Filming in Ocean Township (Waretown), New Jersey
Ocean Township’s filming chapter sets a 7:00 a.m. start and then says nothing at all about when filming must stop. There is no evening cutoff anywhere in Chapter 172. Agree an end time with the Township in writing rather than assuming one.
This is Ocean Township in Ocean County — Waretown — and not the unrelated Ocean Township in Monmouth County. It is the first Ocean County municipality covered on this site. The chapter is current, cheap to file against, and unusual in two respects: the hours provision is incomplete, and the major motion picture definition reads as an “and” rather than an “or”.
Information checked September 21, 2026
- County
- Ocean County
- Not to be confused with
- Ocean Township in Monmouth County (Oakhurst), a separate municipality with its own clerk, code and fees. This page is the Ocean County township, Waretown
- Film Ready status
- Film Ready certified locality. Confirmed on the State’s published certified-localities list, read in full September 21, 2026.
- Controlling source
- Township Code Chapter 172, adopted April 15, 2025 by Ordinance 2025-7, superseding an earlier 2023 chapter, and amended June 17, 2025 by Ordinance 2025-14
- Who issues
- The Municipal Clerk
- Who decides
- The Business Administrator refuses permits and grants waivers
- Published lead time
- Four days
- Basic permit fee
- $100, or $150 expedited. $25 for bona fide nonprofit, educational or student applicants
- Daily fee
- $150 per day, or $500 per day for a major motion picture
- Filming on private property
- No fee charged by the Township
- Insurance
- $500,000 bodily injury per person, $1,000,000 aggregate, $300,000 property damage
- Hours
- § 172-3D says production must not begin before 7:00 a.m. No end time is stated anywhere in the chapter
- Major motion picture
- Defined conjunctively: studio-backed and budgeted at $20,000,000 or more
- Police
- An off-duty officer requirement stated unconditionally
- Appeal
- If the decision-maker does not act within the stated period, the refusal falls away
- Drones
- Governed by a separate Chapter 153, Drones and Unmanned Aircraft. A filming permit does not cover aerial work
- Last verified
- September 21, 2026
This is Ocean Township in Ocean County — Waretown. There is a second, unrelated Ocean Township in Monmouth County (Oakhurst) with its own clerk, code and fees. Everything here comes from the Ocean County township’s Chapter 172.
$100 basic, $150 expedited, $150 a day or $500 for a major motion picture, four days’ notice, private property free. Production must not begin before 7:00 a.m. — and the chapter never says when it must stop.
The hours provision has a start and no finish
§ 172-3D says production “must not begin prior to 7:00 a.m.” We read Chapter 172 in full on September 21, 2026, and that is the only hours provision in it. There is no evening cutoff, no camera wrap, no crew wrap and no distinction between residential and commercial streets.
We are not going to fill the gap with a figure from a neighboring ordinance. Most towns in this region wrap camera at 9:00 or 10:00 p.m., and it would be easy to write that here, but it would be a rule we invented and a producer might rely on it.
What to do instead: agree your wrap time with the Township in writing when you apply, and assume that the noise ordinance, the police and ordinary residential goodwill will do the work Chapter 172 does not. An absent rule is not permission — it is a question that gets answered on the night, by somebody, and you would rather it were answered in advance.
Fees and requirements
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| Basic filming permit | $100 |
| Expedited permit | $150 |
| Bona fide nonprofit, educational or student applicant | $25 |
| Daily filming fee | $150 |
| Daily filming fee, major motion picture | $500 |
| Filming wholly on private property | No Township fee |
| Bodily injury, per person | $500,000 |
| Bodily injury, aggregate | $1,000,000 |
| Property damage | $300,000 |
The $150 expedited fee is at the low end for New Jersey, where $250 is the usual figure. Among the towns covered on this site it is tied with Randolph in Morris County.
- Who issues it. The Municipal Clerk, under Chapter 172 as adopted April 15, 2025 by Ordinance 2025-7 and amended June 17, 2025 by Ordinance 2025-14. The 2025 chapter superseded an earlier 2023 one, so anything written before April 2025 describes a repealed chapter.
- Who refuses or waives. The Business Administrator.
- Lead time. Four days.
- Police. The off-duty officer requirement is stated unconditionally rather than left to the Chief’s discretion. Budget for an officer.
A major motion picture definition that reads as “and”
Chapter 172 defines a major motion picture conjunctively: a production that is studio-backed and budgeted at $20,000,000 or more. Nearly every other version of this model joins the two limbs with “or”.
Read as written, that is favorable to independent producers. An independent feature at $30,000,000 with no studio behind it would not meet the definition, and would pay $150 a day rather than $500.
Because the reading favors you, confirm it rather than relying on it. Ask the Township whether they apply the definition as a conjunction. A fee dispute discovered after the shoot is a worse outcome than a phone call before it.
On appeal, silence works in your favor
If the decision-maker does not act within the period the chapter allows, the refusal falls away. That is a meaningful protection, and it is worth knowing that it is not the universal rule: some New Jersey ordinances provide the opposite, so that inaction affirms the refusal and your appeal dies of silence.
Never assume appeal mechanics carry across municipal lines. They are among the most locally variable provisions in these ordinances, and the two possible defaults are exact opposites.
Drone work is a separate chapter
Chapter 153, Drones and Unmanned Aircraft
Aerial work in this Township is governed by its own chapter, separate from the filming chapter. A permit issued under Chapter 172 does not cover it.
If your shoot includes drone work, raise both chapters with the Municipal Clerk when you apply, and remember that Federal Aviation Administration rules apply on top of whatever the Township requires. Airspace is not a municipal matter, but where you take off and land is.
