[Adopted 6-20-1996 by Ord. No. 1246; amended
in its entirety 12-14-2015 by Ord.
No. 1654]
The purpose of this article is to establish regulations and
fees for the opening of municipal streets within the Borough of Palisades
Park.
A.
BOROUGH ENGINEER
OCCUPANT
OWNER
PERSON
ROADWAY
SIDEWALKS
STREET
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms, whenever
used in this article, shall respectively be deemed to mean:
A licensed engineer appointed to that position by the governing
body or, in the event none has been appointed, then any licensed engineer
designated by the Construction Official to perform the duties set
forth in this article.
The owner, tenant, lessee or person in charge of or in control
of or in possession of any building or premises or part thereof or
of any personal property.
The person, firm or corporation having the legal title to
lands and premises or to personal property.
An individual or individuals or a corporation, partnership
or voluntary association.
That portion of the street lying between the curblines.
The pavement between the curblines and property lines.
Includes the portion thereof devoted to gutters, curbs and
sidewalks.
B.
The singular includes the plural, and the masculine includes the
feminine and corporations, partnerships and voluntary associations.
A.
No person shall make any excavation in or disturb the surface of
the roadway of any street, sidewalk, park or public place without
first obtaining a written permit therefor.
B.
No person shall remove, excavate or disturb all or any part of a
concrete paver, bluestone or other permanent surface sidewalk or curb
without first obtaining a permit therefor.
A.
All permits required by this article shall be in writing and shall
be issued by the Building Department. The Construction Official shall
issue the permit if it appears that the applicant has the legal right
or privilege granted to him in the use of any street, highway, or
public place or in digging up the same for laying down pipes or conduits
or for any purpose whatever and that the application and the proposed
work described therein comply with this article; provided, however,
that said applicant has submitted a detailed plan and surety bond
as hereinafter provided. Upon the issuance of any permit, the Police
Department shall be immediately notified of such issuance and the
character of the work; and, where possible, the permit shall be posted
for public display.
B.
No permit authorized by this article shall be granted except pursuant
to an application in writing therefor signed by the person desiring
such permit, or his agent. The application, which may be submitted
on forms provided by the Borough of Palisades Park, shall set forth
the location, nature, extent and probable duration of the proposed
work and the statutory or other authority pursuant to which it is
to be performed.
C.
No application shall be considered for approval unless the applicant
shall attach to it a detailed set of plans, bearing the seal of an
engineer or surveyor, showing the width, length and depth of the excavation
and the nature of the job. All drawings or plans shall show the location
of any sewer, utility or telephone lines and the exact steps which
will be taken by the applicant to shore, cover and protect same with
sheeting or other suitable materials. Said plans shall be reviewed
and approved by the Borough Engineer in order for a permit to be issued.
[Amended 5-24-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-9]
D.
Each applicant for a permit to open a public right-of-way, upon the
receipt of a permit for such opening as otherwise provided by ordinance
of the Borough, or other law, shall provide the Borough with an adequate
corporate surety bond, or certified check ("adequate security") to
guarantee faithful performance of the work authorized by such permit,
for the payment of any necessary repairs occasioned by the opening
of the public right-of-way by the Borough, prior to such opening.
The amount of such adequate assurance shall be equal to the amount
of the actual cost of the closing of the opening to the permittee.
The adequate assurance shall be retained by the Borough from the date
of posting thereof and shall be returned or otherwise discharged by
the Borough upon the receipt by the permittee of a certificate of
final inspection from the Borough Engineer, or the Engineer's
designee, or one year from the closing of the opening of the public
right-of-way, whichever occurs earlier. (The permittee shall notify
the Borough of the date of such closing.) The form of such adequate
assurance shall be in a form acceptable to the Engineer. If the permittee
anticipates requesting more than one permit per year as required by
this article, the permittee may furnish one continuing corporate surety
bond in such amount as the Engineer deems necessary to guarantee faithful
performance. The minimum amount of such bond shall be in relation
to the cost of restoring openings to the public rights-of-way to be
made by the permittee throughout the year. The Borough may elect to
waive the requirements of this section insofar as it pertains to a
public utility company if such company files with the Borough its
corporate bond in a form satisfactory to the Borough, conditioned
upon compliance with the provisions of this article.
E.
The permit shall state the maximum time allowed for the completion
of the excavation and backfilling thereof. Permits shall be renewable
upon the terms and conditions prescribed by this article for the issuance
of original permits.
F.
No permit shall be issued until the fee therefor, hereinafter prescribed,
shall have been paid to the Borough.
G.
No permit shall be issued by the Building Department, to any person
given notice under this article, which would allow an excavation or
opening in a paved and improved street surface less than five years
old, unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that a public health,
safety or emergency condition would require that the proposed work
be permitted. Such permission shall require consent of the Mayor and
Council.
H.
If, by special action of the Mayor and Council, a permit is issued
to open any paved and improved street surface less than five years
old, a penalty charge shall be made for the opening, except that the
penalty shall be waived in the event the work is of an emergency nature.
The penalty charge shall be on a sliding scale and shall be equal
to 2% of the cost of restoring the opening for each unelapsed month
or fraction thereof of the five-year restricted period. The cost of
restoration and the validity of any claim of an emergency shall be
determined by the Borough Engineer. The minimum penalty charge shall
be $1,000.
I.
If the application for a street opening permit requires the street
to be opened more than 25% of the surface area of the travel lane
or parking lane in one block, the applicant shall be required to perform
a two-inch mill and two-inch overlay between the curbline and center
line of the roadway. If the permit extends to the next block or fraction
of the next block, the repaving will include the full block area from
curb to center line. Only the Mayor and Council shall have the ability
to waive this requirement.
