Filming in Florence Township, New Jersey

The part of Florence’s rules that is not in the film chapter

Most New Jersey filming ordinances require an off-duty officer and then never say what that costs. Florence is different, but you have to look in the right place. Chapter 71 requires the officer and sends you to Chapter 22 of the Township Code. Chapter 22 is where the money is.

What is still missing is the officer’s own hourly rate. Section 22-3 ties special law enforcement officers to the Level I rate in the current collective bargaining agreement between the Township and FOP Lodge No. 210. That agreement is not part of the Code, so no dollar figure can be published here.

How to begin

Filming in Florence Township runs through the Office of the Municipal Clerk, but the decision belongs to the Business Administrator. Section 71-2B lists the findings the Administrator must make before a permit issues, and § 71-2E requires the application to be made on a form the Clerk approves, at that office, during normal business hours, with the fee attached.

• Nancy L. Erlston, RMC, Municipal Clerk · 609-499-2525 ext. 108 · clerk@florence-nj.gov
• Jenise Silinsky, CMR, Deputy · 609-499-2525 ext. 102 · jsilinsky@florence-nj.gov
• Ask for the current film permit application form and confirm how the fee is paid

There is no downloadable film application. We read the Clerk’s Forms and Applications page in full on August 26, 2026. It lists bingo, raffle, block party, yard sale, transient merchant, parking, street opening, tree removal, cannabis and dozens of construction forms. Nothing for filming. Request the form directly and treat that call as the real first step.

Section 71-2A wants seventeen things in the application, and several are worth preparing before you call rather than after: the method of screening you will use to separate the public from the set, identification of animals, firearms, special effects or open fires, identification of special production equipment including drones, cranes and towers, the title of the film or programme and any high-profile individuals expected on location, and a signed certificate agreeing to the Township’s Code of Conduct.

If the weather turns, § 71-2F lets the Municipal Clerk issue a new permit for other dates at your request, subject to full compliance with everything else, and no additional fee is paid.

What triggers a permit, and the question the chapter does not answer

Chapter 71 defines filming broadly: still or motion pictures on film, videotape or a similar medium, for commercial or educational purposes intended for viewing on television, in theatres or for institutional use. News stories filmed within the Township are expressly outside the chapter.

Public lands is defined as every public street, highway, sidewalk, square, public park or playground or other public place within the Township’s jurisdiction and control.

Filing, insurance and police staffing

Filing. Section 71-3A: no permit will be issued by the Municipal Clerk unless applied for prior to four days before the requested shooting date. The Business Administrator may waive the four-day period where, in his judgment, the applicant has obtained all related approvals and adjacent property owners or tenants do not need to be notified.

The chapter says four days. It does not say four business days, and we are not going to convert it into business days for you.

Insurance and indemnity. Where filming is on public property, § 71-2D requires the Township to be named as an additional insured, requires general liability at $1,000,000 per occurrence with a $1,000,000 general aggregate, and requires a written agreement indemnifying and saving the Township harmless from all liability, expense, claim or damages resulting from the use of public lands. It also requires the hiring of an off-duty Florence police officer, in accordance with Chapter 22, for the times indicated on the permit.

Separately, § 71-2G lets the Business Administrator require evidence of liability insurance covering injury to the general public in such amount or amounts as may be from time to time determined by the Administrator, before any activity begins. The $1,000,000 figure is the floor written into the chapter, not a cap on what may be asked for.

Extra staffing. Section 71-6B reserves the Township’s right to require one or more on-site patrolmen where the production may impede the proper flow of traffic, at your cost as a cost of production. Where existing electrical power lines will be used, an on-site licensed electrician may be required if the production company does not have one on staff. No electrician rate is published.

Public property has a second layer. Section 71-2D also requires a permittee filming on public property to identify any activities prohibited under § 110-1 of Chapter 110 of the Township Code and to identify the remedial actions that will safeguard the public from those activities during filming. Read Chapter 110 before you write that part of the application.

Inspection and distribution. Under § 71-9, copies of the approved permit go to the Police and Fire Departments before filming and to the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission. You must let the Bureau of Fire Prevention in Florence Township Fire District No. 1, or other Township inspectors, inspect the site and the equipment, and comply with the safety instructions they issue.

Fees, and the clause that cites a rule that is not there

A three-day shoot using public lands is $100 plus three days at $150, so $550 in municipal fees, before the off-duty officer, any vehicle charge, and any § 71-10 reimbursement. The same three days for a major motion picture is $100 plus $1,500, so $1,600.

