Filming in Shrewsbury Borough, New Jersey

Read the amendment, not the displayed code

Shrewsbury adopted Chapter 135 on April 8, 2025 by Ordinance 2025-1130. Its provisions are based on the model ordinance the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission distributes as part of the Film Ready initiative, which the amendment’s own recitals confirm.

On November 10, 2025 the Borough adopted Ordinance 2025-1139. Its recitals state that the Commission itself recommended the change, and that the Governing Body wished to grant the Chief of Police discretion over the hiring of off-duty officers based on a public safety plan for the proposed filming.

The practical difference is a line item. Under the displayed text, every public-land shoot carries an officer. Under the enacted text, a small, low-impact shoot may not, subject to the Chief’s determination and a public safety plan. Confirm the current position in writing, and be aware that Borough staff working from the online code may quote you the old rule.

Permit trigger, filing and the expedited-fee problem

§ 135-2A requires a permit to film on public or private property where the filming involves the use of 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. Applications go to the Borough Clerk during normal business hours.

A genuinely private shoot with no public footprint pays no daily fee under § 135-10E. Whether the basic permit still applies depends on the trigger, so evaluate the whole public footprint, including where the trucks park, and confirm with the Clerk.

§ 135-3A requires the application prior to three days before the requested shooting date, with the Borough Administrator or designee able to waive that period where the applicant has all related approvals and adjacent property owners or tenants need no notice.

Fees

§ 135-10 publishes flat amounts. Nothing is headed “not to exceed,” so unlike Robbinsville and Fair Lawn these are prices rather than ceilings.

The § 135-1 major motion picture definition sets its budget threshold at $20,000,000 and, unlike some neighbouring ordinances drawn from the same model, prints that figure correctly. The definition also captures any film financed or distributed by the listed studios, any major streaming service including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, and recurrent weekly television series programming, whatever the budget.

Both daily rates are written as applying when filming takes place entirely on public property. A mixed day that touches both public and private ground is not addressed. Ask the Clerk how prep and strike days are classified, whether the major rate replaces or adds to the ordinary rate, the payee and accepted payment methods, and what § 135-9 reimbursement of lost revenue and repair costs might add at closeout.

Insurance, notice and the missing hours

For public-land filming § 135-3B(1) sets insurance at $500,000 for bodily injury to any one person, $1,000,000 in the aggregate per occurrence, and $300,000 for property damage per occurrence. § 135-3B(2) requires a written agreement indemnifying and saving harmless the municipality, its agents, employees and officers.

No public broker sheet supplies the certificate holder, additional insureds, endorsements, primary and non-contributory language, waiver of subrogation, automobile or workers’ compensation terms, carrier requirements or a delivery deadline. Request them.

§ 135-4B requires written notice to directly affected businesses, merchants and residents at least three days before the requested shooting date, with objections filed to the Clerk forming part of the application. Proof of service is then due “within two days of the requested shooting date.” That wording does not specify before or after, and this guide does not rewrite it.

Refusal, waivers and appeals

§ 135-5A lets the Borough Administrator or designee refuse a permit on the basis of objective facts, after reviewing the application and a report from the Police Department and other Borough agencies, where filming would violate a law or ordinance, unreasonably interfere with the use and enjoyment of adjoining properties, unreasonably impede traffic or otherwise endanger public health, safety or welfare.

§ 135-5B separately reserves the right to require one or more on-site patrolmen where a production may impede the proper flow of traffic, at the applicant’s sole cost, and an on-site licensed electrician where existing power lines are used and the company has none on staff. Whether that patrolman is additional to the § 135-3B(3) public-safety-plan officer is still not stated anywhere in the enacted text. Ask.

§ 135-7A allows the Administrator to waive any requirement of the chapter where doing so will not endanger public health, safety and welfare, weighing traffic congestion, the ability to remove vehicles and equipment from public streets, requested restrictions on streets or public parking, the nature of the filming including indoor or outdoor and the proposed hours, the effect on adjoining owners and occupants, and the Borough’s prior experience with the applicant.

§ 135-6 provides the appeal. A denial or revocation may be appealed in writing within 10 days, the Council must set a hearing within 30 days, and if the Council fails to adopt a supporting resolution in time the Administrator’s decision is deemed reversed and the permit issues in conformity with the application. § 135-11 sets penalties at a fine up to $2,000, up to 90 days in jail or up to 90 days of community service, with each day treated as a separate violation.

Jurisdiction at the Four Corners

Shrewsbury is about 2.3 square miles, primarily residential, and centred on the historically significant Broad Street and Sycamore Avenue intersection. That concentration is the appeal and also the complication: the buildings that make the Four Corners worth shooting are not the Borough’s to grant.

