Freehold Township, NJ Parking Rules: Loading Zones (2026)

Section 11-19, added by Ordinance No. O-06-16, governs every marked loading zone in Freehold Township. The baseline rule is narrow: no motor vehicle may park, stop, or stand in a designated loading zone at all, except a commercially registered motor vehicle that is actively being loaded or unloaded at that moment. The ordinance then builds in two presumptions that make enforcement practical without requiring an officer to watch a vehicle continuously. First, if a commercially registered vehicle is observed sitting in a loading zone without active loading or unloading activity for a cumulative period of more than two hours, that observation creates a presumption that the vehicle has violated the section, and the code specifically states the observation need not be continuous or uninterrupted to count; separate glimpses over time can be added together.

Second, and more strictly, any noncommercially registered vehicle found parked, stopped, or standing in a loading zone for any period of time at all, even a moment, is presumed to be in violation, since only commercial vehicles actively working the zone are covered by the exception in the first place. The code also makes clear that an officer does not need to have made the two-hour observation, or any observation at all, to have probable cause to issue a summons; the presumptions are tools for proving a violation, not a precondition for writing a ticket.

A vehicle cited under this section faces whatever fines or penalties are set out in § 1-3, the Chapter 1 general penalty provision, and can also be ordered towed at the owner's or operator's expense regardless of whether a monetary penalty is also imposed.