Long Beach Township (LBI) Permits and Variances: How Many Sets to Print
On Long Beach Island, the biggest print job usually isn’t the building permit. It’s the Land Use Board application you file when a house needs a variance. The board’s 2025 application packet spells out exactly how many copies, and it’s a lot.
The variance packet, counted
The Initial Submission Checklist splits the paper four ways:
- Board Secretary (Brant Beach): one original of each document, including the variance plan and architectural plans, plus a PDF of everything emailed in.
- Board Attorney: 1 copy of the application, the variance plan or site plan, the architectural plans, and the photos and tax map. You mail it yourself.
- Board Engineer: the same, plus the completed Technical Checklist. Also mailed by you.
- Board member packets: 15 collated copies of the application, the plans, the architectural plans, the zoning denial, the color photos and the tax map.
That’s 18 sets of each drawing: 1 original, 1 for the attorney, 1 for the engineer and 15 for the board. “Collated” means each of the 15 packets is assembled separately, not stacked by document.
Rules on the plans themselves:
- They must be prepared by a NJ-licensed professional and be “no more than one (1) year old.”
- The original needs “a raised seal and original signature.”
- “Copies must be of sufficient size to be legible and capable of reproduction.”
- Variances need a Variance Map with a variance table. “A survey is NOT sufficient.”
Timing: everything goes in at least 45 days before the meeting, all at once. “Partial or incomplete submissions will NOT be accepted.” If you revise later, the Supplemental Checklist asks for 1 original and 13 copies, plus copies mailed to the attorney and engineer, at least 10 days before the hearing.
Fees from the packet: a bulk variance is $500, plus escrow of $500 for the engineer and $500 for the attorney. The certified owner list and the proof of paid taxes are $10 each.
The zoning permit
Under §205-73D, the zoning permit application has to include a plan of the lot with the exact size, shape and location of what you’re building. Where the township requires it, you also need a surveyor’s plot plan with the surveyor’s seal, showing:
- the improvements on the adjoining lots
- all existing and proposed parking
- “a basic rendering… showing proposed heated areas per floor and proposed heights of grade, first floor, and overall height”
A zoning permit expires in six months if the work hasn’t started.
LBI-specific building rules worth knowing before you print
From Chapter 64 of the township code (eCode360):
- Building permit plans have to be drawn to scale. The plot plan has to be drawn from “an accurate boundary line survey” and show distances to the structures on the adjoining lots (§64-2).
- Pilings need their own permit. No piling can go in without a piling installation permit from the Building Department (§64-11, amended March 2025).
- A second plot plan mid-construction. For new construction and substantial improvements, a plot plan showing where the structure actually sits must be filed within 30 days of finishing the first living-level floor, before any rough or mechanical inspection approvals (§64-15A(4)). On new construction, the engineer’s elevation certification is due in the same 30-day window (§64-15A(3)).
- No summer street closures. Construction that needs a street closure order is barred from June 15 to September 15. Modular home permit applications are due by May 17 if you want the house placed before June 15 (§64-19).
Construction office basics
From the Construction & Zoning page:
- The Construction Office (609-361-6679) is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 3 PM. Zoning is 609-361-6695, and Land Use is 609-361-6637.
- The township says to “allow twenty business days review time for new construction and substantial improvement permits.”
- Inspections are split at Ship Bottom: Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the south end, Tuesday and Thursday for the north end. Schedule at least 24 hours ahead.
- Dune walkovers have to be registered with the construction department, and the township cuts all dune fence openings itself.
The township’s pages and its zoning application form don’t give a number of sets for the construction permit. New Jersey’s construction code sets the floor: a paper (physical) application has to include at least two copies of the plans (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.15(f)1 and 2.15A), and one released set stays on site (5:23-2.16(e)). If the application is filed electronically instead, a sealed, wet-signed paper copy of the released plans still has to be at the work site (5:23-2.15B(d)).
Printing an LBI packet
Count before you order: a 4-sheet variance plan and a 6-sheet architectural set, times 18, is 180 sheets. Upload the PDFs and choose the size they were drawn at (18×24 through 36×48). Black and white is $1.95 a sheet (pricing). Order by 3 PM ET, ships same day, arrives as soon as the next day. If you haven’t ordered from us before, WELCOME20 is 20% off your first order.
Also on the shore: Barnegat · Lacey · Toms River · all NJ permit guides
From Long Beach Township’s code, website and 2025 Land Use Board packet, checked Oct 18, 2026. Not legal advice. Confirm with the Land Use office (609-361-6637) before you print.
Working in more than one shore town? Ocean County plan printing lists the others we cover, and our permit set page explains sheet sizes for permit sets.