Major motion picture is defined in § 71-1 as any film financed or distributed by a major studio, with a named list, plus any film with a budget of at least $20,000,000 and recurrent weekly television series programming. Note that the recurrent-series limb has no budget test at all: a weekly series is a major motion picture in Florence regardless of what it costs.

Section 71-10 sits on top of every fee. In addition to any other fees or costs in the chapter, you reimburse the Township for any lost revenue, such as parking meter revenue, repairs to public property, or other revenue the Township was prevented from earning because of the filming.

Hours: camera wrap, crew wrap, and what is counted

Chapter 71 is one of the few New Jersey filming ordinances that defines its own production vocabulary. Section 71-1 defines camera wrap as the end of filming for the day, when the actors and artistic staff are dismissed, and crew wrap as the period after that in which the crew dismantles, stores or shuts down equipment and gear.

Night scenes must be approved in the permit, granted in accordance with § 71-8. Under that section the Business Administrator may authorise filming outside the stated hours, considering:

• Traffic congestion at the location caused by vehicles parked on the public street
• Your ability to remove film-related vehicles off the public streets
• Whether you are requesting restrictions on the use of public streets or public parking during the filming
• The nature of the shoot itself: indoor or outdoor, day or night, on public or private lands
• Prior experience of the film company with the Township, if any
• Consultation with the Council-Ward representative for the ward where the filming is to take place

That last factor means an extension of hours in Florence involves an elected official, not just an administrative sign-off. Raise a night shoot early rather than close to the date.

Note also Code of Conduct tenet 8: in residential areas after 10:00 p.m. all noise levels should be kept as low as possible, and Chapter 102 of the Township Code governs the noise standard itself.

The Code of Conduct is part of the law here

Plenty of towns hand out a courtesy sheet. Florence enacted one. Section 71-2I adopts a Code of Conduct in 15 numbered tenets, changeable by resolution of the Township Council, and § 71-2A(17) makes a signed certificate agreeing to abide by it a required part of the application.

The tenets that most often catch a production out:

• Production vehicles must not enter a residential area before the time stipulated in the permit, must park along the curb one by one, and must turn off engines as soon as possible
• Every crew member wears a production pass or badge when one is issued
• Moving or towing the public’s vehicles is prohibited without the municipality’s express permission
• No parking in or blocking driveways without the express permission of both the municipality and the driveway owner
• Meals stay in the designated meal area, and all trash is disposed of on completion
• No removing, trimming or cutting vegetation or trees without approval
• All signs erected for filming, including your directional signs and any “no parking” signs, come down afterwards
• Sidewalks are not equipment storage. Where a sidewalk is blocked with permission, traffic cones must delineate an alternate pedestrian path
• Township trash cans may not be used for production trash. Catering, crafts service, construction, strike and personal trash all leave with you
• Local residents and business people must be permitted access to and from their residence or business

The chapter closes that subsection by requesting, not requiring, that producers of feature films and television programmes acknowledge the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission and the Township of Florence in their closing credits.

Notice, refusal and the two different appeals

Neighbour notice. Where your production will directly involve or affect any businesses, merchants or residents, § 71-4B requires written notice at least three days before the requested shooting date, informing them that objections may be filed with the Municipal Clerk. Those objections form part of your application and are considered in reviewing it.

The proof-of-service deadline is ambiguous in the enacted text. Section 71-4B says proof of service of notification to adjacent owners “shall be submitted to the Municipal Clerk within two days of the requested shooting date”. It does not say two days before or two days after. The identical wording appears in Gloucester Township’s § 38-4B. Ask the Clerk for a dated example rather than guessing; filing the proof early is the safe reading either way.

Refusal. Under § 71-6A the Business Administrator may refuse a permit on the basis of objective facts, after reviewing the application and a report from the Police Department and other Township agencies involved with the site, where filming at that location or time would violate any law or ordinance, unreasonably interfere with the use and enjoyment of adjoining properties, unreasonably impede traffic or pedestrians, or otherwise endanger public health, safety or welfare.

Standards for issuance. Section 71-2B requires the Administrator to find that the activity will not unreasonably interfere with the public’s enjoyment of the Township, will not unreasonably interfere with public health, welfare, safety and recreation, will not entail extraordinary or burdensome expense or police operation by the Township, and that the facilities you want have not already been reserved for another use on that date. That third finding is worth reading twice if your shoot is police-heavy.

