How Long Branch Handles Parking Rules: A Practical Guide

Long Branch maintains 105 local ordinances across all categories, and 10 of those deal specifically with parking rules. Here is a breakdown of what the city actually requires, what is prohibited, and where Long Branch falls on the strict-to-permissive spectrum compared to other cities.

EV Charging

City Code § 325-24.3 reserves five on-street and municipal-lot spaces in Long Branch exclusively for electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles that are actively charging. Parking a gas-powered car in one of these spots is a violation, and so is an EV sitting there unplugged, at the Community Pool, Pier Village, City Hall, Third Avenue and the Belmont Avenue municipal lot.

Key details: Reserved spaces: Five locations citywide. Eligible vehicles: Electric or plug-in hybrid only. Charging requirement: Must be connected to EVSE and charging. Example location: 344 Broadway, City Hall. Penalty: Up to $500 fine or 15 days jail.

Parking a non-electric vehicle in a marked EV charging space, or leaving an electric vehicle parked there unplugged, violates § 325-24.3 and is enforced like any other parking violation in Chapter 325. Under the chapter's general penalty section, § 325-23, a conviction carries a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to 15 days, or both.

Driveway Rules

Long Branch caps how much of a front yard in any R Residential Zone can be used for parking or driveways at 20 percent, measured from the smaller front yard on corner lots, and limits most one- to four-family homes to a single driveway or curb cut under City of Long Branch Code § 345-42C, part of the city's off-street parking regulations in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Key details: Front-yard parking cap: 20% of any front yard area, R Residential Zones. Corner lots: Smaller abutting front yard controls the calculation. Driveway/curb-cut limit: One driveway or curb cut per 1-4 family home. Driveway parking space size: 9 feet by 18 feet per space. Added by: Ordinance No. 18-08, August 26, 2008.

Paragraph (6) of § 345-42C states that failure to comply with the subsection, including the 20% front-yard cap and the one-driveway limit, results in the penalties prescribed in § 345-79. That section lets the Zoning Officer, Building Department, City Planning, Construction Code Official, or a police officer inspect property and order violations corrected, and makes each day a violation continues a separate offense, with penalties set under Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article I.

Abandoned Vehicles

Long Branch bars leaving any partially dismantled, wrecked, or junked vehicle on private property for more than 48 hours, and bans them from any street entirely, under Code §§ 322-3 and 322-4. Police can impound violating vehicles and charge a $15-per-day storage fee until the owner pays.

Key details: Private property grace period: 48 hours. On street/highway: no grace period, always prohibited. Impound daily storage fee: $15/day. Who enforces: Chief of Police / Public Safety Director. Notice method: personal service or certified mail.

A vehicle removed under Chapter 322 is held until the owner or an authorized agent pays the towing and removal cost together with the $15 daily garage charge (§ 322-5); Chapter 316's towing fee schedule sets the underlying tow charges, including a $125 flat fee for passenger vehicles towed within city limits. Beyond the impoundment charges, violations of Chapter 322 carry the general municipal penalty under Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article I of the City Code.

Snow Removal Parking Rules

Once snow covers a Long Branch street, parking is automatically banned on the streets listed in Schedule I under Code § 325-3B, and stays banned until plowing clears the way for normal traffic. Property owners separately must clear sidewalk snow within 12 daylight hours under Chapter 297.

Key details: Sidewalk clearing window: 12 daylight hours. Snow ban trigger: accumulation covering the street. Ban lifts: once streets are sufficiently plowed. Max emergency suspension: 72 hours (§ 325-3.1). General penalty: up to $500 or 15 days, or both.

Parking on a Schedule I street in violation of the snow ban, or ignoring a posted EMERGENCY NO PARKING sign, exposes the vehicle to towing at the owner's expense and a general fine of up to $500 or up to 15 days' imprisonment, or both, under Chapter 325's violations section (§ 325-23). A property owner who fails to clear sidewalk snow within the 12-hour window faces the same Chapter 1 general penalty for violating Chapter 297, on top of having the City bill the removal cost as a tax lien against the property (§§ 297-52, 297-53).

Street Parking Limits

Long Branch layers its own street-by-street parking schedules on top of New Jersey's statewide stopping and standing law, N.J.S.A. 39:4-138, under Code § 325-3. Time-limited zones, no-parking streets, and angled-parking blocks are all designated by numbered schedules attached to the same chapter.

Key details: Governing framework: City schedules atop N.J.S.A. 39:4-138. Overnight heavy-vehicle ban: 8pm-7am without permit. Angled parking: only where Schedule XXV designates. Emergency suspension limit: 72 hours by police chief. General fine: up to $500 / 15 days, or both.

Unless a New Jersey statute sets a different penalty, any violation of Chapter 325's parking rules is punishable by a fine of up to $500, imprisonment of up to 15 days, or both (§ 325-23). Illegally parked heavy vehicles, trailers, or boats can be cited and impounded, with the owner billed for towing and storage under Chapter 316's fee schedule (§ 325-3L(5)), and off-street parking outside an approved zoning lot carries its own fine of up to $500 per offense with a mandatory court appearance (§ 325-3M).

RV & Boat Parking

Long Branch's zoning code bans open storage of boats, vehicles or other equipment in any front yard, allowing only vehicular parking on a driveway, not a parking lot. Wherever storage is allowed, it must sit at least 10 feet from the rear or side line of the principal building, and boats, RVs or equipment may never be stored in a public street.

