{"id":839,"date":"2017-05-10T01:50:24","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T05:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=839"},"modified":"2017-05-10T01:51:54","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T05:51:54","slug":"north-dover-residents-call-for-increased-code-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2017\/05\/north-dover-residents-call-for-increased-code-enforcement\/","title":{"rendered":"North Dover Residents Call for Increased Code Enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A

A \u2018Dont Sell, Toms River Strong\u2019 sign. (File Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

A group representing 29 homeowners in Toms River\u2019s East Dover section made a plea to township council members Tuesday night to increase code enforcement activity in their neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The residents\u00a0praised the township\u2019s ban on real estate canvassers in their neighborhood, but said more code enforcement action is needed to curb the activities of aggressive land buyers from nearby Lakewood.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly, we risk becoming discouraged,\u201d said Richard Schrumpf, of Badger Drive. \u201cThe enforcement system is confusing and lacks accountability. There seems to be an emphasis on process rather than results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schrumpf said the neighborhood has seen an increase in foreclosures in recent years, and the township should be more aggressive in ensuring the properties do not fall into disrepair and lessen the values of neighboring plots.<\/p>\n

Schrumpf asked the council to provide a list of common code violations online and through local media, and better educate residents on who to call if there may be a problem. In some instances, he said, township employees were unsure if a situation was, or was not, a violation of the code. The township, he said, should publish a sheet listing some of the codes, such as the level to which grass must be cut and if storage trailers are allowed on properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0know they\u2019re doing the best they can,\u201d said\u00a0Donald Fahringer, another Badger Drive resident, of township employees, but the focus of efforts should now turn from enacting ordinances to swift enforcement of codes.<\/p>\n

Township Administrator Paul Shives said the procedure for reporting potential code violation is \u201cfairly simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe respond on a complaints-made basis,\u201d he explained. \u201cYou can e-mail, call, you don\u2019t have to give a name, and it is recorded as it comes in and assigned to the correct department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, Shives said, homeowners are dissatisfied that complaints turn out not to be violations of the law.<\/p>\n

Still, he said, residents are encouraged to report allegations of code violations. Contact information is posted on the township\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

A group representing 29 homeowners in Toms River\u2019s East Dover section made a plea to township council members Tuesday night to increase code enforcement activity in their neighborhood. The residents\u00a0praised the township\u2019s ban on real estate canvassers in their neighborhood, but said more code enforcement action is needed to curb the activities of aggressive land […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[327,326,11],"class_list":["post-839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","tag-code-enforcement","tag-north-dover","tag-toms-river-nj-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/trstrong.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839","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=839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}