[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Hopatcong 2-2-1989 by Ord. No. 2-89; amended in its entirety 8-2-2023 by Ord. No. 17-2023. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AFFECTED AREA OF ICE
The area of the water body or ice surface disturbed by the operation of an ice-retardant system. Said disturbed or affected area includes open water, weakened ice (excessively cracked), thin ice (less than four inches in depth) and area where adjacent ice is covered by a film of water.
BULKHEAD LINE
The high-water mark of 10.30 feet on the staff gauge as recorded at Lake Hopatcong State Park or the line established by the Bureau of Navigation, State Department of Environmental Protection, defining the lake's permanent shoreline.
ICE-RETARDANT SYSTEM
A mechanical device(s) or a series of mechanical devices designed to retard or prevent the formation of ice in or around lakefront structures. Said devices utilize as their mode of operation one or more of the following mechanisms: pumped air, artificial water turbulence or the addition of heat to the water body.
OWNER or OPERATOR
The owner of record of a tract of land according to the tax rolls of the Borough of Hopatcong or any person occupying said premises or utilizing the property.
PERSON
Any individual, association of individuals, corporation or partnership.
PIERHEAD LINE
A line running parallel to the bulkhead line and extending not more than 50 feet from said bulkhead line, as approved by the Natural Resources Council and Bureau of Navigation, State Department of Environmental Protection, beyond which no dock, pier or marina or other structure, permanent or temporary, floating or affixed to shore or lake bottom, may be located.
PROPELLER-DRIVEN DEVICE
Any device designed, marketed, or sold to the general public for use in retarding the formation of ice around protected structures which is typically cylindrical in shape, containing an electric motor within the cylinder which drives a propeller in such a manner that it forces water to travel through the cylinder and agitate the surface of the water body to prevent the freezing of water through artificial water turbulence.
PROTECTED STRUCTURE
Any lakefront or within-lake structure which the ice-retardant system is designed to protect. Such protected structures include but are not limited to docks, piers, bulkheads, catwalks, seawalls and boathouses.
A. 
Utilization of ice-retardant systems is hereby authorized within the municipal limits of the Borough of Hopatcong from December 1 of each year through April 1 of the following year.
B. 
No person shall operate an ice-retardant system within the municipal limits of the Borough of Hopatcong unless said operation is in conformance with this chapter.
C. 
No person shall operate a propeller-driven device within the municipal limits of the Borough of Hopatcong unless the system has been annually registered prior to December 1, 2023, with the Borough on a form prescribed by the Zoning Officer. The registration form shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following information: (1) name of property owner, street address, block and lot number and dock placard number where the ice-retardant system is to be operated; and (2) the name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the person in charge of maintenance of the ice-retardant system. A dock placard number must be installed upon the dock or structure where the propeller-driven device is to be operated so that it is visible when viewed from Lake Hopatcong. There shall be no fee for registration of an ice-retardant system.
D. 
By registering a propeller-driven device, a property owner shall be deemed to consent to entry upon the owner's property upon reasonable notice for purposes of inspection of the system by the Zoning Officer to ensure compliance with this chapter.
A. 
All ice-retardant systems shall be marked with an appropriate sign placed along the shore or on the protected structure specifying "Danger, Thin Ice." Such sign shall be a minimum of two feet by three feet in size and shall feature letters of a minimum height of three inches and colors in such a way as to be clearly visible on the ice from a distance of 100 feet. Where the ice-retardant system will disturb a distance measured horizontally along the shoreline of more than 25 feet, an additional sign shall be required for each 25 feet of shoreline or fraction thereof.
B. 
Under normal operation conditions, the affected area of ice created by the ice-retardant system shall not extend more than 10 feet beyond the protected structure.
C. 
Under normal operation conditions, the affected area of ice created by the ice-retardant system shall not extend more than 10 feet, measured along the shoreline, from the protected structure.
D. 
Irrespective of the standard appearing in Subsections B and C above, the affected area of ice, under normal operating conditions, should not extend to within 10 feet of a side property line. Said requirement may be waived if the owner and/or operator of the ice-retardant system obtains written permission from the adjacent property owner.
E. 
Unless the ice-retardant system has been designed and approved in accordance with § 137-4 of this chapter, no system shall be designed or operated in such a way as to prevent ingress or egress to any portion of the water body or to foreclose the formation of ice across a channel.
F. 
Any ice-retardant system used in accordance with this chapter shall be operated with a ground-fault-protected circuit, a timer and a thermostat installed pursuant to and in conformity with the BOCA Code and as otherwise required by law. The thermostat shall be set so that the ice-retardant system does not operate when temperatures are above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The timer shall be set in such a manner that the ice-retardant system operates for no more than 12 hours per day.
The Mayor and Council may, by resolution, waive the requirements of this chapter in situations of hardship or exceptional public necessity. "Exceptional public necessity" shall include but not limited to a necessity to maintain an open channel of water for ferry service or access to island lakefront homes. In considering such an application, the Mayor and Council may refer the application to the Lake Hopatcong Commission for comment. In adopting the resolution, the Mayor and Council shall specify requirements as to markings and lighting. Such requirements can include but are not limited to requiring buoys to be placed in the frozen water body to clearly mark the approach, requiring nighttime illumination or flashing light to indicate that open water is present, limiting the size of the affected ice area to the minimal necessary for the use and/or publishing public notice of the condition to specify minimal levels of insurance requirements.
A. 
The Zoning Official is hereby designated as the enforcement officer under the terms of this chapter. All complaints received by any municipal agency concerning the operation of ice-retardant systems shall be referred to the Zoning Official. Upon receipt of a complaint, the Zoning Official shall investigate within five days and, if the complaint is found justified, notify the owner and operator of the terms of this chapter and require compliance within an additional 10 days. The Zoning Official may reduce the time period for compliance when the interest of public safety so requires. If the owner or operator of the system fails to undertake the corrections within the specified time frame, the Zoning Official may cause a summons to be issued in the Municipal Court of the Borough of Hopatcong to enforce the requirements of this chapter.
B. 
A violation of the terms of this chapter, including the operational requirements, shall be punishable by a fine of $150 for the first offense, $350 for the second offense and $1,000 for the third and subsequent offenses. Each day that a violation of this chapter continues may be deemed to be a separate offense.