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Notice of Public Hearing- Ordinance 23 of 2026

City of Somers Point

Notice of Public Hearing

Ordinance No. 23 of 2026

AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENTS OF THE CITY OF SOMERS POINT FOR MOTION PICTURE FILMING EVENTS WITHIN THE CITY

WHEREAS the State of New Jersey has developed a Film Ready New Jersey Program, which is designed to prepare municipalities to host motion picture and television productions through a Film Ready Certification process; and

WHEREAS the Film Ready New Jersey Program is intended to share useful information with local leaders on filming operations needed to support such productions; and

WHEREAS the Film Ready New Jersey Program is also designed to build statewide consistency through predictable permitting and processing fees so as to create a uniform production experience for potential motion picture and television productions; and

WHEREAS the Atlantic County Economic Alliance (ACEA), in working closely with the New Jersey Film Commission, has been striving to promote Atlantic County as a film-friendly destination; and

WHEREAS on June 25, 2026, representatives of ACEA gave a presentation to City Council wherein the commercial benefits of a municipality being a film-friendly destination through the Film Ready New Jersey Program were presented; and

WHEREAS one of the steps to attaining a Film Ready Certification is the enactment of a municipal ordinance setting forth the requirements for the application process and permitting of motion picture filming in the municipality; and

WHEREAS the Somers Point City Council has determined that would it be beneficial for the City to enact an ordinance setting forth the requirements of applications and permitting so as to allow the City to participate in the Film Ready New Jersey Program.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Somers Point, County of Atlantic, State of New Jersey, as follows:

SECTION A.

There is hereby created a Chapter within the City Code entitled “MOTION PICTURE FILMING EVENTS,” which shall include the following sections:

§ 1. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

FILMING - The taking of still or motion pictures either on film or videotape or any other recording medium, for commercial or educational purposes intended for viewing on television, in theaters, major linear broadcast network or streaming platforms, or for institutional uses. The provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed to include the "filming" of news stories within the municipality.

FILM PERMIT - A Film Permit means an official authorization from a town, borough, city, county, or government agency that grants a production entity legal permission to film on public property while ensuring compliance with local laws and managing potential disruptions, including but not limited to noise, light levels, traffic, and activities involving stunts or equipment. It acts as an agreement detailing the scope of filming, including location, time, crew, and effects, and protects filmmakers from fines and legal issues while establishing professionalism.

LOCATION FEE - A Location Fee means a charge assessed and negotiated between a town and a production entity to allow the use of the town's premises and/or land for film and television projects. The Location Fee is intended to provide a fair return for using the space and cover administrative or operational costs. Location Fees should specify the payment amount, schedule, and terms, including rates for preparation days, filming days, overtime, and cancellation policies.

MAJOR MOTION PICTURE - Any film which is financed and/or distributed by a major motion picture studio, including but not limited to the following: NBCUniversal, including Peacock; Warner Bros. Discovery, including New Line Cinema, HBO, DC Studios and Castle Rock Entertainment; Paramount Pictures, including Miramax, MTV Films, Showtime, Skydance, Dreamworks and Nickelodeon Movies; Walt Disney Studios, including 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Hulu and Marvel Studios; Sony Pictures, including Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems and Tristar Pictures; Amazon MGM Studios; Netflix Studios; A24; any film for which the budget is at least $20,000,000; or any recurrent weekly television series programming.

PUBLIC PROPERTY - Any and every public street, highway, sidewalk, square, public park or playground or any other public place or property within the municipality which is either owned or controlled by the municipality.

§ 2. Permit required.

No person or organization shall film or permit filming on public property, or on private property where such filming involves the use of public property for the operation, placement or temporary storage of vehicles or equipment utilized in such filming, including, but not limited to, any temporary structure, barricade or device intended to restrict or block off pedestrian or vehicular traffic, without first having obtained a permit from the office of the Municipal Clerk, which permit shall set forth the approved location of such filming and the approved duration of such filming by specific reference to day and/or dates. Said permit must be available for inspection by the City’s Code Enforcement Officer, or his/her designee, and/or its Police Department at all times at the site of the filming.
All permits shall be applied for and obtained from the office of the Municipal Clerk during normal business hours. Applications for such permits shall be in a form approved by the Municipal Clerk and be accompanied by a permit fee in the amount established by this Chapter herein.
If a permit is issued and due to inclement weather, or other good cause, filming does not in fact take place on the dates specified, the Municipal Clerk may, at the request of the applicant, issue a new permit for filming on other dates subject to full compliance with all other provisions of this Chapter. No additional fee shall be paid for this permit.

