ADU rules in Avon-by-the-Sea

Avon-by-the-Sea allows no market-rate backyard ADU. The only permission is § 113-11D, a conditional use in the R Single-Family Residential District (which covers almost the entire borough) for 'Accessory apartments for low and moderate income households in single family homes and accessory buildings': one per lot, on a lot meeting the zone's 7,000-square-foot, 50 by 100 foot minimums, with the owner living on the property year-round and the unit rented only to an income-qualified household under a deed restriction. § 113-5C deems detached garages, sheds, garage apartments and cottages/bungalows accessory buildings, but the R district permits only one detached garage (26 by 26 feet, two cars plus storage) and one 100-square-foot shed as new accessory buildings, bars bathrooms and kitchens in a detached garage (§ 113-11C(8)) and living space on the first floor of any garage (§ 113-20F), so the workable detached route is converting an existing garage apartment or cottage, and a new detached unit would need relief beyond the conditional use. Garage apartments and cottages appear in the code only as 'preexisting nonconforming' uses with renovation guidelines (§ 113-11C(11) and (12)); a new market-rate one is an unlisted use (§§ 113-3, 113-10K, 113-23) that needs a d(1) use variance; when the Society of Mount Carmel sought a new garage apartment at 23 Norwood Avenue, the board chair 'Did not see enough justification for the creation of a new rear dwelling' (11-24-2025 minutes; carried and not heard since).

A second unit inside or added onto a house is possible only as the same § 113-11D conditional use: an accessory apartment for a low- or moderate-income household 'in single family homes', occupying no more than 35 percent of the house's total square footage, with at least two rooms besides bathrooms and direct outside access through an egress door that does not alter the character of the facade. The tenant must meet the regional income limits, the rent must be affordable to a household earning no more than 57.5 percent of median income, and affordability controls of at least 30 years must be recorded (§ 113-11D(8) to (10)). Otherwise the R district permits only a 'Single-family detached dwelling unit' (§ 113-11A(1)), no zone lists two-family dwellings, and uses not specifically permitted are prohibited (§ 113-10K), so a market-rate in-law suite with its own kitchen needs a use variance.

§ 113-11D(6) caps the unit at 35 percent of 'the total square footage of the applicant's house' (about 840 square feet for a 2,400-square-foot house), § 113-11D(7) sets a floor of two rooms excluding bathrooms, and § 113-11D(2) and (3) require the lot to meet the R district's 7,000-square-foot area, 50-foot width and 100-foot depth (§ 113-11C(1)) and the apartment to meet the zone's yards. Detached accessory buildings follow the R district rules: one garage of no more than 26 feet in width and depth (§ 113-11B(2)), at most 18 feet tall (§ 113-11C(4)(b)), at least 25 feet from the house (§ 113-17B), outside the front yard and 6 feet from the rear lot line (§ 113-11C(6)). The renovation guidelines for preexisting nonconforming garage apartments cap the building at 26 feet with pitched roofs, no dormers, living area on the second floor only and no outdoor stairs (§ 113-11C(11)), and cottages and bungalows keep living area on the first floor only, with Planning Board site plan approval before renovation or reconstruction (§ 113-11C(12)). Building coverage on lots over 5,000 square feet is 31 percent with a detached garage (house at most 26 percent), or 29 percent when the detached garage is a garage apartment (house at most 23 percent), with at least 50 percent of the lot pervious (§ 113-11C(3)).

The first condition of the § 113-11D conditional use is that 'The owner of the lot resides on a year-round basis on the property in question', and approval is conditioned on the owner submitting 'an affidavit of continuing use every two (2) years' (§ 113-11D(1) and (11)), so the requirement applies at application and continues for as long as the apartment exists. Neither § 114-6C nor the 2026 Accessory Apartment Manual adds a separate occupancy rule. Legacy nonconforming garage apartments and cottages carry none: at the 4-28-2025 hearing on a rear cottage at 314 Norwood Avenue the applicant's attorney objected to a neighbor's request for a deed restriction against renting it, and the 5-27-2025 approval's stipulations include no rental limit. New Jersey has no ADU statute, so nothing preempts the local rule.