What we are not publishing for Florence Township

Stated plainly rather than guessed at:

• A downloadable application. None is published. The Clerk’s Forms and Applications page was read in full on August 26, 2026.
• An officer’s hourly rate. Chapter 22 gives the multiplier and the administration fee but ties the underlying rate to the FOP Lodge No. 210 collective bargaining agreement, which is not part of the Code.
• The current police vehicle rate. Set semiannually by the Chief. Only the $10 per hour floor is published.
• Fire, inspection or electrician charges. Required or permitted by the chapter, never priced in it.
• A named Film Ready Liaison or Film Permit Representative. No official source names one.
• Any location or its availability. Nothing on this page asserts that a Township street, park, building or private property is available to film.

Chapter 71 reaches land within the Township’s jurisdiction and control. Burlington County roads and parks, State highways, railroad property, Delaware River access and private institutional property each have their own controlling authority, and a Township permit does not reach them.

Common questions

How far in advance do I need a film permit in Florence Township, NJ?

Section 71-3A says no permit will be issued unless applied for prior to four days before the requested shooting date. The chapter says four days, not four business days. The Business Administrator may waive that period where all related approvals are in hand and adjacent owners or tenants do not need notice. Plan for more than four days: neighbour notice is separately due at least three days out, and the Administrator has four days after receiving your application to state in writing why a permit is refused.

How much does a film permit cost in Florence Township?

The basic permit is $100, or $150 processed on an expedited basis. Use of public lands adds $150 per day or any part of a day, rising to $500 per day for a major motion picture. A nonprofit filming for educational purposes pays $25 with no daily rate, and filming on private property carries no daily fee. Section 71-10 separately requires reimbursement of Township revenue lost to the filming, such as parking meter revenue.

What does an off-duty police officer cost for filming in Florence Township?

Chapter 71 requires the officer for filming on public property but does not price it. Chapter 22 does. Section 22-2B(1) charges 1 1/2 or 2 times the officer's compensation rate, whichever applies, plus the then-current workers' compensation cost and a 5% administration fee. A police vehicle is charged separately at a rate the Chief sets each January and July, not less than $10 per hour. The officer's underlying rate is in the FOP Lodge No. 210 agreement rather than the Code, so ask the Clerk for the current figure and apply the multiplier.

What are the filming hours in Florence Township residential zones?

Between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., with camera wrap no later than 9:00 p.m. and crew wrap no later than 10:00 p.m. Setup, production and breakdown are all included in those hours, so the practical shooting window ends at 9:00 p.m. and the last hour is for clearing out. Night scenes must be approved in the permit under section 71-8, and one of the factors the Business Administrator considers is consultation with the Council-Ward representative for the ward where filming will occur.

What counts as a major motion picture in Florence Township?

Any film financed or distributed by a major motion picture studio from the list in section 71-1, any film with a budget of at least $20,000,000, or recurrent weekly television series programming. The recurrent-series limb has no budget test, so a weekly series pays the $500 daily rate regardless of what it costs. For comparison, Roseland sets its major motion picture budget threshold at $5,000,000.

Do I need a permit to film on private property in Florence Township?

The chapter does not answer this cleanly. Chapter 71 contains no express clause saying that no person shall film without a permit, and its substantive obligations on insurance, indemnity and police staffing are keyed to filming on public property. But the fee schedule at section 71-11E includes a line for filming on private property, which contemplates a private-property permit. Ask the Municipal Clerk in writing whether your specific shoot needs one, and keep the answer.

Official sources

• OfficialTownship of Florence Code, Chapter 71 “Film Making”, § 71-1 to § 71-12, adopted December 6, 2023 by Ord. No. 2023-19 and amended May 7, 2025 by Ord. No. 2025-12. Code root FL0864. Read in full August 26, 2026
• OfficialThe same chapter in eCode’s print view, which renders every section in one document. This is the copy that was read for this guide
• OfficialTownship of Florence Code, Chapter 22 “Police Department”, Article I, § 22-1 to § 22-3, in the same print view. This is the source of the off-duty officer charge formula and the police vehicle floor. Read in full August 26, 2026
• OfficialTownship of Florence Municipal Clerk page, for the Clerk and Deputy Clerk names, extensions and email addresses, checked August 26, 2026
• OfficialTownship of Florence Clerk Forms and Applications page. Read in full August 26, 2026 and confirmed to contain no film permit application
• OfficialNJMPTVC Film Ready certified-localities list, checked August 26, 2026

Checked August 26, 2026 against Chapter 71 and Chapter 22 of the Township of Florence Code read in full through the eCode print view under code root FL0864, the Township Municipal Clerk page, the Clerk’s Forms and Applications page and the State certified-localities list. This closes a prior hold that had recorded the appeal route and the police rates as unresolved; both were resolved from the enacted text this pass Report a correction or updated permit requirement.

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