Whereas, the Borough of Somerville has previously appointed Kevin Sluka as film ready liaison, who has attended the required workshop satisfying step #1 and Step #2, and the Borough in collaboration with the State of New Jersey provided an assortment of photos that included but not limited to public locations, public buildings, parks, historic structures, and Mian Street location s satisfying item #4; and

Whereas, one of those steps, item #3 requires the municipality to adopt an ordinance or code of conduct setting forth regulations and standards for filming within the municipality; and

Whereas, the Borough of Somerville has issued more than 20 filming permits over the past five years for television shows, music videos, student films and educational videos; and

Whereas, the Borough Council wishes to establish regulations and standards for filming within the Borough consistent with the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission Film Ready requirements and to obtain Film Ready designation.

Now, Therefore, Be It Ordained by the Borough Council of the Borough of Somerville, County of Somerset, State of New Jersey, as follows:

Section 1. A new Chapter 76 of the Code of the Borough of Somerville, entitled “Filming,” is hereby adopted as follows:

Chapter 76
FILMING

§ 76-1 Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

Film Crew Members — Directors, producers, actors, set members, camera crew members, security, contractors, interns, and agents.

Filming — The taking of still or motion pictures, either on film, videotape, digital or similar recording medium, for commercial or educational purposes intended for viewing on television, in theaters, the internet or for institutional use.

Major Motion Pictures — Any film which is financed and/or distributed by a major motion picture studio, including but not limited to the following: NBCUniversal, including Peacock; Warner Bros. Discovery, including New Line Cinema, HBO, DC Studios and Castle Rock Entertainment; Paramount Pictures, including Miramax, MTV Films, Showtime, Skydance, Dreamworks and Nickelodeon Movies; Walt Disney Studios, including 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Hulu and Marvel Studios; Sony Pictures, including Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems and Tristar Pictures; Amazon MGM Studios; Netflix Studios; A24; any film for which the budget is at least $20,000,000; or any recurrent weekly television series programming.

Public Lands — Any and every public street, highway, sidewalk, square, public right-of-way, public park or playground, public building and property or other public place within the Borough which is within the jurisdiction and control of the Borough.