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

Article VIII of Chapter 450, Street Rights-of-Way, adopted December 9, 2008 by Ord. No. 4168-08 and updating a 1990 ordinance, makes it unlawful under § 450-64 to erect, maintain, place or abandon any structure that encroaches on a public street, public property, or any improved or unimproved portion of a public right-of-way anywhere in the Township. The code defines structure broadly in § 450-65: any building, ship, vessel, boat, trailer, airplane or dumpster. That sweeps in everything from a shed built too close to the curb line to a boat trailer or dumpster left sitting in the right-of-way, not just permanent construction. The only carve-out in the ordinance is for utility installation and maintenance that qualifies as a permitted use in the Township; regulated utilities can occupy the right-of-way where the Land Use and Development Regulations otherwise allow it.

Because Article VIII sits alongside the separate excavation-permit rules in Article VI, Toms River residents and contractors doing legitimate work in the right-of-way, trenching, curb work, driveway aprons, still go through the excavation-permit process in §§ 450-20 through 450-59 rather than this article; § 450-64 targets unauthorized structures left in or over the right-of-way rather than authorized construction activity.