Key details: Front yard storage: Prohibited except driveway vehicle parking. Setback for permitted storage: 10 feet from rear or side lot line. Public street storage: Never allowed for boats or RVs. Storage permit: Issued by City Council, landscaping required. Citation: City Code § 345-11J.

Long Branch's Zoning Officer, Building Department Supervisor, City Planning administrator, Construction Code Official or any police officer can enforce § 345-11J and order the storage corrected. Under § 345-79, anyone who commits, maintains or assists in a zoning violation is punishable as set out in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article I, and each day the improperly stored boat, RV or equipment remains is treated as a separate offense.

Preferential Parking Districts

Long Branch designates certain streets 'Resident Permit Parking Only' under City Code § 325-24.1, and only vehicles displaying a valid decal may park there. The Chief of Police issues permits, priced at $25 a year, exclusively to city residents whose passenger vehicle is registered to a dwelling on a permit street, with no guarantee a space will be open.

Key details: Permit cost: $25 per year. Issuing office: Chief of Police. Eligibility: Resident registered to a dwelling on the street. Guarantee: No guaranteed space; permits exceed spaces. Penalty: Up to $500 fine or 15 days jail.

Parking on a designated 'Resident Permit Parking Only' street without a valid decal is a citable violation of § 325-24.1, enforced by the Long Branch Police Department. Chapter 325's general penalty under § 325-23 applies: a fine up to $500, imprisonment up to 15 days, or both, unless a specific state statute sets a different fine.

This is one of the stricter rules in Long Branch's municipal code. If you are unsure whether your situation complies, it is worth checking with the city before proceeding.

Overnight Parking

Long Branch bars overnight on-street parking of heavy trucks, trailers, campers and any boat or boat trailer between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., citywide, in every zone. Vehicles over 8,000 pounds gross weight and any boat of any size cannot sit on a public street overnight. Commercial-lettered vehicles need a Public Safety Director permit to park overnight at all under City Code § 325-3.

Key details: Restricted hours: 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. daily. Weight threshold: Over 8,000 lbs GVWR banned overnight. Boats/trailers: Any size banned from streets overnight. Permit issuer: Director of Public Safety. Permit limit: One permit per residence.

Any vehicle, boat, equipment or trailer parked in violation may be cited and impounded by any police officer, with the owner responsible for towing and storage fees set under Chapter 316, § 316-5. Beyond impoundment costs, § 325-23 sets the general Chapter 325 penalty: up to $500 and imprisonment for as long as 15 days, or both, for anyone convicted of violating the parking chapter.

This is not one of those rules that cities tend to ignore. Long Branch actively enforces its overnight parking requirements.

Loading Zones

Long Branch designates specific curb locations across the city as loading zones under § 325-3J, banning parking there except for actively loading or unloading commercial vehicles. Schedule XVII lists each zone by street, side and exact footage, and some carry set hours, like the Broadway zone near Liberty Street restricted 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. weekdays. Signs must mark every zone.

Key details: Authority: N.J.S.A. 39:4-197 loading zone statute. Use rule: No parking except active commercial loading/unloading. Zone list: Street-by-street with hours, § 325-43. Signage: "LOADING ZONE, NO PARKING" required. Penalty: Up to $500 fine or 15 days jail (§ 325-23).

A vehicle parked in a marked loading zone without actively loading or unloading commercial freight is in violation of § 325-3J and § 325-43. Under § 325-23, conviction for a violation of the parking chapter carries a fine of up to $500, imprisonment for up to 15 days, or both, unless a different penalty is expressly set by New Jersey statute for that particular offense. The Long Branch Police Department issues summonses for improperly parked vehicles in these zones.

Commercial & Oversized Vehicles

Long Branch bars commercial vehicles from residential zones between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. and all day Sunday, with a narrow exception for one resident-owned vehicle of 8,000 pounds or less, while banning tow trucks, school buses and tractor-trailers outright regardless of weight.

Key details: Restricted hours: 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., plus all Sunday. Exempt vehicle: 1 resident-owned vehicle, 8,000 lbs or less. Banned outright: Tow trucks, school buses, tractor-trailers. Zone: Any residential zone. Cross-references: Ch. 325 Vehicles and Traffic, Ch. 316 Towing.

Section 345-42C(6) makes failure to comply with these subsections punishable under § 345-79, Chapter 345's general penalty provision, which applies the § 1-16 range of up to a $2,000 fine, up to 90 days' imprisonment, or up to 90 days of community service, with each day of a continuing violation a separate offense; a vehicle parked in violation can also be towed under Chapter 316's fee schedule.

This is not one of those rules that cities tend to ignore. Long Branch actively enforces its commercial & oversized vehicles requirements.

The Bottom Line

Long Branch is tougher than many cities when it comes to parking rules. Out of the 10 rules covered here, 3 are rated strict. If you are a homeowner, renter, or business owner in Long Branch, take the time to understand these requirements before they become a problem. Most violations come with fines, and some repeat violations can escalate.

Keep in mind that Long Branch can amend these rules at any council meeting. For the most current version of any rule mentioned here, check the specific ordinance page, where we track updates as they happen.