Town guide

Filming in Robbinsville, New Jersey

A production guide to Robbinsville’s January 2026 filming ordinance and its 2026 application, the published fee ceilings, bond and hours, and the notice period the Township’s two documents state differently.

Robbinsville adopted Chapter 112 and its commercial filming fee schedule together on January 29, 2026, and is a Film Ready certified locality.

The legal framework here is unusually complete. Three things still need to come from the Township in writing: the controlling notice period, an actual fee quote rather than a ceiling, and a classification for any budget at or near $20,000,000.

Information checked July 31, 2026

Checked Jul 31 2026

County: Mercer County
Film Ready treatment: Film Ready certified locality
Governing ordinance: Chapter 112, Filming, Commercial, adopted January 29, 2026 by Ordinance 2026-01
Fee schedule: § 109-30, Commercial filming fees, added by the same ordinance
Municipal starting point: Office of the Township Clerk
Film questions: Chris English, Director of Community Development
Film contact: cenglish@robbinsville.net, 609-259-3600 extension 1149
Municipal Clerk: Alicia Gonzalez, RMC, CMR
Clerk contact: clerk@robbinsville.net, 609-259-3600 extension 1109
Application: Application for Motion Picture/Television Filming, ten pages, 2026, submitted to the Township Clerk
Decision-maker: Township Business Administrator issues refusals, revocations and waivers; the Clerk issues the permit
Standard lead time: At least four or more business days before the requested shooting date
Basic permit: $100 with four or more days’ advance notice, stated as a ceiling
Expedited permit: $250 with three or fewer days’ advance notice, stated as a ceiling
Nonprofit and student permit: $25, one time, no daily rate required, stated as a ceiling
Public-property daily fee: $150 where the budget is under $20,000,000; $500 where it is over. Both stated as ceilings
Private-property daily fee: No fee charged by the municipality
Street closure: $5,000 per day for “street closures, more than 10,000 residents”. The measured population is not defined
Public-land insurance: $500,000 bodily injury to any one person / $1,000,000 aggregate, plus $300,000 property damage per occurrence, with the Township named as additional insured and five days’ notice before cancellation
Bond: $1,000 cash bond, returned within 15 days of completion where there is no damage or public expense
Filming hours: Monday to Sunday, 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. camera wrap, crew wrap 10:00 p.m.
Appeals: To the Township Council, filed within 10 days, heard within 30 days

Documented location character

Township sources describe an evolving Mercer County community with agricultural roots, historic road and rail development, the settlements associated with Newtown and Windsor, preserved land, modern residential and commercial development, and a substantial warehouse presence. Official parks material identifies Township parks and a wooded nature trail along part of Assunpink Creek.

The Township’s film page invites submissions of possible locations and gives examples including warehouses, wineries, restaurants, small shops, newly built homes and rustic farmhouses. That is an invitation to submit properties, not a verified inventory and not a statement that any of them is available.

Read this first

None of the above establishes current appearance, ownership, interior access, power, parking, loading, sound conditions or permission. Scout and clear every location separately from the permit.

Current source set

Robbinsville is unusually well documented. Both the governing law and the fee schedule were adopted together and are published in full, and the Township also publishes a current application.

Chapter 112, Filming, Commercial, adopted January 29, 2026 by Ordinance 2026-01.
§ 109-30, Commercial filming fees, added by the same ordinance.
A ten-page Application for Motion Picture/Television Filming carrying a 2026 date.
A dedicated Township film page publishing a named contact for film questions.

The ordinance and the application do not agree on how far ahead neighbours must be notified. That disagreement is set out below and is not resolved here.

Film Ready status

Robbinsville appears on the NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission’s certified-localities list, verified July 31, 2026.

Certification describes process readiness. It does not guarantee a permit, does not shorten the published lead time, and does not reach County, State, federal, school or private property inside the Township.

No checked Township page expressly names a Film Ready liaison or Film Permit Representative. The film page directs questions to the Director of Community Development, which is a functional routing contact and not a stated formal designation. Ask the Township to confirm the designated roles in writing.

