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Township: No More Old Wrecks On Your Front Lawn
By Catherine Galioto
The front lawn is no place to store a jalopy long term, according to a new township ordinance.
Previously, a loophole in the township code permitted residents to keep unlimited numbers of unregistered vehicles in their driveways and properties. After fielding calls from residents, Councilman Dan Toth investigated whether the Brick property maintenance code was in need of an update.
Several months later, he said the answer was yes, an update to a 1970s standard is needed. The township council voted to overhaul its property maintenance code last month.
"Seriously, I never thought it would take this much work," Toth said.
However, he said, he's glad to see Brick tighten its property maintenance code. It started with a request from a constituent as to why a neighbor was allowed to keep a rusty car on cinder blocks on the front lawn. Toth even heard one description that resembled a junkyard in a residential area.
The residents called looking for help, but Toth found rules that allowed such conditions to exist. Then he set out to change that. The councilman took a look at how other towns enforce standards for property maintenance.
"I went to places like Spring Lake, and asked how they managed to have properties look the way they do," Toth said.
The rule on vehicles is the most obvious change in the ordinance, although the code itself is a thick document. In the public hearings of the ordinance, one resident asked for a simple list of how the property maintenance code would change.
Toth said aside from very small changes in language it's the issues with dilapidated vehicles that the new ordinance addresses. However, the new code replaces what Toth said is an outdated way of setting standards for property maintenance.
"This really brings Brick Township up to the 21st century," Toth said.
Since taking office, he's had residents report of vehicles and boats that have been stationary for several years, unmoved from properties. But the code enforcement officers didn't have the tools to do anything about it, Toth said.
After poring over the building code, he found a passage that said "not more than one car," but what if that one car has been there so long it has vegetation growing out of it?
"I thought wow, that could be fine if someone is away at college, and the parents keep the car at home for the year," Toth said. "But instead, this gives code enforcement the abil- ity for the perennial offenders to target those vehicles that have been there so long they have plants growing out of them."
Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro said she's heard of vehicles with trees coming out of them they've been there so long.
Toth said it's unfortunate complaints have been made but the previous code didn't allow officials to actually do anything. The township needed a stricter rule to enforce.
"Code enforcement has been more and more of an issue here (in Brick), giving them one more tool for enforcement, which is what we're trying to get done," Councilman Michael Thulen said.
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