ADU rules in Camden

Camden's land development ordinance has no accessory dwelling unit provision of any kind, and it is an exclusive-permission code: § 870-5 states that all uses not expressly permitted are prohibited. In the R-1, R-2 and R-3 Residential Zones the permitted uses are whole-building dwelling types (single-family detached, semidetached, duplex or two-family, and townhouse) plus municipal, park and school uses, and the accessory-use lists (§§ 870-48, 870-53 and 870-58) run to swimming pools, accessory buildings, off-street parking and private garages, fences, signs, porches, decks and patios, with no dwelling unit among them. § 870-23 adds that unless otherwise specifically permitted, no more than one principal dwelling or building is allowed on one lot, and § 870-189B limits accessory buildings to uses that are supplementary to the permitted use on the property. A backyard cottage therefore needs a use variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment under § 870-297E(1)(d)[1] and N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d), which takes five affirmative votes.

The same exclusive-permission structure blocks an attached or internal accessory unit: nothing in Chapter 870 permits a second, subordinate dwelling unit inside or attached to a house, and § 870-37 repeats that all uses not expressly permitted by the chapter are prohibited in all districts. What Camden does permit outright in R-1, R-2 and R-3 is a full duplex, but that is a two-family dwelling as a principal use, not an ADU: § 870-18 defines a two-family twin dwelling as a freestanding detached building serving two families with private exterior entrances to each dwelling, and the area tables define a duplex as a building whose two units are 'totally separated from the other by unpierced ceiling and floor extending from exterior wall to exterior wall.' A duplex conversion must also meet the minimum lot area per the district table: 6,000 square feet in R-1, 4,000 in R-2 and 2,000 in R-3. Lots that cannot meet those numbers are back to a use variance.

Because no accessory dwelling unit is permitted, Camden sets no ADU size cap. The binding envelope for anything built in a backyard is § 870-189C, under which accessory buildings, structures and uses may not occupy a front yard, must sit at least five feet from any side yard and three feet from any rear yard, and 'shall not occupy more than 25% of the rear yard requirements or a maximum of 750 square feet, whichever is smaller.' § 870-189G caps accessory buildings and structures at 10 feet in height, which rules out a habitable second storey over a garage even before the use question. A lawful second unit created as a duplex is instead sized by the district bulk table: three stories or 35 feet maximum height, 40% maximum building coverage and 60% maximum impervious coverage in R-1 and R-2.

Camden's code sets no owner-occupancy rule for an accessory dwelling unit, because it does not allow one; the field is recorded unknown rather than no so the table does not read as though an ADU exists that you may rent out freely. Nothing in Chapter 870 conditions any residential use on the owner living on site. The nearest owner-related requirements sit outside zoning: § 620-19 requires an owner who does not permanently reside in Camden County to appoint a resident agent, § 620-20 requires every owner, operator or lessor of rented space to register the premises with the Department of Code Enforcement, and Chapter 650 rent control applies by its own definition to 'Owner-occupied one-, two-, three-, or four-family dwellings' (§ 650-1, as amended 2-10-2026 by Ord. No. MC-5610).

§ 870-230A requires off-street parking whenever a building is erected, enlarged or increased in capacity, and § 870-230F sets the schedule: two spaces per dwelling unit for a single-family detached house, and for 'All other dwellings, except units for the elderly' 1.25 spaces for a one-bedroom unit, 1.75 for a two-bedroom unit and 2.00 for a three-bedroom unit or a fraction thereof. So a duplex conversion, the only as-of-right route to a second unit here, adds parking by the new unit's bedroom count rather than by a flat per-ADU space. Existing buildings are grandfathered under § 870-230B unless a variance for an enlargement is granted or intensity increases, in which case an enlargement worth less than 25% of replacement value is at the Zoning Officer's discretion and one above 25% triggers full compliance.

There is no ADU permit path in Camden because there is no ADU use, so no permitted or conditional-use classification applies; the field is recorded unknown by the directory's convention for codes with nothing at all. For context, the ministerial layer is the zoning permit: § 870-309B bars anyone from erecting, altering, expanding or converting a building without a zoning permit from the Zoning Officer, and § 870-310 gives the Zoning Officer 10 days to act on a complete application. Site plan review is waived for single-family and two-family construction under § 870-41A(1), so a conforming duplex conversion is a staff-level approval. Anything that is genuinely an accessory dwelling instead needs a use variance under § 870-297E(1)(d)[1], heard by the Zoning Board of Adjustment and requiring five affirmative votes.

Renting is regulated by Chapter 620 rather than by zoning. § 620-37 requires that 'In all instances where any premises are to be leased or rented for living quarters, either as rooming units, dwelling units or single-family dwellings, before such premises may be leased or rented, it shall be the duty of the landlord to obtain a certificate of rental approval', verifying the premises meet the property maintenance standards, and § 620-38 requires a fresh certificate before re-letting a vacancy. § 620-20 requires the owner, operator or lessor to register the rental premises with the Department of Code Enforcement, and Chapter 644 lets the City refuse or revoke a certificate of rental approval for delinquent taxes. Camden's rent control ordinance (Chapter 650, amended 2-10-2026 by Ord. No. MC-5610) reaches owner-occupied one- to four-family dwellings. There is no short-term-rental chapter: full-text searches of the code, the New Laws bank and the public documents return zero hits for 'short-term rental' and zero for 'airbnb'.