Confirm the exact roadway segment for every setup. On a site this compact, a camera on the sidewalk and a truck on Sycamore Avenue can involve the Borough, the County and the State on the same shot.

Current property status: Allen House

The Monmouth County Historical Association identifies the Allen House at 400 Sycamore Avenue as a circa-1710 property at the Historic Four Corners, and the National Park Service National Register record identifies it as a Georgian building of military and architectural significance. The New Jersey Historic Trust documents funded restoration work.

Documented production activity

No completed Shrewsbury Borough production credit was located in the State, Borough and County sources reviewed for this guide, checked August 2, 2026. That is a dated absence of evidence in the sources reviewed, not a finding that nothing has ever filmed here.

Take particular care with attribution. Shrewsbury Borough and Shrewsbury Township are different municipalities, and a historic-location listing is not a filming credit. If you hold a documented Borough credit from an official source, we will add it and date it.

Common questions

Is Shrewsbury Borough Film Ready?

Yes. Shrewsbury appears on the State’s current certified-localities page as “Shrewsbury Borough”, and was named in the NJEDA cohort announcement of March 11, 2026. Certification is a listing. It does not by itself establish any local fee, deadline, hour or staffing rule.

Is an off-duty police officer required for public-land filming?

Not automatically, despite what the online code still displays. Ordinance 2025-1139, adopted November 10, 2025, amended § 135-3B(3) so that an off-duty officer is required only where the Chief of Police requires one under an agreed-upon public safety plan. The superseded text showing a flat mandate has not yet been merged into the displayed chapter, so confirm the current position in writing.

Who handles film permits?

Chapter 135 directs applications to the Municipal Clerk. The current Clerk is Kerry Quinn, RMC, CMR, at 732-741-4200 extension 108 or clerk@shrewsburyboro.com. Copy Borough Administrator Mark Regan Jr. where a waiver or multi-department review is likely.

How far in advance should a production apply?

§ 135-3A requires the application prior to three days before the requested shooting date, waivable by the Borough Administrator on stated conditions. The fee section separately refers to expedited processing within 24 hours of the filming date, language that § 135-3A does not contain. Ask for a dated worked example rather than relying on either phrasing.

What are the standard filming hours?

Chapter 135 does not publish any. Proposed hours appear only as one factor the Administrator weighs when deciding a waiver. Obtain an approved schedule in writing, and confirm how it interacts with the Borough’s noise requirements and with setup and breakdown.

Is there a permit fee for filming entirely on private property?

§ 135-10E imposes no daily filming fee for private-property filming. Whether the $100 basic permit still applies depends on the § 135-2A trigger, which reaches private filming that uses public property for vehicles, equipment, storage, structures or barricades. Confirm with the Clerk based on your actual footprint.

Can a Borough permit authorise the Historic Four Corners properties?

No. Allen House, the churches and the Friends Meetinghouse have different owners and operators, and Broad Street is State while Sycamore Avenue is identified as County. Each requires its own approval. Allen House is additionally closed for renovation with reopening planned for 2027.

Is there an appeal if a permit is refused?

Yes. § 135-6 allows a written appeal to the Borough Council within 10 days of the Administrator’s decision. The Council must set a hearing within 30 days, and if it does not adopt a resolution supporting the decision in time, the decision is deemed reversed and the permit issues in conformity with the application.

Official sources

• OfficialNJ Motion Picture & Television Commission, current Film Ready certified-localities list
• OfficialBorough of Shrewsbury Code, Chapter 135, adopted April 8, 2025 by Ordinance 2025-1130
• OfficialBorough of Shrewsbury, Ordinance 2025-1139, adopted November 10, 2025, amending § 135-3B(3)
• OfficialNJEDA, March 11, 2026 Film Ready cohort announcement
• OfficialBorough of Shrewsbury, Municipal Clerk
• OfficialBorough of Shrewsbury, Administration
• OfficialBorough of Shrewsbury, Police Department
• OfficialBorough of Shrewsbury, About Shrewsbury
• OfficialBorough of Shrewsbury, Department of Public Works, road jurisdiction
• OfficialBorough of Shrewsbury, Historical Society
• ReferenceMonmouth County Historical Association, historic houses and Allen House
• OfficialNational Park Service, Allen House National Register record
• OfficialNew Jersey Historic Trust, Allen House
• OfficialNJ Motion Picture & Television Commission, Film Ready requirements and fee schedule

Checked August 2, 2026 by reading Chapter 135 and the full text of Ordinance 2025-1139 directly, together with the State certified-localities list, current Borough Clerk, Administration, Police and DPW pages and the Allen House operator. Report a correction or updated permit requirement.

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