For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall
have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section.
MUNICIPALITY
The Township of Alexandria, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, or its
authorized agents, servants, employees or officials.
OCCUPANT
The owner, tenant, lessee or person in charge of, in control of or
in possession of any building or premises or part thereof.
SIDEWALK
The pavement between the curbline and property line.
The occupant, owner or tenant of any lands abutting upon the public
highways of the municipality shall remove all snow and ice from the abutting
sidewalks and gutters of such highway within 12 hours of daylight after the
same shall fall or be formed thereon.
The occupant, owner or tenant of any land abutting upon the public highways
of the municipality shall remove all grass, weeds and other impediments from
the abutting sidewalks and gutters of such highways and from the portion of
any street or highway abutting on such lands within three days after notice
from the municipal governing body to remove same, which notice may be served
by certified mail.
In case the occupant, owner or tenant of any lands abutting upon the
public highways of the municipality shall fail to provide for the removal
of snow, ice, grass, weeds or impediments, the municipality may provide for
the removal of same and the cost thereof shall be certified to the governing
body of the municipality by the officer or employee in charge thereof. The
governing body shall examine such certificate and, if found to be correct,
shall by resolution cause such cost to be charged against such real estate
so abutting upon such highway, sidewalk or gutter, and the amount so charged
shall thereupon become a lien and tax upon such real estate and be added to
and be part of the taxes next to be levied and assessed thereon and enforced
and collected with interest by the same officers in the same manner as other
real estate taxes (N.J.S.A. 40:65-12).
No person shall obstruct or permit the obstruction of any portion of
a street, sidewalk or public place by the storage or placing of any building
material or other material or merchandise thereon and permitting the same
to remain longer than is necessary to convey the same on or into private property.
Any person who shall violate any of the terms or provisions of this article or who shall commit or do any act or thing prohibited in this article shall be penalized as provided in Chapter
1, General Provisions, Article
I. Each day that any such act or thing committed or done in violation of the provisions of this article shall be permitted to exist shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense upon conviction thereof. The municipality reserves the right under the laws of the State of New Jersey to bring suit against any person or persons violating this article in the appropriate Superior Court if it is deemed necessary to enforce this article for injunctive or other relief including but not limited to compelling removal and/or reconstruction of any improperly constructed sidewalks.
Whenever it shall hereafter become the duty of any owner of abutting
lands under this article or other ordinances of this municipality to construct,
repair, alter or relay any curb or sidewalk, or section thereof, the authorities
of this municipality having charge of street affairs may, by resolution, cause
a notice in writing to be served upon the owners or occupant of said lands,
requiring the necessary specified work to said curb or sidewalk to be done
by the said owner or occupant within a period of not less than 30 days from
the date of service of such notice; whenever any lands are unoccupied and
the owner cannot be found within this municipality, the same may be mailed,
postage prepaid, to his or her post office address, if the same can be ascertained;
in case such owner is a nonresident of this municipality or his or her post
office address cannot be ascertained, then the notice may be inserted for
four weeks, once a week in some newspaper of this municipality or, if none
be published therein, then in some newspaper published in the state and circulating
in this municipality; in case the owner or occupant of such lands shall not
comply with the requirements of such notice, it shall be lawful for the street
department of this municipality, upon filing due proof of the service or publication
of the aforesaid notice in the appropriate department of this municipality,
to cause the required work to be done and paid for out of the municipal funds
available for that purpose; the cost of such work shall be certified by the
department or person having charge thereof to the department or person having
charge of the collection of assessments in this municipality; upon filing
the said certificate, the amount of the cost of such work shall be and become
a lien upon the said abutting lands in front of which such work was done to
the same extent that assessments for local improvements are liens in this
municipality under its charter or the general law, and shall be collected
in the manner provided by law for the collection of such other assessments,
and shall bear interest at the same rate; in addition thereto this municipality
may have an action to recover the said amount against the owner of said lands,
in any court having competent jurisdiction thereof; a certified copy of the
aforesaid certificate shall in such action be prima facie evidence of the
existence of a debt due from the said owner to this municipality (N.J.S.A.
40:65-14).