Three shore towns compared
Three shore towns, the same model, one month apart
Oceanport, Tinton Falls and Ocean Township (Waretown) all adopted filming rules from the same State model within a month of one another in spring 2025 — Tinton Falls and Ocean Township on the same day. The results are not interchangeable.
| What | Oceanport | Tinton Falls | Ocean Twp (Waretown) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adopted | May 15, 2025 (Ord. 1110) | April 15, 2025 (Ord. 2025-1525) | April 15, 2025 (Ord. 2025-7) |
| Who issues | The Zoning Officer | The Borough Clerk, on the Administrator’s approval | The Municipal Clerk |
| Lead time | Four days | Four business days, with a commitment to issue | Four days |
| Expedited fee | $250 | $250 | $150 |
| Daily fee | $150 / $500 | $150 / $500 | $150 / $500 |
| Bodily injury, per person | — | $2,000,000 | $500,000 |
| Aggregate | $1,000,000 combined single limit | $3,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Property damage | Within the combined single limit | $2,000,000 | $300,000 |
| Bond | $500 | $1,000 | — |
| Hours | 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., seven days | Not the distinguishing feature of this section | 7:00 a.m. start, no end time published |
The insurance column is the one that will cost you time. A certificate written for Ocean Township will not satisfy Tinton Falls, and Oceanport wants specific cancellation wording on the face of the certificate. Price and paper each town separately.
Film Ready status
What Film Ready certification actually means for your shoot
Film Ready certification means the municipality has put a process in place and named someone to run it: a designated liaison, an adopted filming ordinance, a permit form, and a location inventory filed with the New Jersey Motion Picture & Television Commission.
It does not mean filming is free, that a permit is optional, or that approval is automatic. Every requirement on this page still applies. What certification tends to buy you in practice is a faster answer and a person who has done this before.
Ocean Township (Ocean County) is on the State’s certified-localities list, read in full on September 21, 2026. It is the first Ocean County municipality covered on this site.
A typo, for the avoidance of doubt
The adopted text contains “requipment” where “equipment” is plainly meant. Noted so that a reader who spots it knows they have the genuine document.
Practical production planning
- Agree an end time in writing when you apply. The chapter does not give you one and you do not want to discover that at 9:00 p.m.
- Confirm how the Township applies the major motion picture definition, particularly if you are an independent production above $20,000,000.
- Budget for an off-duty officer rather than hoping the requirement is waived.
- If drones are in the plan, read Chapter 153 as well and raise it at the same time.
- Double-check which Ocean Township any document you find refers to. Two municipalities share the name and only one of them is on Barnegat Bay.
- This is the first Ocean County guide on this site, so the nearby links below reach into Monmouth and Atlantic counties rather than next door.
Common questions
What are the filming hours in Ocean Township (Waretown), NJ?
The chapter gives a start time and no finish. Section 172-3D says production must not begin before 7:00 a.m., and that is the only hours provision in all of Chapter 172. There is no evening cutoff anywhere in the text. We are not going to supply one from a neighboring town's ordinance, because that would be inventing a rule. In practice, agree your wrap time with the Township in writing when you apply, and expect the noise ordinance and ordinary residential goodwill to do the work the filming chapter does not.
How much does a film permit cost in Ocean Township (Waretown), NJ?
The basic permit is $100, or $150 expedited, and $25 for bona fide nonprofit, educational or student applicants. On top of that, $150 a day, or $500 a day for a major motion picture. Filming wholly on private property carries no Township fee. The $150 expedited fee is at the low end for New Jersey, tied with Randolph among the towns covered here.
What counts as a major motion picture in Ocean Township (Waretown)?
The definition reads conjunctively: a production that is studio-backed and budgeted at $20,000,000 or more. Most New Jersey ordinances join those with “or”, which means a well-financed independent film usually qualifies. Read as written, an independent feature at $30,000,000 with no studio behind it would not be a major motion picture here, and would pay $150 a day rather than $500. That is a favorable reading, so confirm it with the Township rather than relying on our reading of their sentence.
Which Ocean Township is this?
Ocean Township in Ocean County, whose principal community is Waretown. New Jersey has two municipalities called Ocean Township: this one, and an unrelated Ocean Township in Monmouth County whose principal community is Oakhurst. They have different clerks, different codes and different fees. Everything on this page comes from Chapter 172 of the Ocean County township's code. If you are shooting near Asbury Park rather than near Barnegat Bay, you are probably looking for the Monmouth County township, which this site does not yet cover.
Do I need a drone permit in Ocean Township (Waretown)?
Aerial work is governed by a separate chapter. Chapter 153, Drones and Unmanned Aircraft, is its own part of the Township code, and a filming permit issued under Chapter 172 does not cover it. If your shoot includes drone work, raise both chapters with the Municipal Clerk when you apply, and remember that Federal Aviation Administration rules apply on top of anything the Township requires.
Official sources
- OfficialNJ Motion Picture & Television Commission, Film Ready certified localities
- MunicipalOcean Township (Ocean County) Code, Chapter 172 Filming
- MunicipalTownship of Ocean, Ocean County
Checked September 21, 2026 against the official municipal sources listed above. Report a correction or updated permit requirement.
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This guide is researched and reviewed by Sam Moskowitz, a New Jersey-based producer and DP who runs BLL Films. Sam’s production and cinematography credits include work for Netflix, History Channel, Hulu, the NFL and Google. Every changing fact on this page carries a verification date; see how this site is researched for the full process.
More town production guides
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