Marlboro council tables action on towing code
Liquor license will be placed up for sale at $800K minimum
BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer

MARLBORO - A proposed amended ordinance involving wreckers (towing companies) was tabled once again by the Township Council on Sept. 20.

The council has been going back and forth with this issue and trying to determine what an appropriate penalty should be for companies that fall below the established response standard when called by police or the township for assistance.

That standard has also been debated, with the latest suggestion being a penalty levied for towing companies which fall below a 65 percent response rate.

At the meeting, however, the 65 percent standard came into question, especially after Marlboro police Lt. Nick Barbella read off the numbers for August.

After hearing the low response rates, council President Jeff Cantor commented that if the response standard was raised to 65 percent there might not be many towing companies left on the list of firms to call for service.

Mayor Robert Kleinberg said the numbers read by Barbella showed there is a problem in the system. He suggested that officials come up with a solution to fix the problem rather than just pick a number as a required response rate.

During public comment on the towing ordinance resident Paul Schlaflin expressed his belief that the public safety situation the council was told about was fabricated, since Marlboro police Sgt. Joseph Lenge, from the traffic and safety division, had never appeared at a meeting to discuss the situation.

Councilwoman Patti Morelli made a motion to table the ordinance until Lenge could be present to discuss the public safety aspects of the proposed law.

Also discussed at the Sept. 20 meeting was a resolution authorizing the issuance of one plenary retail distribution license. The township will hold a public sealed bid sale for the license. Cantor said the minimum price for the liquor license would be $800,000.

In order to obtain the license all bidders must be prequalified and only bidders matching specific standards will have their bid opened, according to the resolution.

To prequalify, a prospective bidder must submit an application, a signed certification of proof of compliance, a separate sealed envelope containing the prospective bidder's deposit fee of $80,000 and their bid proposal on or before 10 a.m. Oct. 30. The prospective bidders who prequalify will be announced at 3 p.m. Oct. 30.

The township clerk will open the sealed bids received from prequalified bidders at 10 a.m. Nov. 6. The council will then adopt at a public meeting either the award of the license to the highest qualified bidder or reject all of the bids.

New ordinances amending the Certificates of Continued Occupancy (CCO) and the RSCS Senior Citizen Residential and Single-Family District were adopted at the Sept. 20 meeting.

The CCO amendments will require a person selling a home to have a CCO deeming the structure in compliance with all provisions in the most current version of the International Housing Maintenance Code.

Within this ordinance no CCO will be issued until the zoning officer has inspected the property. Any nonconforming structure (either built without a permit or approval, or built in violation of applicable township ordinances) that has been on the property prior to 1990 will be exempt from the requirement of obtaining the requisite approval for the structure.

The RSCS Senior Citizen Residential and Single-Family District amendments had been approved by the Planning Board at its Sept. 19 meeting. That requirement has caused hardships A grandfather clause was added as the amendment to the RSCS zoning district section to make it less burdensome when residents wish to make improvements on their lot, which became nonconforming when the area was rezoned.

Cantor called those ordinances examples of government for the people.

Along the lines of the previous two ordinances that were adopted, another amendment had its first public reading that night. The Accessory Buildings and Structures code currently requires corner lots and lots that front on more than one street to have accessory structures set back twice the required front-yard setback required for the principal structure. for residents, denying the placement of structures such as sheds and gazebos without the homeowner obtaining a variance, according to the ordinance.

If the amendment is adopted, "accessory structures in second front yards shall be set back the same distance from the street line as the principal structure is required to be set back."

In discussing this amendment, Township Attorney Andrew Bayer said the recommendation had come from the Zoning Board of Adjustment and that the board's planner recommended it.

This amendment is expected to be voted upon at the council's Oct. 4 meeting.