ADU rules in Ocean City

A detached accessory apartment is possible, but only through the city's deed-restricted affordable housing program. Section 25-211.1 covers voluntary conversion of existing single family or two family dwellings or accessory buildings, and section 25-211.2 extends eligibility to owners who occupy the principal structure on a lot where an accessory unit will be located. The affordable housing rewrite adopted 5-7-2026 added a definition at section 25-2000.2 that expressly reaches a unit constructed as a separate detached structure on the same lot and says accessory apartments are also called accessory dwelling units. The older zoning definition at section 25-107 is narrower, describing only a converted portion of an existing dwelling or an existing accessory building, so a brand-new detached building is not clearly authorized. Either way the unit is allowed only in the R-2 and RMF zone districts, never on bayfront or oceanfront lots, and only on fully conforming lots.

Converting an existing single family or two family dwelling to hold an accessory apartment is the core of the program, and the 2026 definition at section 25-2000.2 confirms that the unit may sit inside the primary dwelling or be built as an extension of it. It is open only to owner-occupants who rent the unit to low- or moderate-income households, and only in the R-2 and RMF zones away from the bayfront and oceanfront. The accessory apartment and any existing unit must each have a separate door with direct access to the outside, and the work may not add a door to the front facade of the principal structure.

Section 25-211.4 sets the gross floor area at no less than 450 and no more than 950 square feet and specifies the required kitchen, bathroom, and separate exterior door. Floor area is capped but bedroom count is not: the affordable housing ordinance adopted 5-7-2026 provides at section 25-2000.5h5 that the municipal accessory apartment program shall not restrict the number of bedrooms in any accessory apartment.

Only owners who occupy the single family detached or two family dwelling as their primary residence, or who occupy the principal structure on the lot where the accessory unit will be located, are eligible to participate in the accessory apartment program. The owner must also agree to rent the unit only to low- or moderate-income households and to follow the city's program rules.

Section 25-211.5 splits the requirement by whether the unit is new construction or a conversion of an existing structure. The rule is unchanged since 2002 and survived the 2026 affordable housing rewrite untouched.

Accessory apartments are permitted rather than a conditional use, but only in the R-2 and RMF zone districts. Applications go to a city-appointed program administrator and must include floor plans, sketch elevations with photographs, and a site development plan prepared by a licensed engineer or land surveyor; the unit must also meet New Jersey building codes as enforced by the city Construction Code Official. No planning board or conditional use hearing is described. Since the affordable housing ordinance was replaced on 5-7-2026, the affordability side of an approval also runs through the city's Administrative Agent and Municipal Housing Liaison.

Sections 25-211.2 and 25-211.9 impose the low and moderate income limitation and the 10-year recorded deed restriction with the 125 percent repayment penalty, and section 25-211.1 frames the program as creating units for year-round occupancy. The affordable housing ordinance adopted 5-7-2026 sets the program's own terms at section 25-2000.5h: at least a 10-year income-restricted rental period, a recorded deed or declaration of covenants running with the land, no cap on bedrooms, and a municipal subsidy of at least $25,000 per low-income unit or $20,000 per moderate-income unit. That subsidy floor is well above the $10,000 minimum still printed at section 25-211.10. The general 40-year control period that section 25-2000.16b sets for restricted rental units does not displace the accessory apartment specific 10-year rule. Ocean City's separate seasonal rental provisions at section 4-33 deal with bonding after substantiated disorderly conduct complaints, and section 3-4 is a transient accommodations tax; neither singles out accessory apartments.