"AN ORDINANCE WAIVING CONSTRICTION PERMIT FEES WITH REGARD TO DISABLED PERSONS RENOVATIONS IN THE TOWNSHIP OF BERKELEY HEIGHTS"

WHEREAS, the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey has enacted Section 1 of P.L. 1989, c. 223 (C.52:27D-126e), published as N.J.S.A. 52:27D-126e, and known as the "State Uniform Construction Code Act", that provides that the governing body of any municipality which has appointed an enforcing agency pursuant to the provisions of section 8 of P.L. 1975, c. 217 (C. 52:27D-126) may, by ordinance, provide that no person shall be charged a construction permit surcharge fee or enforcing agency fee for any construction, reconstruction, alteration or improvement designed and undertaken solely to promote accessibility by disabled persons to an existing public or private structure or any of the facilities contained therein

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED, by the Township Committee, Township of Berkeley Heights, in the County of Union, State of New Jersey as follows:

1. No person shall be charged a construction permit surcharge fee of enforcing agency fee for any construction, reconstruction, alteration or improvement designed and undertaken solely to promote accessibility by disabled persons to an existing public or private structure or any of the facilities contained therein.

2. Any disabled person, or a parent or sibling of a disabled person, shall not be required to pay any municipal fee or charge in order to secure a construction permit for any construction, reconstruction, alteration or improvement which promotes accessibility to his own living unit.

3. For purposes of this Ordinance, "disabled person" means a person who has the total and permanent inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment, including blindness, and shall include, but not limited to, any resident of this State who is disabled pursuant to the Federal Social Security Act or the Federal Railroad Retirement Act of 1974, or is rated as having a 60% disability or higher pursuant to any Federal law administered by the United States Veterans' Act. For purposes of this paragraph "blindness" means central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens. An eye which is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees shall be considered as having a central visual acuity of 20/290 or less.

4. If any section, subsection, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is, for any reason, held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not effect the remaining portion of this Ordinance.

5. All Ordinances of the Township of Berkeley Heights that are inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.

6. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately after final hearing and publication according to law.