[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Pittsgrove 12-23-1992 by Ord. No. 15-1992. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
It is hereby found and declared that the existence
or occupation of any building or buildings or parts thereof in the
Township which are so old, dilapidated or have become so out-of-repair
as to be dangerous, unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unfit for human
habitation or occupancy or use are inimical to the welfare and dangerous
and injurious to the health and safety of the people of the Township
and that a public necessity exists for the repair, closing or demolition
of such building or buildings or parts thereof.
The Zoning Officer and the Building Subcode
Official of the Township are hereby appointed and designated as the
public officers who shall exercise the powers described by this chapter.
The public officers are hereby authorized to
exercise such powers as may be necessary or convenient to carry out
and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including
the following powers, in addition to others herein granted:
A.
To investigate the building conditions in the Township
in order to determine which buildings therein are unfit for human
habitation or occupancy or use.
B.
To administer oaths and affirmations, examine witnesses
and receive evidence.
C.
To enter upon premises for the purpose of making examinations,
provided that such entries shall be made in such manner as to cause
the least possible inconvenience to the persons in possession.
D.
To appoint and fix the duties of such officers, agents
and employees as they deem necessary to carry out the purposes of
the chapter.
E.
To delegate any of their functions and powers to such
officers and agents as they may designate.
A.
The public officers may determine that a building
is unfit for human habitation or occupancy or use if they find that
conditions exist in such building which are dangerous or injurious
to the health or safety of the occupants of such building, the occupants
of neighboring buildings or other residents of the Township. Such
conditions shall be deemed to include the following, without limiting
the generality of the foregoing:
Whenever a petition is filed with the public
officers by a public authority or by at least five residents of the
Township charging that any building is unfit for human habitation
or occupancy or use or whenever it appears to the public officers,
on their own motion, that any building is unfit for human habitation
or occupancy or use, the public officers shall, if their preliminary
investigation discloses a basis for such charges, issue and cause
to be served upon the owner of and parties-in-interest in such building
a complaint stating the charges in that respect and containing a notice
that a hearing will be held before the public officers or their designated
agent, at a place therein fixed, not less that seven days nor more
than 30 days after the serving of the complaint, that the owner and
parties-in-interest shall be given the right to file an answer to
the complaint and to appear in person or otherwise and give testimony
at the place and time fixed in the complaint and that the rules of
evidence prevailing in the courts shall not be controlling in hearings
before the public officers.
Complaints or orders issued by the public officers
pursuant to this chapter shall be served upon persons either personally
or by registered mail, but if the whereabouts of such persons is unknown
and the same cannot be ascertained by the public officers in the exercise
of reasonable diligence and the public officers shall make an affidavit
to that effect, then the serving of such complaint or order upon such
persons may be made by publishing the same once in a newspaper published
in the Township or, in the absence of such newspaper, in one published
in the county and circulating in the Township in which the buildings
are located. A copy of such complaint or order shall be posted in
a conspicuous place on the premises affected by the complaint or order.
A copy of such complaint or order shall be duly recorded or lodged
for record with the Clerk of the County of Salem.
A.
If, after such notice and hearing, the public officers
determine that the building under consideration is unfit for human
habitation or occupancy or use, they shall state, in writing, their
findings of fact in support of such determination and shall issue
and cause to be served upon the owner thereof and parties-in-interest
an order requiring the owner to make the repair, alteration or improvement
of the building within a reasonable time, which time shall be set
forth in the order, or, at the option of the owner, to vacate or have
the building vacated and closed within the time set forth in the order.
B.
If the building is in such a condition as to make
it dangerous to the health and safety of persons on or near the premises
and the owner fails to repair, alter or improve said building within
the time specified in the order, then the owner shall be required
to remove or demolish the building within a reasonable time as specified
in the order of removal.
If the owner fails to comply with an order to
repair, alter or improve or, at the option of the owner, to vacate
and close the building, the public officers may cause such building
to be repaired, altered or improved or to be vacated and closed, and
the public officers may cause to be posted on the main entrance of
any building so closed a placard with the following words: “This
building unit is unfit for human habitation or occupancy or use; the
use or occupation of this building is prohibited and unlawful.”
[Amended 4-14-2009 by Ord. No. 05-2009]
If the owner fails to comply with an order to
remove or demolish the building, the public officer may cause such
building to be removed or demolished or may contract for the removal
or demolition thereof after advertisement for, and receipt of, bids
therefor pursuant to the provision of the Local Public Contracts Law[1] unless the action is necessary to prevent imminent damage
to life, limb or property.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 40A:11-1 et seq.
The amount of such cost of such repairs, alterations
or improvements or vacating and closing or removal or demolition shall
be a lien against the real property upon which such cost was incurred.
The detailed statement of the aforesaid costs shall be filed with
the custodian of the records of tax liens, and a copy of the detailed
statement shall be forthwith forwarded to the owner by registered
mail. If the building is removed or demolished by the public officer,
they shall sell the marketable materials of such building and shall
credit the proceeds of such sale against the cost of the removal or
demolition, and any balance remaining shall be deposited in the Superior
Court by the public officers, shall be secured in such manner as may
be directed by such Court and shall be disbursed according to the
order or judgment of the Court to the persons found to be entitled
thereto by final order or judgment of such Court; provided, however,
that nothing in this section shall be construed to impair or limit
in any way the power of the Township to define and declare nuisances
and to cause their removal or abatement, by summary proceedings or
otherwise. Any owner or party-in-interest may, within 30 days from
the date of the filing of the lien certificate, proceed in a summary
manner in the Superior Court to contest the reasonableness of the
amount or the amount or the accuracy of the costs set forth in the
municipal lien certificate.
