Request for Code Violation
Dear Verona Township,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
Residential properties with street addresses with the below criteria;
1. Fire damage, overgrown grass, overgrown weeds, junk, boarded houses/windows, vacant properties.
2. Condemned properties
3. All properties currently listed with water shut-off notice
4. All properties with notices of abatement
Please send all documents in CSV or Excel file
Yours faithfully,
Vanessa
I, Jennifer Kiernan, the official Records Custodian of the Township of
Verona received your OPRA request on January 12, 2023. As such, the seven
(7) business day deadline to respond to your request is January 24, 2023.
This response to your request is being provided to you on the 2^nd day of
the Custodian’s receipt of said request.
Your OPRA request sought access to the following:
“Residential properties with street addresses with the below criteria;
1. Fire damage, overgrown grass, overgrown weeds, junk, boarded
houses/windows, vacant properties.
2. Condemned properties
3. All properties currently listed with water shut-off notice
4. All properties with notices of abatement”
This request is denied as no such document exists. Simply put, fire
damage, overgrown grass, overgrown weeds violations are filed by their
respective block and lot. Pursuant to the NJ Open Public Records Act
(N.J.S.A. 47:1A, et seq.), Records Custodians are not required to research
files in order to figure out which records, if any, might be responsive.
See Donato v. Township of Union, GRC Complaint No. 2005-182 (February
2007).
No vacant property ordinance exists in the Township, and therefore there
are no responsive documents. Pursuant to New Jersey’s Winter Termination
Program, utility shutoffs are prohibit during the winter months,
therefore, there are no responsive documents for request #3. Also, there
are no responsive documents for your request for “properties with notices
of abatement.”
If your request for access to a government record has been denied or
unfilled within the seven (7) business days required by law, you have a
right to challenge the decision by the Township of Verona to deny access.
At your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior
Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the Government Records
Council (GRC) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may
contact the GRC by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at P.O.
Box 819, Trenton, NJ, 08625, by e-mail at [1][email address], or at
their web site at [2]www.state.nj.us/grc. The GRC can also answer other
questions about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in
Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.
Jennifer Kiernan, RMC
Municipal Clerk
Township of Verona
600 Bloomfield Avenue
Verona, NJ 07044
973.857.4770
[3]Municipal Clerk Webpage
Dear Jennifer Kiernan,
HI
for this one
fire damage, overgrown grass, overgrown weeds violations
if there's no street address , can we have the list that's in block and lot format?
Yours sincerely,
Vanessa
My apologies for the confusion. There is no list. If/when a violation or
warning is issued, it is filed by the block and lot of that specific
property. Therefore, in order to fulfill this request, every file for
every property (block and lot) within the Township would have to be
searched to see if that folder contains any such violation or warning,
then it would need to be determined if it was issued within the time frame
requested. The Township does not maintain a list, or document of such
violations. Also, pursuant to the case law cited in my response, Records
Custodians are not required to conduct research (such as searching every
Township property file) in order to fulfill a request.
I hope this clarifies my original response.
Jennifer Kiernan, RMC
Municipal Clerk
Township of Verona
600 Bloomfield Avenue
Verona, NJ 07044
973.857.4770
[1]Municipal Clerk Webpage