Standard Operating Procedures - Certificates of Occupancy and Code Enforcement
Dear Little Egg Harbor Township,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I certify under penalty of NJSA 2C:28-3 that I have not been convicted of an indictable offense. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
A copy of all Standard Operating Procedures from the Little Egg Harbor - Construction Department as related to Code Enforcement and Certificates of Occupancy that are active as of January 10, 2018.
Yours faithfully,
Gene Spaeth
Dear Brian Flynn,
Thank you for the enclosed documentation.
There are several definitions in Chapter 279, however, a definition of occupied versus unoccupied is not explained. This can cause confusion for a landlord and a building inspector; particularly with regard to a landlord maintaining some of their own belongings, as was my case on January 10, 2018. Further, this can cause an erroneous summons to be issued to landlords, with all sorts of time and cost penalties when there is no wrongdoing.
Do you have any formal documentation on the definition of Unoccupied versus Occupied as applicable to Chapter 156?
Yours sincerely,
Gene Spaeth
Mr. Spaeth,
Please contact the Construction Code Official, Oliver Clifford, directly for interpretation. He can be reached at 609-296-7241 x612.
Sincerely,
Brian Flynn
Little Egg Harbor Township
Dear Brian Flynn,
It would be beneficial for clarification for everyone; hence the public OPRA request.
Yours sincerely,
Gene Spaeth
Gene S. left an annotation ()
The request for Standard Operating Procedures did not return actual Operating Procedures, but instead, ordinances related to the request. The ordinance lacks a definition of Occupancy in Chapter 279, while other critical definitions are provided. Further, without standard operating procedures, and instead relying on the discretion of code enforcement officials, there is ample room for error in interpreting the spirit of the ordinances.