By JACQUELINE DURETT
Correspondent
EDISON — With a new ordinance, the township is taking steps to address its vacant and abandoned properties.
However, a couple of residents at the Aug. 24 council meeting were skeptical that the structure the ordinance, which was introduced that evening, outlined was the right solution.
The ordinance requires the registration of vacant and abandoned properties by their owners and/or creditors. Registration would be an annual process, with an initial registration fee of $500, and a renewal fee is $1,000.
Owners would also be responsible for maintaining and securing the property in line with township standards and visibly posting owner contact information with provided trespassing warning language. Violations would result in fees ranging from $250 to $1,000, and each day the property is in violation would be equivalent to an additional violation.
The public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14.
“This is basically to identify the vacant and abandoned properties, get them registered so we know when [Health Department Director] Jay [Elliot] needs to go after somebody. We’re trying to collect for performing services; we know exactly who they are. If there’s a problem we’re not searching, we’re not sending letters to a tax address, we can get a live body if there’s a problem with a building,” Township Attorney William W. Northgrave explained to resident Lois Wolke, who asked for more information about it. Abandoned and vacant properties and their maintenance issues fall under the authority of the Health Department.
Wolke said she wasn’t confident that the township would actually impose the violation fines set forth by the ordinance.
“Are we going to really do what this says?” she asked. “There’s so many laws that we have on our books, and we don’t enforce them. I think this is wonderful, but it’s not worth anything if we don’t have the personnel, the wherewithal, the fortitude to enforce them,” she said.
Northgrave agreed. “Exactly.”
Council President Michael Lombardi said he felt this ordinance would give the township more authority than it had before, enabling it to be more effective when it comes to enforcement. He also said the council was especially committed to seeing effective enforcement of the ordinances it was passing.
“I think we ought to put some money in personnel to enforce it,” Wolke responded.
The personnel issue was one echoed by another resident, Tony Eckert. “To me, this is an effort in futility,” he said, adding that he had complained about one such property in the past but said he was told by township officials that there was not enough manpower in place to address the situation.
