Edison's Chapter 37 requires fences to be built entirely on the owner's property - no joint or boundary-straddling fences are authorized in code. Boundary and good-side disputes are private civil matters between neighbors and the Township does not adjudicate them.
Edison's land-use ordinance treats every fence as the responsibility of a single property owner. A fence must be erected entirely within the applicant's own lot lines, which is why the zoning permit application requires a survey or accurate plot plan: the Zoning Officer needs to confirm the fence is on the applicant's property, not on the neighbor's land or on the shared boundary. Chapter 37 does not codify a 'good side out' requirement (the convention that the finished side of a stockade or board fence faces neighboring properties), so finished-side orientation is a matter of neighborly practice rather than enforceable code in Edison; some practitioners apply New Jersey common-law and case-law guidance to recommend the smooth side outward. The Township will not mediate boundary-line disputes - if a neighbor believes the fence is on or across the property line, the proper remedies are (1) commissioning an independent licensed land surveyor, (2) a private civil action in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Middlesex Vicinage, for trespass or ejectment, or (3) negotiating a written boundary-line agreement and recording it in the Middlesex County Clerk's office. Spite-fence claims (fences built solely to annoy a neighbor with no legitimate use) are governed by New Jersey common law and may also be brought in civil court. Encroachment onto a Township right-of-way is enforced by the Edison Zoning Officer.
A fence found to be installed across the property line is a Chapter 37 violation requiring the owner to either relocate the fence onto their own lot or record a boundary-line agreement signed by both owners. Encroachment into a Township right-of-way is subject to immediate removal at the owner's expense.
Edison, NJ
Edison Township does not publish a specific numerical household pet limit in its general Code. Multi-animal keeping is governed instead by the general sanita...
Edison, NJ
Wildlife feeding in Edison Township is regulated primarily by New Jersey state law. N.J.A.C. 7:25-5.24 prohibits intentional or unintentional feeding of blac...
Edison, NJ
Animal hoarding in Edison Township is investigated under the New Jersey Animal Cruelty Statute (N.J.S.A. 4:22), the strongest in the country after the 2017 r...
Edison, NJ
Exotic pet ownership in Edison Township is governed by New Jersey's Potentially Dangerous Species permit framework (N.J.A.C. 7:25-4), administered by NJDEP F...
Edison, NJ
Beekeeping in Edison Township is governed primarily by the New Jersey Beekeeping Act (N.J.S.A. 4:5A-1 et seq.), which preempts most local regulation. All Edi...
Edison, NJ
Edison Township does not have breed-specific legislation. New Jersey statute N.J.S.A. 4:19-17.6 expressly preempts municipalities from enacting any ordinance...
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