When a permit is required

§ 112-2A requires a permit to film on public property, and on private property where the work uses public property for the operation, placement or temporary storage of vehicles or equipment, including any temporary structure, barricade or device intended to restrict or block pedestrian or vehicular traffic. The permit must state the approved location and duration by specific reference to day or dates and be available on site for inspection.

Useful exemption, read the conditions

Robbinsville publishes an explicit carve-out that most New Jersey towns do not. A municipal film permit is not required where filming occurs entirely on county, state or federally owned property, and no municipal services are used, and no public rights-of-way are obstructed, and the required permit is obtained from the applicable county, state or federal authority.

Every one of those conditions has to hold. Parking on a Township street, closing a sidewalk or drawing on Township services pulls the shoot back into the municipal process even when the camera never leaves County or State ground. Confirm the position in writing before relying on it.

The chapter’s definition of filming excludes the filming of news stories within the municipality.

Application and timing

Applications go to the Office of the Municipal Clerk during normal business hours, on a form approved by the Clerk, with the fee set by § 109-30.

Standard route: § 112-3A says no permit will be issued unless applied for at least four or more business days before the requested shooting date. The chapter says business days, which many New Jersey ordinances leave ambiguous.
Waiver: the Township Business Administrator may waive the four-day period where, in the Administrator’s judgment, the applicant has obtained all related approvals and adjacent owners or tenants do not need to be notified. Both conditions are stated together.
Weather: if filming does not happen on the permitted dates because of inclement weather or other good cause, the Clerk may issue a new permit for other dates at the applicant’s request, with no additional fee.
Public safety plan: § 112-4B says the Township may ask the project’s contact to meet the Clerk, Police Division, Fire Division, Business Administrator and other departments, virtually or in person, to build a public safety plan.

The ten-page application asks for company and production contacts, dates and times, type of filming, exact location, owner consent, scene detail, animals, firearms, effects, oversized equipment, cast and crew counts, vehicles, project title, high-profile participants, street or sidewalk closures, reserved parking, night work, intermittent traffic control, insurance and police assistance. Its office-use section records Fire Chief, Police Chief and Business Administrator review.

Chapter 112 has the Clerk issuing the permit while assigning refusal, revocation, appeals and waivers to the Business Administrator. Ask which office owns each step, whether the posted PDF is the current controlling version, and whether email submission is accepted. Do not edit the Township’s form or omit an attachment.

Notice to neighbours

Where the production will directly involve or affect businesses, merchants or residents, § 112-4C requires written notice and tells those parties that objections may be filed with the Municipal Clerk, to be considered in reviewing the application.

Unresolved conflict

The ordinance and the current application state different notice periods, and this guide does not choose between them.

Chapter 112 § 112-4C: affected businesses, merchants and residents “shall be given written notice of the filming at least three days prior to the requested shooting date.”

The Township’s current 2026 application, in its certification and sample letter, instead asks for at least one week’s notice to neighbouring properties.

A production that serves three days’ notice satisfies the ordinance but not the form it has to sign. Get the controlling period in writing from the Clerk before serving anything, and keep that instruction with the permit.

A second timing question sits inside the ordinance itself. Proof of service “shall be submitted to the Municipal Clerk within two days of the requested shooting date,” which does not say whether those two days run before or after the shoot. Ask for the exact due date and the accepted form of proof.

The ordinance also prescribes what the notice must contain:

Company letterhead
The address where filming will take place
A company contact person and that person’s phone number
The date the letter was sent
Dates of filming, with start and end time
The contact information of the film permit representative
The nature and number of vehicles, where they will be parked, and whether an officer will be present
Information explaining how the production will follow all state and local COVID-related regulations and keep everyone safe

The COVID item is still in the enacted text and still in the current application packet. Neither source says what is required today. Do not tell a production to ignore it; ask the Clerk what that paragraph currently requires.

Insurance, bond and indemnification

For filming on public lands, § 112-3B and § 112-3C require:

$500,000 bodily-injury coverage for any one person
$1,000,000 bodily-injury aggregate for any occurrence
$300,000 property damage per occurrence in the aggregate
A certificate of insurance naming the Township of Robbinsville as an additional insured
A provision giving the Township five days’ notice before cancellation
A written agreement indemnifying and holding the Township harmless from any liability, expense, claim or damages arising from use of public lands
Hiring of an off-duty police officer if required by the Chief of Police, under the agreed public safety plan, for the times shown on the permit
A $1,000 cash bond in favour of the Township

The bond secures that the location is left free of debris, rubbish and equipment, that Township ordinances are observed and that any costs incurred by the Township are paid. It is returned within 15 days of completion where there has been no damage to public property and no public expense caused by the filming.

