ADU rules in Seaside Park

Seaside Park's Development Regulations (Chapter 200) have no accessory dwelling unit category, and a backyard cottage or garage apartment cannot qualify as an accessory building: every use list is exclusive ('All uses not expressly permitted in this chapter are prohibited,' § 200-65), the Residential Zone that covers nearly all of the original borough permits only 'Detached single-family dwellings' and public uses, and it allows garages and sheds only 'with specific prohibition against the use of accessory buildings, boats or recreation vehicles, or the construction of new accessory buildings for residential purposes' (§ 200-67B and C(1)), a ban the Business Zone repeats (§ 200-68C(2)). A second dwelling in its own building is also a second principal building, and 'No more than one principal building shall be permitted on one lot' (§ 200-50, as amended 7-28-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-12), so it needs a use variance for 'a use or principal structure in a district restricted against such use or principal structure' (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d)(1)). The districts adopted in 2026 for annexed South Seaside Park permit dwellings 'together with their accessory structures' but no accessory dwelling, and the R-50 and R-31.5 zones incorporate all of § 200-67 (§ 200-67.1(c), Ord. No. 2026-24). Travel trailers, campers and other recreational vehicles may not be used 'for dwelling purposes' (§ 200-59), which rules out a tiny house on wheels.

No zone has an in-law or accessory unit inside or attached to a house: Chapter 200 defines a single-family dwelling as 'A detached building containing one dwelling unit' and says an accessory building 'may not be attached to the principal dwelling' (§ 200-3), so a second kitchen-equipped unit makes the house a two-family dwelling, which the Residential Zone does not permit. Two-family dwellings are a permitted principal use only in the Business Zone, on lots fronting Central Avenue between 1st and 9th Avenues (§ 200-68B(2), E(1) and E(5); 5,000 sq ft lots, and 'For every 2,500 square feet of lot area, one unit or permitted use is allowed,' § 200-68F), where a mixed-use building may also hold one apartment above the first floor (§ 200-68B(4)), and in annexed South Seaside Park's R-4FS and R-TH zones, which permit 'One-, two-, three- and four-family dwellings' with 5,000 sq ft and 50 feet of frontage for a two-family (Ords. No. 2026-15 and 2026-17, adopted 3-30-2026, uncodified). That is a duplex, not an ADU. The only 'accessory dwelling units' text is DCA's model definition in the Fourth Round affordable housing ordinance (Ord. No. 2026-09, 3-5-2026), which grants no zoning right and backs no program. Elevated houses cannot gain a ground-level apartment either: enclosed space below the lowest floor is usable 'solely for the parking of vehicles, building access or storage' (§ 200-42O(5)), and breakaway-wall enclosures in coastal zones may not be used 'for human habitation' (§ 200-42Q(2)(e)[3]).

Chapter 200 sets no ADU size because it allows none; the binding envelope on a residential lot is the Residential Zone bulk table. A detached garage may not exceed 16 feet or 576 square feet and a shed 10 feet or 100 square feet, one of each per lot, in the rear yard, five feet from side and rear lines and eight feet from any other building (§§ 200-67C(1)(a) to (e), 200-32A to C). The house is limited by building coverage of 'Lot area square feet x 0.4' including the garage and shed, a gross floor area of 'Lot area square feet x 0.9', 60% lot coverage and three stories (§ 200-67E(4) to (6) and (8)); height is lot area divided by 250 plus 15 feet, capped at 35 feet on lots of 5,000 sq ft or more, or, where the flood elevation plus freeboard sits more than three feet above the curb, lot area times 0.0032 plus 16 feet measured from the flood elevation plus one foot, capped at 32 feet (§ 200-67E(7), as amended 6-18-2026 by Ord. No. 2026-23, which cut that freeboard from two feet to one). The minimum lot is 5,000 sq ft and 50 feet wide, though lots of 2,500 to 5,000 sq ft that existed when the chapter took effect may still be built on (§ 200-67E(1)). In annexed South Seaside Park the R-4FS and R-TH charts allow 35% lot coverage and 35 feet, and lane-fronting Midway Beach cottages in the BR zone may not raise dwelling space above 14 feet or add second-story living space (Ord. No. 2026-11).

Seaside Park authorizes no ADU, so there is no accessory-unit owner-occupancy rule, and nothing in Chapter 200 conditions a house or a two-family dwelling on the owner living there. Owner residence matters only for rental insurance: a rental owner must register a $500,000 liability insurance certificate each January 1, except that the owner of a 'multifamily home containing four or fewer units, one of which is owner-occupied' needs $300,000 (§ 364-19B and C, added 12-28-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-18), and every rented unit needs a rental permit whether or not the owner lives on the lot (§ 364-1A). The one occupancy covenant in the zoning chapter runs the other way: an owner who converts a preexisting nonconforming two- or multifamily dwelling in the Residential Zone to a single-family home records a deed restriction confirming the property 'is used as a single-family residential dwelling' (§ 200-46C(1)(a), Ord. No. 1659).

