment, and is subject to the maximum penalties contained in the general penalty section of the ordinances of the City of Passaic.
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
OWNER or OWNERS
Any and all person or persons, partnership or partnerships and/or
corporation or corporations who is or are the record owner(s) of any land
in the City of Passaic.
TENANT or TENANTS
Any person, firm, partnership or corporation in possession of any
land or property in the City of Passaic. However, no tenant shall be prosecuted
under this chapter, unless said tenant is in sole possession of such land
or property and the landlord is not in possession of such land or property.