The following schedule of fees is hereby fixed, determined and
established as being the fees to be paid to the Borough of Palisades
Park for the issuance of all road opening or street excavation permits.
Should any additional costs be incurred by the Borough of Palisades
Park due to the permittee's operations or negligence, including
administrative, engineering, inspection and legal costs, the permittee
shall reimburse the Borough for all costs incurred. The permittee
shall be required to post adequate funds in escrow to reimburse the
Borough for costs of the Borough Engineer's inspection. Any excess
moneys shall be remitted to the permittee upon approval and acceptance
by the Borough Engineer of all final, permanent road restoration work
in accordance with the standards set forth herein. All costs shall
be paid by the permittee prior to the issuance of a permit by the
Building Department, as provided herein:
A.
No opening in the paved section of any road shall be less than two
feet nor more than six feet in width unless the application shows
that width less than two feet or more than six feet is reasonably
necessary. No tunneling shall be permitted unless the application
shows that there is no other reasonably practicable method of performing
the work. Tunneling, where permitted, shall be done under the personal
supervision of the Borough Engineer.
B.
Whenever possible, excavations shall be made in either side of the
roadway and pipes driven from one excavation to the other so as not
to disturb the pavement. No boring under the pavement of any road
shall be done except under the supervision of the Borough Engineer.
C.
Backfilling. When necessary to excavate across the entire roadway
of any road or along and in such roadway, the work shall be performed
so that a portion of such roadway shall remain open to traffic. No
person shall permit any street or road to be closed to travel by reason
of any excavation made there in pursuance of this article without
written permission from the Borough Engineer and approval from the
Police Department of Palisades Park.
(1)
Unless otherwise directed by the Borough Engineer, the following
specifications shall govern the backfill in excavated trenches: The
material to be used in backfilling shall meet the requirements of
the NJDOT dense graded aggregate (DGA) unless otherwise specifically
permitted by the Borough Engineer. The backfill shall be moistened
and tamped in twelve-inch layers with a mechanical tamper and made
thoroughly compact, firm and unyielding as backfilling progresses.
The backfill material shall be brought to eight inches from the finished
surface in roadway areas. Eight inches of bituminous stabilized base
course shall be placed and compacted so as to provide a smooth surface.
A thin tack coat shall be applied to the sides of the existing pavement.
(a)
After settlement has occurred, as determined by the Borough
Engineer, the temporary pavement shall be milled six inches beyond
the existing pavement on each side for a depth of two inches. The
edges shall be kept straight and parallel using a pavement saw or
pneumatic cutting. There shall be no varying width in the final repair.
A thin coat of tack coat shall be applied to the sides of the existing
pavement and a new two-inch hot-mix asphalt (HMA) surface course in
accordance with the New Jersey Department of Transportation Standard
Specifications for Roads and Bridges (latest version) shall be installed
to complete the permanent repair.
(b)
When the permit requires concrete surface course or as determined
by the Borough Engineer, the concrete used shall be Class B in accordance
with the NJDOT. After settlement has occurred, as determined by the
Borough Engineer, the temporary pavement shall be removed to the required
depth and permanent concrete surface course shall be installed. The
edges of the existing pavement shall be neatly cut back to a minimum
of six inches with a pavement saw or pneumatic cutting tool to expose
the existing reinforcement steel. New steel of the same size as the
existing steel shall be wired to the existing steel with a six-inch
overlap. A minimum of eight-inch-thick Class B concrete shall be installed
to complete the permanent repair.
(2)
Forty-eight hours prior to the commencement of the backfilling, the
Borough Engineer shall be notified by the permittee. The permittee
shall provide access for the Borough Engineer to perform the required
inspections. The inspections performed by the Borough Engineer do
not relieve the permittee's responsibilities to perform all work
in accordance with the provisions of this article.
D.
The contractor or owner performing construction shall enclose or
cover by tarpaulin or other suitable means all sand, gravel and other
construction materials stored on the property or any portion of the
street or sidewalk whenever the contractor or owner doing construction
is not engaged in construction and take all necessary steps to prevent
dislodging or washing of construction materials from their stored
site onto the sidewalks, streets or adjacent property in the Borough
of Palisades Park or into any public sanitary or storm sewer or catch
basins in the Borough of Palisades Park.
E.
The holder of the permit shall guard the excavation or excavations
by the erection of suitable barriers by day and the maintenance of
suitable lights by night. The Borough Engineer and/or Police Department
may require additional security measures as required for public welfare.
Under no circumstances shall an open trench remain open overnight.
All open trenches shall be temporarily backfilled or sufficiently
plated with steel plates anchored to the existing street.
F.
The holder of the permit must notify the Building Department at least
24 hours prior to close of the trench. The Building Department wishes
to inspect all backfilling and concrete base and pavement replacement.
G.
In the event that the Mayor and Council grant the street opening
permit for a street that has been improved or paved within five years,
an infrared process, or approved equal, as determined by the Borough
Engineer, shall be used on all seams to blend in the final repair
with the existing pavement.
Any person, firm or entity who obtains a street opening permit shall be legally responsible to the Borough of Palisades Park and to any third person for any defect in the nature of the work performed or for any collapse of the excavation or for any injury or property damage to any individual caused by said defective work, and said liability shall be for a period of five years from the expiration date of the surety bond posted in compliance with § 258-46D of this article.
Any person violating § 258-45 of this article shall be subject to a fine not exceeding $100 or imprisonment for 30 days, or both.
