ADU rules in Bay Head

Bay Head's Land Use chapter (Chapter 147) allows no detached accessory dwelling. Its only accessory-unit provision, § 147-17.1, requires that an affordable accessory apartment 'be located within a detached single-family dwelling,' and the general rules close off the alternatives: § 147-6C allows no more than one residential building on each lot of record, § 147-6D(7) bars interior plumbing in any accessory building except for clothes washers, dryers and work sinks, and § 147-6K bars erecting or enlarging any structure 'for use as an apartment, two-family dwelling, multiple-family dwelling' in any zone. The § 147-2 definition of apartment adds that 'In no zone may there be an apartment which is utilized in addition to a single-family residential use on a parcel of property,' and § 147-6A allows only the uses each zone lists, which in every residential zone are single-family detached dwellings, parks, municipal uses and schools (§ 147-6.1A). A backyard cottage, garage apartment or pool-house suite could only come through a d(1) use variance from the Planning Board, which exercises the Zoning Board's powers (§§ 147-25F, 147-29).

The only legal second unit in a Bay Head house is a deed-restricted 'affordable accessory apartment' under § 147-17.1 (Ord. No. 2000-5), which applies 'Notwithstanding any provision of the Land Development Ordinance to the contrary' and so overrides the apartment bans in §§ 147-2 and 147-6K for this one use. It is allowed in every zone except the Conservation (C) Zone, only inside a detached single-family dwelling on a lot that meets the Appendix A schedule for its zone (10,000 sq ft and 100 ft wide in R-100, R-100-BF and R-100-OF; 5,000 sq ft and 50 ft in R-50, B & B and B-1), and only as a self-contained unit with a kitchen, complete sanitary facilities, sleeping quarters and a private entrance 'created to be occupied by a low- or moderate-income household' under the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) rules at N.J.A.C. 5:93. The program is capped at 10 apartments borough-wide, each property carries a recorded deed restriction, and every application goes through a program administrator the Council designates. A market-rate in-law suite, basement apartment or apartment in an addition is not allowed, no zone permits two-family dwellings, and DCA's July 2026 municipal status report lists Bay Head's 'ACCESSORY APARTMENTS PROGRAM' at 0 units.

Section 147-17.1 sets a floor but no ceiling: each apartment needs living and sleeping space, cooking facilities, a kitchen sink and complete sanitary facilities for its occupants' exclusive use, and 'shall consist of no less than two rooms, one of which shall be a full bathroom' (§ 147-17.1C(7)); the application's floor plans must show 'the location, size and relationship' of the apartment and the primary dwelling (§ 147-17.1E(1)). The binding limits are the house's own: Appendix A (Supp. 32, December 2025) caps principal buildings at 2.5 stories and 35 feet, Note 5 allows 32.5 feet above base flood elevation in flood hazard areas, and Ord. No. 2025-14 (adopted 9-15-2025) cut maximum building coverage from 35 to 30 percent and lot coverage from 50 to 45 percent in R-100, R-100-BF and R-50, with R-100-OF unchanged at 25 and 40 percent (houses in B & B and B-1 follow R-50 and houses in B-2 follow R-100-BF, Notes 3 and 4). Detached accessory buildings are limited to one per lot, one story or 16 feet, five feet from any other building, 30 percent of the required yard area and no plumbing beyond laundry and work sinks (§ 147-6D; Appendix A Note 2), so none can hold a dwelling.

Section 147-17.1 sets no owner-occupancy condition, at application or afterward: its conditions run to the tenant (low- or moderate-income at initial occupancy and for at least 10 years), the rent, a recorded deed restriction 'running with the land and limiting its subsequent rental or sale,' a private entrance, parking and affirmative marketing. Chapter 147 ties owner residence only to other uses: the owner of a bed-and-breakfast inn 'must reside on the premises,' a rooming house owner 'shall be required to reside on the premises' (§ 147-2C), and a professional office in a residential zone is limited to 'a member of a recognized profession who is in residence on the lot' (§ 147-6.1B(2)). New Jersey has no statewide ADU statute that would add or preempt an owner-occupancy rule.

