ADU rules in Bradley Beach

Bradley Beach allows one form of detached accessory unit, the garage apartment: § 450-26B(1) lists 'Garage apartments' as a permitted accessory use in the R-1 Residential Single-Family Zone, with living accommodations on the second floor only, over a garage holding at least two interior parking spaces, and only 'On minimum lot size of 7,500 square feet.' The R-B Residential Beachfront Zone gives single-family lots the same permission but bars garage apartments on lots containing a two-family dwelling (§ 450-28B). The lot gate is half again the 5,000-square-foot zone minimum, and on the state's MOD-IV parcel layer only about one in four of the borough's residential parcels reaches 7,500 square feet (the common lots are 50 by 150, 50 by 100 and 25 by 100 feet), so most house lots cannot add one. A ground-level backyard cottage or any other detached unit is not a listed use: § 450-10A(38) prohibits every use a zone does not permit and § 450-15 allows one principal building per lot, and the Land Use Board's engineer and planner treat unlisted accessory uses as d(1) use variances (302 Second Avenue, 2023).

No zone permits a second unit inside or attached to a house. The R-1 zone lists single-family dwellings as its only residential principal use (§ 450-26A); § 450-10A prohibits '(32) Conversion of single-family uses to multiple-family uses' and '(38) Any use of land or buildings or any activity not specifically permitted in a zone'; and § 450-23 bars any kitchen in a basement or cellar and allows a kitchen above the first floor only when it is the only kitchen in a single-family dwelling, which rules out the usual basement, attic or second-floor apartment. § 450-4 defines 'accessory apartment' (a unit 'physically attached to or contained within an existing single-family house') and 'accessory dwelling', but no zone lists either use, so the definitions grant nothing. The only by-right way to put two units in one building is a two-family dwelling, a permitted principal use in the R-B Residential Beachfront Zone under the single-family bulk rules (§ 450-28A(2)); the conversion ban reaches 'multiple-family' buildings, which § 450-4 defines as three or more units, and a lot holding a two-family dwelling may not also have a garage apartment.

§ 450-26B(1) caps the garage's first floor at 800 square feet and the apartment's second floor at 800 square feet, both including the staircase (exterior staircases, second-floor porches and balconies are barred), limits the unit to one bedroom with only the garage and common area on the ground floor, and sets a 25-foot peak and a 12-foot eave; § 450-26D(1)(m) and (n) repeat the 800-square-foot accessory building area and the 25-foot two-story height. Building coverage counts every principal and accessory building and names the 'garage apartment' expressly (§ 450-4), so the house and garage apartment together may cover no more than 35 percent of the lot, with 60 percent impervious coverage. Placement: rear yard only, at least 5 feet from the side and rear lot lines, 20 feet from the house, and at least 60 feet from the street line on east-west streets or 30 feet on north-south streets (§ 450-26D(1)(j) to (l), E(1)). Ord. No. 2023-12 raised the apartment cap from the 600 square feet set by Ord. No. 2011-19 and added the 7,500-square-foot lot minimum.

Nothing in Chapter 450 conditions a garage apartment on the owner living on the property, at application or afterward: § 450-26B(1) lists only physical standards, and a code-wide search finds 'owner-occupied' only in the bed-and-breakfast rules (§ 450-36A), the rental insurance tiers of Chapters 147 and 365, the fire registration exemption for owner-occupied one- and two-family dwellings (§§ 210-15B, 210-21B) and the affordable housing chapter. Owner occupancy changes only costs: an owner-occupied home of four or fewer units needs $300,000 of liability insurance instead of $500,000 (§§ 147-5D, 365-2C(6)), and a rental building that is not owner-occupied must register for an annual fire inspection. New Jersey has no ADU statute, so nothing would preempt an owner-occupancy rule if the borough adopted one.

§ 450-26E(1)(c) requires 'two off-street parking spaces in addition to those required for the single-family dwelling' for living quarters on the second story of an accessory two-car garage, § 450-26D(1)(i) requires two spaces per dwelling unit, and § 450-26B(1)(i) requires the garage to contain at least two internal parking spaces; the Land Use Board's engineer and planner applied this as four required spaces for a house with a garage apartment ('2 Units') in their 10-2-2025 review of 615 Fifth Avenue. Each lot gets one driveway and curb cut, 12 feet wide in the front yard and up to 24 feet in the rear yard in front of a two-car garage, and a driveway shorter than 20 feet does not count as a space (§ 450-41A(2) to (4)). Under the state Residential Site Improvement Standards, 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 (1.5 to 3.0 spaces for a house by bedrooms, 1.8 for a one-bedroom garden apartment), so the local count can exceed the state ceiling for a smaller house. Ord. No. 2026-35 (introduced 9-15-2026, not adopted at its noticed 10-20-2026 hearing) would require a paved width of at least 20 feet, for 20 feet of depth, giving access to both bays of every two-car garage.

A garage apartment that meets § 450-26B(1) is a permitted accessory use approved ministerially: a zoning permit from the Zoning Officer, required before any construction or new use and granted or denied in writing within 10 business days of a complete application ($75 fee, valid two years, § 450-79C), then a construction permit and certificate of occupancy; the borough's April 2026 zoning permit application lists 'Garage Apartment' as a work type. No site plan is required for single- or two-family dwellings or 'structures incidental to' them (§ 270-5A(2); § 450-4, Site plan, exempt), and the accessory structure's certificate of occupancy can issue only with or after the house's (§ 450-19C). Anything outside the standards, such as a garage apartment on a lot under 7,500 square feet or a unit that is not over a garage, needs relief from the Land Use Board, the nine-member planning board that also holds Zoning Board of Adjustment powers under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-25(c)(2), whose professionals treat unlisted accessory uses as d(1) use variances under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d). A new garage apartment also pays the 1.5 percent residential development fee on the increase in equalized assessed value (§ 451-22A(1) and B(3)).

Chapter 450 places no rental limit on a garage apartment. Chapter 365 (Ord. No. 2023-3 of 8-16-2023, which repealed the former Summer Rentals article) bars offering or renting any residential property without a landlord registration certificate (§ 365-1; $100 a year for up to four units), requires a registration statement by March 1 each year naming every adult tenant and the number and ages of children, with a floor plan of approved sleeping rooms, updated before any change in tenancy (§ 365-2), lets only the listed persons reside (§ 365-5B), sets a minimum rental of 6 1/2 days or 156 hours (§ 365-5C), bans selling shares in a lease (§ 365-6A), and bars re-renting a unit leased between September 15 and May 15 to a family with children aged 6 to 17 until three days after the elementary school year ends (§ 365-6B). Chapter 160 requires a certificate of occupancy from Code Enforcement before any rental or new occupancy, reinspection at each change of tenant and a $75 fee per unit (§§ 160-4A, 160-7, 160-10), and Chapter 147 adds a $25 annual insurance registration per rental unit with $500,000 of liability coverage. Rentals shorter than 30 consecutive days are 'short-term rentals' subject to the 3 percent Municipal Occupancy Tax on transient accommodations, with a $500 flat-payment option (§§ 365-8C, 365-9, 365-13D); Ord. No. 2026-42 (introduced 10-20-2026, hearing 11-10-2026) would strike the tax and charge every short-term rental a $500 annual registration fee. There is no night cap and no separate-sale clause; a garage apartment remains an accessory use of the house lot, and transferring any part of a lot needs subdivision approval (§§ 450-15, 270-5A(3)).