Film location permits in Farmington Hills, MI — sometimes called film shoot permits, production permits, or filming authorizations — cover commercial photography, video shoots, and motion picture production.
Oakland County does not issue film-location permits for private property or for cities/townships. Location permits are issued by the host municipality, by Oakland County Parks (for filming inside the county-park system), by the Road Commission for Oakland County (for filming in county road right-of-way), and by MDOT (for filming on state trunk lines such as M-1 / Woodward and I-696). The City of Royal Oak operates one of the more developed film-permit programs in the county: film permits are issued by the City Clerk and require a $12 non-refundable application fee with at least 3 days advance notice for filming on city property.
A film production in Oakland County typically needs multiple permits: (1) a film/special-event permit from the city or township where the shoot occurs; (2) a road permit from RCOC if a county road is used; (3) an MDOT permit if M-routes or interstate highways are used; (4) a parks permit from Oakland County Parks if shooting inside a county park; and (5) building/electrical permits if temporary structures are erected. Royal Oak (Ch. 312) processes film permits through the City Clerk's online portal at romi.gov; the $12 application fee is non-refundable and additional fees apply for police, DPS, and street closures. Larger productions typically also need certificates of insurance naming the municipality as additional insured at $1 million per occurrence.
Filming on city, county, or state property without a permit can result in immediate cease-and-desist, civil-infraction citations under the host city's special-events or trespass code, and confiscation of equipment from public rights-of-way. Royal Oak treats unpermitted commercial filming under Ch. 312 as a municipal civil infraction; fines vary by city.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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