{"id":8266,"date":"2022-09-28T05:31:38","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T09:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=8266"},"modified":"2022-09-28T05:31:47","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T09:31:47","slug":"toms-river-councilman-plans-rally-motion-to-repeal-home-sale-inspection-ordinance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2022\/09\/toms-river-councilman-plans-rally-motion-to-repeal-home-sale-inspection-ordinance\/","title":{"rendered":"Toms River Councilman Plans Rally, Motion to Repeal Home Sale Inspection Ordinance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>

A \u2018For Sale\u2019 sign on a home under contract in Toms River. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

A member of the Toms River Township council is planning a rally before the governing body\u2019s meeting Wednesday, aimed at highlighting opposition to a controversial ordinance that requires home inspections performed by the township prior to the sale of a home.<\/p>\n

Councilman Justin Lamb said he will gather with realtors, homeowners and taxpayers at a \u201cproperty rights rally\u201d at 5 p.m., an hour before the council meeting begins at 6 p.m. Then, he plans on motioning to introduce an ordinance repealing the home inspection ordinance, which was passed at the final meeting of 2021 and implemented in July.<\/p>\n

At the council\u2019s last meeting, held earlier this month, realtors and homeowners came in opposition to the ordinance, saying it has cost real estate sales from occurring and, in some cases, surprised homeowners with bills in the thousands of dollars in violation notices and required repairs. The inspections look back on prior permitting for a property, with owners being penalized for unpermitted improvements \u2013 such as a fireplace or a converted garage \u2013 that may have been installed before they even owned the home. Other homeowners have had to deal with costly sidewalk repairs, tree removals and other code-related matters.<\/p>\n

Township officials, at the time the ordinance was introduced, said such ordinance were more common in North Jersey and some new homeowners expected Toms River would have a similar measure on the books. They also said the inspections could prevent confusion over the obligation for some homes to be raised for flood prevention purposes, and deadly occurrences such as a high-profile case in which a girl was electrocuted after touching faulty wiring on a boat lift while swimming behind a lagoon-front home last year.<\/p>\n

The realtors and homeowners said every buyer has a right to a private home inspection, and most buyers acknowledge that homes are not perfect, with certain repairs being worked into negotiations or simply accepted as part of purchasing an older home.<\/p>\n

Lamb further said the township\u2019s building department budget has ballooned to over $1.3 million with the hiring of new inspectors and the fees charged to sellers \u2013 something he believes is \u201ceroding property rights and suppressing home values.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe existing ordinance has created bureaucratic red-tape, cumbersome mandates, and costly delays that are undermining our home values,\u201d Lamb said. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s time to begin the repeal process [Wednesday] night.\u201d<\/p>\n

A copy of the proposed repeal ordinance appears below. The rally is scheduled to be held at 5 p.m. outside town hall, 33 Washington Street.<\/p>\n

~<\/p>\n

Ordinance to be Proposed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

ORDINANCE OF THE TOWNSHIP COUNCIL, TOWNSHIP OF TOMS RIVER, OCEAN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY REPEALING CHAPTER 253, ENTITLED \u201cCONTINUED USE AND OCCUPANCY OF RESIDENTIAL DWELLINGS,\u201d WHICH IMPLEMENTED REGULATIONS REQUIRING CERTIFICATES OF CONTINUED USE AND OCCUPANCY UPON TRANSFERS OF OWNERSHIP OF RESIDENTIAL DWELLINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n

WHEREAS,\u00a0<\/strong>the Township Council adopted Ordinance No. 4724-2021 on December 22, 2021 establishing a new Chapter 253 of the Township Code, entitled \u201cContinued Use and Occupancy of Residential Dwellings;\u201d and<\/p>\n

WHEREAS<\/strong>, Ordinance No. 4724-2021 took effect on July 1, 2022; and<\/p>\n

WHEREAS<\/strong>, pursuant to\u00a0N.J.S.A.<\/u>\u00a040:48-2, the governing body of a municipality may make, amend, repeal, and enforce such other ordinances, regulations, rules and by-laws not contrary to the laws of this state or the United States, as it may deem necessary and proper for the good government, order and protection of person and property, and for the preservation of the public health, safety\u00a0\u00a0and welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants, and as may be necessary to carry into effect the powers and duties conferred and imposed by this subtitle, or by any law; and<\/p>\n

WHEREAS<\/strong>, Ordinance 4724-2021 undermines private property rights, threatens Toms River property values, imposes gratuitous fees on homeowners, empowers an invasive bureaucracy, has caused major problems in the Toms River real estate market, and is making it far too difficult to buy or sell a home in Toms River; and<\/p>\n

WHEREAS<\/strong>, the Township Council deems it the in the public interest to repeal Ordinance 4724-2021, Chapter 253 of the Township Code, entitled \u201cContinued Use and Occupancy of Residential Dwellings;\u201d<\/p>\n

NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED<\/strong>\u00a0by the Township Council of the Township of Toms River, Ocean County, New Jersey as follows:<\/p>\n

Section 1.<\/strong>\u00a0Ordinance No. 4724-2021, Chapter 253, entitled \u201cContinued Use and Occupancy of Residential Dwellings,\u201d is hereby repealed and shall be of no force and effect whatsoever.<\/p>\n

Section 2.<\/strong>\u00a0All sections of the Township Code not amended hereunder shall remain in full force and effect.<\/p>\n

Section 3.<\/strong>\u00a0In the event any section, part or provision of this Ordinance shall be held unconstitutional or invalid by any Court, such holding shall not affect the validity of this Ordinance or any remaining part of this Ordinance other than the part held unconstitutional or invalid.<\/p>\n

Section 4.<\/strong>\u00a0All ordinances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of their inconsistencies.<\/p>\n

Section 5.<\/strong>\u00a0This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its final passage and publication as required by law.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A member of the Toms River Township council is planning a rally before the governing body\u2019s meeting Wednesday, aimed at highlighting opposition to a controversial ordinance that requires home inspections performed by the township prior to the sale of a home. Councilman Justin Lamb said he will gather with realtors, homeowners and taxpayers at a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1080,362,11],"class_list":["post-8266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-featured","tag-home-inspection","tag-toms-river-nj-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/for_sale_sign_toms_river_nj_578-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}