§ 3. Issuance of permits.

No permits will be issued by the Municipal Clerk unless applied for at least four or more business days prior to the requested shooting date; provided, however, that the City Administrator may waive the four-day period if, in his/her judgment, the applicant has obtained all related approvals and adjacent property owners or tenants do not need to be notified.

B. No permit shall issue unless said application is approved by both the City Administrator and Chief of Police.

C. No permit shall be issued for filming upon public property unless the applicant has provided the municipality with satisfactory proof of the following:

Proof of insurance coverage as follows:

For bodily injury, death or other liability, excluding property damage, to any one person in the amount of $1,000,000.

For property damage for each occurrence in the aggregate amount of $500,000.

(d) The City of Somers Point, its elected and appointed officials, its agents, employees, contractors, volunteers, and the Atlantic County Joint Insurance Fund, shall be included as an "Additional Insured" as their interests may appear, under the general liability policy, which policy shall also include an Additional Insured, Waiver of Subrogation, and Primary not Secondary Coverage Endorsements to such policy.

(2) A written agreement, in a form prescribed by the Municipal Clerk, whereby the applicant agrees to indemnify and save harmless the municipality from any and all liability, expense, claim and/or damages resulting from the use of public property.

(3) The hiring of off-duty City Police Officers, if determined by the Chief of Police in his/her sole discretion as necessary for purposes of traffic control and/or public safety according to the agreed upon public safety plan, for the times indicated on the permit.

(4)The hiring of independent fire safety personnel as may be required by the State Fire Marshall’s Office, which may include the hiring of local volunteer firefighters at a rate negotiated with such individuals.

D. The holder of the permit shall take all reasonable steps to minimize interference with the free passage of pedestrians and traffic over public property and shall comply with all directives issued by the City Police Department with respect thereto.

E. Exterior filming shall be permitted between the hours of 7:00am to 6:00pm (camera wrap) and crew wrap at 7:00pm, Monday through Sunday. Night filming shall be allowed for such hours as determined by the Chief of Police based on public safety and inconvenience. Time restrictions shall not apply to interior filming. All interior filming shall adhere to all current ordinances relative to noise and music.

F. The failure of the holder of the permit to adhere to the terms of the application and permit may result in the revocation of said permit by either the Chief of Police or the City Administrator.

§ 4. Interference with public activity; notice of filming.

The holder of a permit shall conduct filming in such a manner as to minimize the inconvenience or discomfort to adjoining property owners attributable to such filming and shall, to the extent practicable, abate noise and park vehicles associated with such filming off the public streets. Excessive noise may be a basis for revocation of the permit.

2.The holder of a permit shall avoid any interference with previously scheduled activities upon public property and limit, to the extent possible, any interference with normal public activity on such public property. Where the applicant's production activity, by reason of location or otherwise, will directly involve and/or affect any businesses, merchants or residents, these parties shall be given written notice of the filming prior to the issuance at least three days prior to the requested shooting date and be informed that objections may be filed with the Municipal Clerk, said objections to form a part of applicant's application and be considered in the review of the continued issuance of same. Proof of service of notification to adjacent owners shall be submitted to the Municipal Clerk within two days of the requested shooting date.

§ 5 Refusal to issue permit; employment of patrolmen and electrician.

The City Administrator and/or the Chief of Police may refuse to issue a permit whenever it is determined on the basis of objective facts, and after a review of the application and a report thereon by the Police Department and/or by other agencies involved with the proposed filming site, that filming at

the location and/or the time set forth in the application would violate any law, regulation or ordinance, or would unreasonably interfere with the use and enjoyment of adjoining properties, unreasonably impede the free flow of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or otherwise endanger the public's health, safety or welfare.

B. The Chief of Police reserves the right to require the following:

(1) one or more on-site police officers in situations where the proposed production may impede the proper flow of traffic when in situations where the proposed production may impede the proper flow of traffic or present a public safety concern, according to an agreed upon public safety plan. The cost of said officers shall be borne by the applicant as a cost of production; and

(2) the hiring of independent fire safety personnel, which may include the hiring of local volunteer firefighters at a rate negotiated with such individuals, in situations where proposed production may raise issues of fire safety.

C. Where existing electrical power lines are to be utilized by the production company, an on-site licensed electrician shall be required.

