ADU rules in Brick

Brick allows a detached ADU only inside the Middle Housing Overlay Zone (MHOZ) created by Ord. No. 6-26 (adopted 3-10-2026), which applies to the 48 parcels listed in 245 Attachment 7 along Route 88, Mantoloking Road and Jordan Road. There, "accessory dwellings" are a use "permitted as a development alternative to the underlying zoning", an accessory garage may contain a dwelling unit if it is no more than 1 1/2 stories, and Attachment 7 allows one accessory dwelling per lot when developing detached compact houses (lots of at least 7,500 sq ft, 75 ft wide and 100 ft deep). Everywhere else no ADU of any form is allowed: the R-R-1, R-20, R-15, R-10, R-7.5 and R-5 districts permit only one-family dwellings, § 245-11 bars any use not listed for the zone, and § 245-14 limits a residential lot to one principal building.

The same overlay is the only route for an attached or internal unit: § 245-76.E(1) defines an accessory dwelling as a unit "either attached to a single-family principal dwelling or located on the same lot and having an independent means of access", and a unit integrated into the principal structure "must be smaller in size and have an independent means of access from the principal dwelling access". Outside the 48 overlay parcels a one-family dwelling must be "designed for or occupied exclusively for one family" (§ 245-3), two-family dwellings appear only in R-20 cluster subdivisions (§ 245-303) and the Camp Osborn beach cottage overlay (§ 245-298.3), and the code has no accessory apartment, mother-daughter, basement-unit or second-kitchen provision for houses.

The footprint, coverage and impervious limits sit in Attachment 7 columns that span every building type, and the 1 1/2-story limit appears both in § 245-76.E(1) (for accessory garages with a dwelling unit) and in the table's Accessory column. A carriage house, the overlay's other rear-lot accessory unit, may not be taller or have a larger footprint than the main building, and a detached compact house is itself capped at a 36 ft main body width. Principal buildings are limited to 2 1/2 stories, 24 ft to the eave or parapet, 35 ft overall and 38.5 ft to the ridge.

Neither § 245-76 nor Attachment 7 requires the owner to live on the property, at application or afterward. The overlay's only occupancy-linked rule is its 20% low- and moderate-income set-aside, which applies to residential developments of five or more dwelling units (§ 245-76.C, matched townwide by § 245-418.A). New Jersey has no statewide ADU statute, so no state rule adds one; the value rests on the absence of any occupancy clause in the complete codified text of the overlay.

Attachment 7 prints this rate only in its Carriage House/Bungalow row and leaves the parking cell blank for detached compact houses and the other building types, while note D requires every MHOZ development to comply with Article XXXV "in addition to the parking requirements above". Article XXXV (§ 245-310) has no accessory-dwelling category: single-family dwellings need 1.5 spaces for two bedrooms rising to 3.0 for five, multifamily units 1.8 to 2.4 spaces, and any other use is "as specified by the Brick Township Planning Board". The code does not say which rate the Zoning Officer applies to an accessory dwelling on a detached compact house lot, so applicants should confirm the count before designing.

Inside the overlay, accessory dwellings are listed among the uses "permitted as a development alternative to the underlying zoning uses" (§ 245-76.D(6)), not among conditional uses, so no conditional-use hearing applies; the Zoning Officer issues the zoning permit ($80 for an accessory use or structure, $125 for a principal structure, § 250-29), alongside a construction permit and a Township Engineer review of a sealed plot plan (§ 245-29). Attachment 7 note G keeps "all other Site Plan and Subdivision standards" in force, so an overlay project that needs a subdivision, a site plan (§ 245-390 requires one for multiple-dwelling-unit and commercial buildings and for changes of use above 1,200 sq ft) or a variance goes to the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Outside the overlay a second dwelling unit would need a use variance under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d).

Chapter 239 (Ord. No. 21-20, 11-10-2020, unamended) also bans renting "any amenity, feature, accessory, or appurtenance to or associated with a dwelling" (§ 239-6), aimed at pools and similar features rather than a lawful dwelling unit, and § 239-2.C bars any rental without a certificate of occupancy. Chapter 225 Article II, rewritten by Ord. No. 9-26 (3-24-2026) to require annual inspections, issues each certificate for the named tenants only, makes it non-transferable, and posts the unit's maximum occupancy (§ 225-5); seasonal weekly or monthly rentals need one inspection at the start of the season. Chapter 238 lets the township require a landlord of a building with four or fewer units to post a $500 to $5,000 bond after two substantiated disorderly-conduct convictions within 24 months. The overlay says nothing about selling an accessory dwelling separately; it stays accessory to the principal dwelling on the same lot.