§ 113-21B(1) (added by Ord. No. 3-2020) reads 'Residential dwelling units - residential developments: as per N.J. Residential Site Improvement Standards. All residential lots in the Single-Family Residential District shall contain a minimum of two off-street parking spaces per residential unit.' Required spaces must be on the same lot, parking in front yards is prohibited, each space is at least 9 by 18 feet, and a lot that abuts a lane takes its driveway from the lane only (§§ 113-21A(2)(c) and A(3), 113-5C Parking space). The Planning Board applies the count to garage apartments: for 112 Garfield Avenue (a rebuilt house plus a nonconforming garage apartment) the applicant's engineer testified that 4 stalls are required, 3 exist and 3 are proposed, and the board approved the use variance 7-0 on 3-23-2026. Under the state RSIS, Table 4.4 is 'the maximum number of parking spaces planning boards and other local reviewers shall require' (N.J.A.C. 5:21-4.14(c)) and the rules are 'the maximum that may be required in connection with residential development' (5:21-1.5(b)); the table has no accessory-unit category (a one-bedroom garden apartment is 1.8 spaces), so the local two-space minimum can exceed the state ceiling for a small unit.

An accessory apartment is a conditional use, so it needs Planning Board approval after a noticed public hearing: § 113-29A requires application to the Planning Board before a construction permit or certificate of occupancy issues, the board decides the conditional use together with site plan review within the 95-day period, and § 113-33C(1) and D(1)(a) require a hearing with notice to owners within 200 feet ($300 conditional use fee, § 113-47B(5)). The nine-member Planning Board holds the Zoning Board of Adjustment's powers (§ 113-30), with the mayor and the governing-body member sitting out d-variance relief. The borough's program process (Accessory Apartment Manual, Res. No. 72-2026, filed with the court on 3-11-2026) adds an application to the Municipal Housing Liaison, a building inspection, design approval, a subsidy contract, a recorded deed restriction and a final certificate of occupancy before the first certified tenant moves in. A market-rate garage apartment, cottage or in-law unit, or the enlargement of an existing nonconforming one (§ 113-20D), needs a use variance under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d) from the same board, which approved such variances for 314 Norwood Avenue (5-27-2025), 112 Garfield Avenue (3-23-2026) and 424 Garfield Avenue (6-22-2026), all for existing rear dwellings.

§ 113-11D(8) to (11) require the occupant to meet the regional income limits, a rent affordable to a household earning no more than 57.5 percent of median, affordability controls of at least 30 years by deed restriction, and the owner's affidavit of continuing use every two years. Ord. No. 3-2026 sets the program floor at 10 years ('for at least 10 years thereafter, the accessory apartment shall be rented only to income eligible households', § 114-6C(3)), and the March 2026 manual restricts units 'for a period of no less than 10 years', sets maximum rents at 60 percent of median for moderate-income and 45 percent for low-income units, and pays a creation subsidy of $30,000 (very low), $25,000 (low) or $20,000 (moderate) per unit for a planned 10 units; a 30-year restriction satisfies both texts. Chapter 134 (Ord. No. 07-2022) requires a rental certificate of occupancy for every rental unit, applied for within six days of signing a lease and inspected within 15 days ($50 annual, $75 seasonal, $400 for summer weekly rentals of 7 to 15 days, $100 monthly), bans compensation for 'a period of six (6) days or less' (§ 134-10A), allows stays under 7 days only in licensed hotels or rooming houses (§ 134-4F), prohibits renting 'only part of a unit' (§ 134-1), and requires annual landlord registration by April 15 (§§ 134-13, 134-16). Chapter 116 adds an annual $50 filing of a certificate of $500,000 liability insurance ($300,000 for an owner-occupied home of four or fewer units), and § 113-10P limits every dwelling unit to a single bona fide 'family' housekeeping unit, excluding transient group occupancy. The code has no separate-sale clause; the apartment remains an accessory use of the house lot.