Bayonne, NJ Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Section 17-31.10, adopted from N.J.S.A. 55:19-82 into Bayonne's own Property Maintenance chapter, gives the public officer five separate grounds to declare a property a nuisance. A property qualifies if it has already been found unfit for human habitation under N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.3, if its condition and vacancy materially increase fire risk to it or neighboring properties, if it is subject to unauthorized entry because the owner failed to secure it (or the City had to secure it after the owner did not), if vermin or an accumulation of debris or uncut vegetation has created a health or safety hazard the owner has not remedied, or if its dilapidated appearance materially hurts the economic welfare of nearby residents and the owner has not fixed it.

This nuisance-property finding sits alongside Bayonne's separate abandoned-property criteria in Section 17-31.9, which lets a property be deemed abandoned after six months of non-occupancy combined with a need for rehabilitation, halted construction, delinquent taxes, or an existing nuisance finding. Once the public officer makes a nuisance determination under paragraphs a2 through a5, the City must follow the notification procedures set out in the state Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law, N.J.S.A. 40:48-2.3 et seq., before pursuing further action such as transferring possession and control of the property for rehabilitation under Section 17-31.12.