§ 6 Appeals.

Any person aggrieved by a decision by either the City Administrator or the Chief of Police denying or revoking a permit may appeal to the City Council. A written notice of appeal setting forth the reasons for the appeal shall be filed with the Municipal Clerk.

2.An appeal from the decision of the City Administrator or Chief of Police shall be filed within 10 days of such a decision. City Council shall set the matter down for a hearing within 30 days of the day on which the notice of appeal was filed. The decision of the City Council shall be in the form of a resolution supporting the decision of the City Administrator or Chief of Police at the first regularly scheduled public meeting of the City Council following the hearing on the appeal, unless the appellant agrees in writing to a later date for the decision. If such a resolution is not adopted within the time required, the decision of denial or revocation shall be deemed to be reversed, and a permit shall be issued in conformity with the application, or the revocation shall be deemed rescinded. 222

§ 7. Waiver of requirements of chapter by City Administrator.

The City Administrator may authorize a waiver of any of the requirements, provisions or restrictions of this chapter if he/she determines that a waiver thereof may be granted without endangering the public health, safety and welfare. In determining whether to issue a waiver, the Administrator shall consider the following factors:

Potential traffic congestion at the location.

2.The applicant's ability to remove the applicant's vehicles and equipment from the public streets or other public property.

3.The extent to which the applicant is requesting restrictions on the use of public streets or public parking facilities during filming.

4.The nature of the filming, including whether filming will take place indoors or outdoors, and the proposed hours for filming.

5.The extent to which the filming may affect adjoining and nearby property owners and occupants.

6.The City’s prior experience with the applicant, if any.

§ 8 Copies of permit; inspections.

Copies of the approved permit will be sent to the City Administrator, Chief of Police and Code Enforcement Official before filming takes place and to the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission at njfilm@njeda.gov. The applicant shall allow all necessary inspections by the City of the site and equipment to be used. The applicant shall comply with all safety requirements and instructions issued by any of the City’s inspectors.

§ 9 Reimbursement of certain costs.

In addition to any other fees or costs mentioned in this chapter, the applicant shall reimburse the City of Somers Point for any lost revenue and/or damage to public property incurred by the City as a result of the filming project.

§ 10 Fees.

CATEGORY	FEE (not to exceed)
Basic film permit application (one-time; with 4 or more days advance notice of the first day of filming)	$100
Expedited basic film permit application (one-time; with 4 or less days advance notice of the first day of filming)	$250
Basic film permit application for nonprofits, including student films (one-time; no daily rate required)	$25
Daily filming on public property
Film and television projects with a budget under $20mm	$150
Film and television projects with a budget over $20mm	$500
	Public Property Location Fee			Daily film for private property	Fee negotiated between a production company and the city	NO FEE CHARGED BY MUNICIPALITY
Public Safety
Hiring of off-duty police, according to agreed upon public safety plan	The municipality’s standard hourly rates for police
Inconvenience fees

Street closures	Up to $5,000 per day
Properties in background - or used - in shot	Fee negotiated between a production	company and a private business or residence
Daily prep of business that is being “dressed”	Fee negotiated between a production	company and a private	business
Daily filming of business that is “dressed”	Fee negotiated between a production	company and a private	business
Parking fees	Same rates that are charged to the public

§ 11 Violations and penalties.

Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000, imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 90 days, or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination thereof as determined by the Municipal Court Judge. Each day on which a violation of an ordinance exists shall be considered a separate and distinct violation and shall be subject to imposition of a separate penalty for each day of the violation as the Municipal Court Judge may determine.

SECTION B. SEVERABILITY.

If any section, clause or provision of these amendments to this Ordinance shall be adjudged invalid, such adjudication shall apply only to the section, clause or provision declared invalid and the remainder of this Ordinance shall remain in full force and effect and shall be enforceable.

SECTION C. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Ordinance shall take effect upon final adoption and publication as required by law.

Notice is hereby given that the foregoing ordinance was introduced and passed first reading at a regular City Council meeting of 9/24/2026 and said ordinance will be further considered for final passage and adoption after a public hearing to be held on 10/8/2026 at 7:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1 West New Jersey Avenue, Somers Point, NJ 08244. Free copies may be obtained at the City Clerk’s Office, 1 West New Jersey Avenue, Somers Point, NJ, Mon.-Fri, 9am-5pm.

Shelby Heath, RMC

City Clerk

Posted on: 9/25/2026

Full Public Notice