Bloomfield, NJ Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Encroachment Permits (2026)

Section 497-41 is the Bloomfield Township Code's encroachment rule for private structures reaching into the public street. Subsection A says no person shall place or put in, upon or over any street or any part thereof any post sign, porch, shed or awning of any kind whatsoever, except under permission of the Building Inspector. The words in, upon or over matter: the ban reaches a structure that stands in the street and one that only projects above it, such as an awning hanging over the right-of-way.

Subsection B protects structures that already exist. Nothing in the section prohibits the continuance of any post sign, porch, shed or awning heretofore placed, built or erected. That protection ends if someone complains to the Township Council and it is made to appear that the free and convenient use of any street by the public or adjoining owners of property is interfered with or obstructed. In that case the structure must be removed within 10 days after notice from the Council.

The Code does not print an application form, a fee or a term for this permission in § 497-41, and it names the Building Inspector, not the Engineer, as the decision maker. Permission is also not permanent: under § 497-1, any license or permit granted by the Township Council or by any board, department, bureau or official of the Township for an object, obstruction or projection in, under, upon or across any street, highway, sidewalk or other public place is subject to suspension, rescission and revocation at the pleasure of the Council, without compensation and without cause, even if the stated time has not expired.

Other street-use approvals sit with the Township Engineer. Digging up the surface of a public street or sidewalk needs a written permit from the Township Engineer under § 497-6. In streetscape areas, § 497-57 requires a right-of-way opening permit from the Township Engineering Department with a $10,000 performance bond, and § 497-58 requires the contractor to notify the Engineering Department within 48 hours of the proposed construction.