Filming hours

§ 112-4D permits filming between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Camera wrap is expected at 9:00 p.m. and crew wrap at 10:00 p.m., Monday through Sunday. Night filming restrictions apply only to a project with exterior filming, and all requests for night scenes must be approved in the permit or by a waiver under § 112-7.

The chapter does not define how arrival, setup, strike and departure sit against camera wrap and crew wrap. If your day runs to the edge of the window, get those definitions in writing rather than assuming.

Police, fire and electrical review

The Chief of Police may require an off-duty officer under the agreed public safety plan. Separately, § 112-5B reserves the Township’s right to require one or more on-site officers where the production may impede the proper flow of traffic, at the applicant’s cost as a cost of production. Where existing electrical power lines are used, an on-site licensed electrician may be required if the production company does not have one on staff.

Off-duty police and fire inspections are billed at the municipality’s standard hourly rates, which are not published in the fee schedule. Request the current rate and any minimum call-out in writing.

Copies of the approved permit are sent to the Robbinsville Police and Fire Divisions before filming and to the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission at njfilm@njeda.gov. The Fire Division or other Township inspectors may inspect the site and equipment.

Published fee ceilings

§ 109-30 is headed “Fee (not to exceed)”. Every amount below is therefore a published maximum, not a quoted price.

Category	Fee (not to exceed)
Basic filming permit, one time, four or more days’ advance notice of the first day of filming	$100
Expedited basic filming permit, three or fewer days’ advance notice	$250
Basic filming permit for nonprofits, including student films, no daily rate required	$25
Daily filming on public property, budget under $20,000,000	$150
Daily filming on public property, budget over $20,000,000	$500
Daily filming on private property	No fee charged by municipality
Off-duty police and fire inspections, per the agreed public safety plan	The municipality’s standard hourly rates, not published
Street closures, more than 10,000 residents	$5,000 per day
Properties in background or used in shot	Negotiated between the production and a private business or residence
Daily prep, and daily filming, of a business being “dressed”	Negotiated between the production and a private business
Parking fees	Same rates charged to the public

Quick answer

These are ceilings, so do not budget from them as if they were invoices. The Township has not published the rates it actually assesses within those ceilings. Ask for a written, project-specific quote and for the method by which the charge is set.

Quick answer

Two further gaps in the same table.

A budget of exactly $20,000,000 is not priced. The rows read “under” and “over” with nothing at the line. Separately, the chapter’s definition of a major motion picture captures any film with a budget of at least $20,000,000, alongside a named studio list and any recurrent weekly television series programming. Those two provisions are stated here as they appear; get a written classification rather than reading one across the other.

The street-closure line reads “street closures, more than 10,000 residents” at $5,000 per day. Nothing in the schedule says whose population is counted, over what area, or what applies to a closure affecting fewer people. Ask for the definition and the complete closure schedule before planning any closure.

§ 112-9 separately requires the applicant to reimburse the Township for lost revenue such as parking-meter revenue, repairs to public property, or other revenue the Township was prevented from earning because of the filming.

Who controls the location?

A Robbinsville permit reaches Township public property. It does not reach the following:

County, State and federal property

Mercer County, the State and federal agencies each control their own property and process. Chapter 112’s carve-out only helps when the shoot is entirely on their ground, uses no municipal services and obstructs no public right-of-way, and you hold their permit.

Schools and institutional property

School district and institutional property is controlled by its own board or administration, not by the Township.

Warehouse, logistics and commercial sites

Robbinsville’s large distribution and warehouse footprint is privately owned and operated. Access, insurance, safety induction and hours are set by the operator, and a municipal permit grants none of them.

Private property, including anything invited through the film page

Every private interior, storefront, farm and residence needs the owner’s written permission in addition to the Township permit. The fee schedule expressly leaves background properties and dressed businesses to negotiation between the production and the owner, which confirms those are not municipal charges.