§ 200-67E(9) requires 'Four or less bedrooms: two parking spaces' and 'Five bedrooms or more: three parking spaces,' each 9 by 18 feet, allows 'Only one curb cut per building lot,' and counts each garage space as one space; § 200-68H(1) makes one- and two-family dwellings in the Business Zone 'Same as Residential Zone,' and § 200-48B lets a residential unit's second space block its first but never another unit's. The Residential Site Improvement Standards govern any residential development approval and are 'the maximum that may be required in connection with residential development' (N.J.A.C. 5:21-1.5(a) and (b)); Table 4.4 sets 1.5 spaces for a two-bedroom house, 2.0 for three, 2.5 for four (also the default when bedrooms are not stated) and 3.0 for five, applies those values 'to each unit' of a two-family dwelling, and lets the approving authority credit available on-street spaces (N.J.A.C. 5:21-4.14(b), (c) and (f)). The local two-space rule therefore binds only up to 1.5 spaces for a two-bedroom unit and matches or undercuts RSIS otherwise. In annexed South Seaside Park each R-TH townhouse needs two spaces (Ord. No. 2026-17), and the Block 91 inclusionary overlay follows RSIS, which it calls 'the minimum standards for the Borough' (§ 200-69d.4, Ord. No. 2026-08).

No zone lists an accessory dwelling as a permitted or conditional use, and a conditional use 'must be specifically listed as a conditional use within the zone' (§ 200-66.1C), so there is no ADU permit path. Where a second unit is lawful as a two-family dwelling (Business, R-4FS and R-TH zones), it needs a zoning permit from the Zoning Officer, who must act 'within 10 business days' (§ 200-14A and C; $200 for new construction under § 225-9A(2)), construction and flood permits and a certificate of occupancy, but no site plan, since 'Construction or expansion of a single- or two-family dwelling and their accessory uses' is site-plan exempt (§ 200-3); a 1.5% development fee is also due 'when an additional dwelling unit is added to an existing residential structure' (Ord. No. 2026-09). Anything else (a second house or a garage apartment on a lot, or a duplex in the Residential Zone) needs a use variance from the Planning Board, which holds all powers of the dissolved Zoning Board of Adjustment with its Class I and Class III members barred from use-variance votes (§ 200-15H(6) and J), and the statute allows one 'only by affirmative vote of at least five members' (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70(d)); a variance lapses if no building permit is obtained within two years of the memorializing resolution (§ 200-16D). The Board's 2026 record runs against added units: it approved splitting a lot holding two houses at 311 and 315 N Street partly because the plan 'eliminates a pre-existing non-conforming two family use' (PB 2026-03, memorialized 5-18-2026).

Chapter 364 requires a rental permit for all dwelling units 'leased or rented for living or sleeping purposes, regardless of the term,' with separate summer seasonal (April 15 to October 15) and annual permits, and 'No tenant shall occupy any dwelling unit until a rental permit has been issued' (§ 364-1A). Fees are $125 per unit when inspected by May 1 (seasonal) or March 1 (annual), rising to $175 and then $225 after later deadlines (§§ 364-2B, 364-3B, as amended 3-6-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-04); inspections apply the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code (§ 350-3), seasonal rentals may add 'no more than two additional occupants by use of a sofa bed in the living room' (§ 364-2D(1)), the permit is posted visibly with each unit's maximum occupancy (§ 364-6A), and violations draw fines of $500 to $2,000 (§ 364-10, as amended 9-4-2025 by Ord. No. 2025-22). A property with two or more rental units also needs an annual Category 8 mercantile license, $125 plus $15 per rented unit, covering units 'rented to tenants for any term of lease' (§ 303-5(8), Ord. No. 2021-25); rental owners must register a $500,000 liability insurance certificate by January 1 ($300,000 for an owner-occupied home of four or fewer units, § 364-19), complete lead-based paint inspections of pre-1978 units (Art. IV), post the alcohol and noise rules inside the front door and name a 24-hour contact (§ 364-17), and can be made to post a $500 to $5,000 bond after two disorderly-conduct convictions in 12 months (§ 364-14B). The code has no short-term rental license, minimum stay or ban: quoted searches of the code, New Laws and public documents return zero hits for 'short-term rental(s)', 'short term rental', 'airbnb', 'minimum stay' and 'weekly rental', and the borough's 2026 notice to annexed South Seaside Park says 'All rental properties must be inspected annually, regardless of tenant changes.'