East Brunswick, NJ Holiday Decorations: Lawn Ornament Rules (2026)

Section 166-15, Outside Storage, Residential Properties, was added on February 22, 1999 by Ord. No. 99-10 as part of Chapter 166, the Property Maintenance Code. Subsection D lists items exempt from the screening requirement: firewood, Bar-B-Que grills, bicycles, children's toys, garden hoses and sprinklers, and lawn ornaments. The printed examples of lawn ornaments are statues, whirligigs, flamingos and birdbaths, followed by "etc.", so the list is illustrative. The exemption is from screening only.

Everything else is held to the storage standard. Under subsection A, useful items must be stored within a fully enclosed structure such as a home, garage or shed, or screened from view from any adjacent property by a wall or fence within the rear yard area. Subsection B caps storage of useful items at no more than 20% of the area of the rear yard, and subsection C requires items to be stored so as to discourage harborage of rodents, insects and other pests. Section 166-16 defines useful items as household objects which may have a use now or in the future, and it lists barrels, ladders, carts, lawn mowers or other lawn and garden equipment, tires and appliances.

Subsection E lists items that require screening, and the list is not limited to what is printed: garden tools, lawn mowers, wheelbarrows, tools, ladders, saw horses, vehicle parts, building material such as cement blocks, lumber and plywood, storm windows and awnings, and dirt, sand and gravel, which carry a limit of 30 days. Subsection F adds that all items should be stored behind the front building line.

Section 166-16 also states that all definitions in Chapter 132 and Chapter 228, Zoning, apply to Chapter 166, so a yard feature that is a structure under the zoning definitions is judged under Chapter 228 as well. The Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer administers the chapter under § 166-3.1(A).