Documented productions

Love Lives On

The New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission’s 2023 annual report records this production in Robbinsville at municipality level. The official source does not name a property, and this guide does not add one.

A past credit is not evidence that any location is available now, that the same terms apply, or that a property played itself on screen.

Practical production planning

A working sequence for Robbinsville, based only on the checked sources:

Establish jurisdiction first. If the day sits entirely on County, State or federal ground with no municipal services and no right-of-way impact, the carve-out may apply. Confirm it in writing rather than assuming.
File with the Clerk at least four business days out and treat the expedited ceiling as a fallback, not a schedule tool.
Get the notice period in writing before serving anything, because the ordinance says three days and the application says one week.
Ask what the COVID paragraph in the notice content list currently requires.
Bind insurance early, name the Township as additional insured, and confirm the five-day cancellation-notice wording is acceptable.
Budget the $1,000 cash bond as cash flow, not cost, and confirm the return process.
Raise firearms, effects, animals, oversized equipment, night work, closures and high-profile participants at first contact; each one drives the public safety plan.
Ask for a written fee quote, since every published amount is a ceiling.

Common questions

Is Robbinsville a Film Ready certified community?

Yes. Robbinsville appears on the NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission’s current certified-localities list, verified July 31, 2026. The Township adopted Chapter 112 on January 29, 2026 by Ordinance 2026-01. Certification does not guarantee a permit and does not reach County, State, federal, school or private property.

How far ahead should I apply for a Robbinsville film permit?

Section 112-3A says no permit will be issued unless applied for at least four or more business days before the requested shooting date. The Township Business Administrator may waive that period where the applicant has obtained all related approvals and adjacent owners or tenants do not need to be notified. Departmental review by Fire, Police and the Business Administrator happens before a decision, so file earlier than the minimum.

How much is a Robbinsville film permit?

Section 109-30 is headed “Fee (not to exceed)”, so every figure is a ceiling rather than a quoted price. The published ceilings are $100 basic with four or more days’ notice, $250 expedited with three or fewer days, $25 for nonprofits including student films, and daily public-property filming of $150 under a $20,000,000 budget or $500 over it. Filming on private property carries no municipal fee. Ask the Township for a written project-specific quote.

What happens if the budget is exactly $20,000,000?

The fee table does not price it. The rows read only “under $20,000,000” and “over $20,000,000”. Separately, Chapter 112 defines a major motion picture to include any film with a budget of at least $20,000,000. Obtain a written fee classification from the Township rather than reading one provision across the other.

How much notice do neighbours get in Robbinsville?

The two official sources disagree and this guide does not resolve the conflict. Chapter 112 requires written notice to affected businesses, merchants and residents at least three days before the requested shooting date. The Township’s current 2026 application instead asks for at least one week’s notice to neighbouring properties. Ask the Municipal Clerk for the controlling period in writing before serving notice.

Do I need a Robbinsville permit if I am filming in a County or State park?

Not necessarily. Section 112-2A says a municipal permit is not required where filming occurs entirely on county, state or federally owned property, no municipal services are used, no public rights-of-way are obstructed, and the required permit is obtained from that authority. All four conditions must hold, so parking on a Township street or blocking a sidewalk brings the shoot back into the municipal process. Confirm in writing.

What are Robbinsville’s filming hours?

Section 112-4D permits filming between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., with camera wrap expected at 9:00 p.m. and crew wrap at 10:00 p.m., Monday through Sunday. Night filming restrictions apply only to projects with exterior filming, and night scenes must be approved in the permit or by a waiver. The chapter does not define how arrival, setup, strike and departure sit against those times.

Does Robbinsville require a bond?

Yes. Section 112-3C requires a $1,000 cash bond in favour of the Township, securing that the location is left free of debris, rubbish and equipment, that Township ordinances are observed and that any Township costs are paid. It is returned within 15 days of completion where there has been no damage to public property and no public expense caused by the filming.

Official sources

Checked July 31, 2026 against Chapter 112 and § 109-30 as adopted January 29, 2026, the Township film and Clerk pages, the 2026 application and the State certified-localities list. Report a correction or updated permit requirement.

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Reviewed by Sam Moskowitz, producer & director of photography

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.