§ 147-17.1C(9) requires 'a minimum of two on-site parking spaces provided exclusively for the affordable accessory apartment,' in addition to the spaces required for the existing dwelling, and § 147-13A requires 2 spaces per single-family dwelling unit, so a house with an apartment needs four spaces of at least 9 by 18 feet (§ 147-13C(4)), reached by a driveway on the lot itself, since driveways serving parking on adjoining lots are not permitted (§ 147-13C(1)); the application's site development sketch must show 'the required parking spaces for both dwelling units' (§ 147-17.1E(3)). The state Residential Site Improvement Standards govern site improvements tied to residential development approvals and are 'the maximum that may be required in connection with residential development' (N.J.A.C. 5:21-1.5(a) and (b)); Table 4.4 under 5:21-4.14(c) 'specifies the maximum number of parking spaces planning boards and other local reviewers shall require' (1.5 to 3.0 per single-family house by bedrooms, 2.5 when bedrooms are not stated, single-family values for each unit of a two-family dwelling) and has no accessory-apartment category, so whether it trims the four-space total has not been tested.

An affordable accessory apartment is a permitted use in every zone but C under § 147-17.1A, with no conditional-use hearing: the owner files floor plans, rough elevations and a site development sketch with the program administrator the Council designates (§ 147-17.1D and E), who qualifies properties, files deed restrictions and secures certificates of occupancy, and 'shall only deny an application for an affordable accessory apartment if the project is not in conformance with COAH's requirements and/or provisions of this ordinance,' in writing. The Zoning Officer then issues the zoning permit when the plans conform 'in all respects' (§ 147-16B(2)(b)), followed by construction permits and a certificate of occupancy signed by the Construction Official and the Zoning Officer (§ 101-1A). Section 147-61 reads as if any conversion, or any change of use needing added parking, requires Planning Board site plan approval, but N.J.S.A. 40:55D-37a exempts 'individual lot applications for detached one or two dwelling-unit buildings' from site plan review. Any other second unit, market-rate or detached, needs a d(1) use variance from the nine-member Planning Board acting as the Zoning Board (§§ 147-18, 147-25F, 147-29), on which the Mayor (Class I) and Council (Class III) members may not sit for use variances; N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d) requires at least five affirmative votes, and § 147-48I charges a $350 application fee and a $3,000 escrow for a single-family residential use variance.

The apartment 'shall be rented only to a household which is either a low- or a moderate-income household at the time of initial occupancy' and, 'for a period of at least 10 years from the date of the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, be rented only to low- or moderate-income households,' at rents set under N.J.A.C. 5:93-7.4 with a utility allowance (§ 147-17.1C(2) to (4)); the administrator income-qualifies renters, sets rents and annual increases and keeps the waiting list, the program must be affirmatively marketed (N.J.A.C. 5:93-11), and the recorded deed restriction limits both rental and sale of the property (§ 147-17.1C(6) and D(1)). Borough-wide, an owner must apply for a rental certificate of occupancy at least 10 days before any tenancy, attaching the lease or a verified abstract naming each tenant (§ 101-3B); a long-term rental (over 12 months) keeps its certificate until the tenant changes or for three years, a short-term rental of seven days to 12 months needs a new certificate every calendar year, the inspection fee is $150 per unit ($15 per reinspection), and 'Tenancies for a term of less than seven days are prohibited in the Borough of Bay Head' (§ 101-3C and F, as amended by Ord. Nos. 2020-15 and 2022-12). Rental units must also pass lead-based paint inspections at tenant turnover or every three years ($200 each; seasonal single- and two-family rentals of under six months a year without consecutive renewals are exempt, §§ 189-7 and 189-9), no dwelling unit may be rented to a group that is not a family as § 147-2 defines it (§ 147-6J), and a landlord whose seasonal rental draws three substantiated disorderly-conduct convictions in a year can be made to post a $500 to $5,000 bond for four years (§§ 189-2 and 189-3). The code has no short-term rental license and no municipal occupancy tax beyond the seven-day minimum.