ADU rules in Elizabeth

Elizabeth's Land Development Code has no accessory dwelling unit or accessory apartment category anywhere. Title 17 is permissive zoning: section 17.36.020(B)(1) bars any use of land or building 'other than as specified among the uses hereinafter listed as permitted in the district', and Schedule IA lists only single-family, duplex, rowhouse, two-family, three-to-four family, garden apartment, multifamily and elevator apartment as residential principal uses, with no accessory dwelling row and nothing comparable in Schedule III (Conditional Uses). Accessory uses are defined narrowly as those 'customarily associated with and subordinate to a principal use, including but not limited to off-street parking, customary home occupations and storage' (17.36.030(A)), and a detached accessory building may not exceed ten feet in height, with only one of up to three accessory buildings allowed to exceed 100 square feet (17.36.030(C)(1)(a)). A detached backyard cottage is therefore neither a listed principal use nor an allowed accessory use, and would need a use variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d).

There is no attached or internal ADU category either, and two provisions bite hard. Section 17.36.120(A) states flatly that 'No occupancy of a basement or one-half (1/2) a story shall be permitted in the city for residential purposes in any zone', which rules out the basement conversion that is the most common ADU form in a dense city like Elizabeth. Section 17.36.090(B)(3) adds that a residential structure with a nonconforming use may be improved internally but 'No structural alterations shall be made which would increase the number of dwelling units or bedrooms.' The only lawful way to add a second unit is to convert to a two-family dwelling, which Schedule IA permits as a principal use in the R-2, R-2C, R-3, R-3A, R-4, C-1 and C-2 districts (but not in R-1) subject to the full two-family bulk, lot and parking standards; that is an ordinary change of principal use with a new certificate of occupancy, not an ADU.

Read from section 17.36.030(C)(1)(a). Those accessory buildings must also sit at least two feet from a rear lot line and three feet from a side lot line, and may be attached to the principal building. A ten-foot height cap on the only structure type that could physically host a detached unit is an independent obstacle on top of the use prohibition. For a two-family conversion, the size limits are the ordinary zone bulk standards (lot dimensions at 17.36.100, yard dimensions at 17.36.110, height at 17.36.120), not an ADU cap.

The zoning code is silent, because there is no accessory dwelling unit to regulate. No owner-occupancy condition attaches to a two-family dwelling in Schedule IA either. The only owner-occupancy test anywhere in the Elizabeth code sits in short-term rental licensing: Chapter 5.90 defines 'owner-occupied' as the owner residing 'in the short term rental property, or in the principal residential unit with which the property is associated on the same lot', and requires a driver's license, voter registration or state ID proving that address is the owner's principal residence. That is a licensing condition for renting nightly, not a land-use rule about who may occupy a second unit.

Section 17.40.010(A) provides that off-street parking follows the Table I ratios in 17.40.040 for nonresidential uses 'except that residential uses shall conform to the requirements of the residential site improvement standards, N.J.A.C. 5:21 except N.J.A.C. 5:21(f)'. Elizabeth's own Table I therefore carries no dwelling-unit row for one- and two-family homes. Required accessory parking must be on the same lot as the use it serves (17.40.010(B)), and accessory parking and driveways may sit in any yard but no closer than three feet to a lot line (17.36.030(C)(3)).

There is no ADU permit path to classify: no district in Schedule IA lists an accessory dwelling as permitted, and Schedule III (Conditional Uses) covers rooming houses, mausoleums, child-care facilities, nursing homes, essential services, gas stations, auto repair, junkyards, resident parking, gas tanks, guest retail and bakeries, helistops, amusement machine complexes, community residences and billboards, with no accessory dwelling standard. In practice a homeowner faces two real routes. Where Schedule IA already permits a two-family dwelling (R-2, R-2C, R-3, R-3A, R-4, C-1, C-2), the conversion is administrative: a zoning permit under 17.08.065, a construction permit, and a new certificate of occupancy on change of use under 17.08.080. Anywhere the use is not listed, including all of R-1, it takes a use variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d), a discretionary hearing needing five affirmative votes.

Chapter 5.90 (Ord. No. 5424 of 2-9-2021, amended by Ord. No. 5621 of 3-22-2022) makes it unlawful to rent, operate or advertise a short-term rental without a license from the chief license inspector, and bars short-term rental of any unit whose rent is set by a federal or state agency or governed by rent control. The $200 annual fee bundles a $75 registration fee, a $75 carbon monoxide inspection and a $50 zoning inspection for the rental certificate of occupancy; the license dies automatically on a change of ownership. Chapter 5.70's expiration section (5.70.250, last extended by Ord. No. 6072 of 12-10-2024) is a dated re-check. Separately, a certificate of occupancy for resale from the bureau of zoning is required before any building is sold or transferred (17.08.070).