ADU rules in Ship Bottom

Ship Bottom's Land Development Code allows no accessory dwelling on a house lot: the definition of an accessory building says a detached one "shall not be used as a dwelling or bedroom unless specifically permitted in Chapter 16.16 or Chapter 16.56", and neither the Environmentally Critical district chapter nor the conditional-use chapter names one (§ 16.08.020; §§ 16.16.010, 16.56.010). No more than one principal dwelling or principal building is allowed on a lot (§§ 16.12.040, 16.52.100), the residential accessory-use lists stop at pools, sheds of 150 square feet in total, boats, garages, fences, home occupations, signs and satellite dishes (§ 16.24.010B and its R-2, R-3, OR and MFR twins), and every use not expressly permitted is prohibited (§ 16.12.050). The Land Use Review Board reads the definition literally: keeping an existing rear cottage with a bedroom and bathroom at 123 East 21st Street (R-3) took a d(1) use variance because the use "is not permitted per the definition of an accessory structure" (Res. 2021-11, memorialized 12-15-2021). Older two-dwelling lots survive only as nonconforming uses, and the current pattern is consolidation, such as the October 2026 application to replace two one-story dwellings on a 30-foot lot at 104 East 17th Street with one elevated house (Docket 2026:12).

There is no attached, internal or basement accessory unit provision either. An accessory building attached to a house "shall be considered part of the principal building" (§§ 16.08.020, 16.52.010A), so a second unit with its own kitchen makes the house a two-family dwelling ("two housekeeping units living independently of each other, each with its own cooking and sanitary facilities", § 16.08.020), and two-family dwellings are a permitted principal use only in the R-3 Single- and Two-Family district and the MFR district (§§ 16.32.010A.1, 16.40.010A.2), on lots of 8,000 square feet with 80 feet of frontage and 900 square feet of first-floor area per unit. That is a duplex rather than an ADU, so the directory records no; R-1 and R-2 permit only detached single-family dwellings as housing (OR adds a house shared with a shop or office), a second unit there takes a d(1) use variance, and existing up-down duplexes in those districts are nonconforming uses that cannot be enlarged without d relief (§ 16.52.070B.3; on 8-18-2026 the Board allowed a first-floor addition to a two-unit condominium at 204 West 12th Street in R-1, conditioned on a deed restriction against an added bedroom). An apartment under a raised house is ruled out as well: no residence may have more than two livable stories and the area below the joist level is for parking or storage (§ 16.08.020, Story), and enclosures below the lowest floor may hold only parking, building access or storage, with a recorded deed restriction against habitation when taller than six feet (§ 16.68.78A.5, B.5).

With no ADU provision there is no ADU size cap. Accessory buildings may be at most 15 feet high, nothing taller than four feet may stand in the rear setback of a bay-front or lagoon-front lot (§ 16.52.010D), they go only in side and rear yards five feet from side and rear lines and from other buildings (§ 16.52.010E and the district tables), and residential sheds may not exceed 150 square feet in total or 15 feet in height (§ 16.24.010B.2 and its twins). Buildings may cover 35 percent of a residential lot and all impervious surfaces 75 percent, houses are capped at 32 feet and 2.5 stories, and on a nonconforming lot under 40 feet wide no building may exceed one habitable story or 24 feet (§§ 16.24.010C, D, 16.52.070A.4), which the Board's engineer treats as needing d relief (Bonner review letter, 10-12-2026). The two-family dwelling permitted in R-3 and MFR needs 8,000 square feet of lot area with 80 feet of frontage and width and 100 feet of depth (§ 16.40.010D; eCode360's R-3 table prints "80,000 square feet", see caveats) and 900 square feet of first-floor area per unit (§§ 16.32.010G, 16.40.010H.1). The upper-floor "accessory apartment units" allowed in commercial mixed-use buildings must meet the apartment minimums of 500 square feet of net habitable floor area for an efficiency, 600 for one bedroom and 750 for two (§ 16.64.010F, through §§ 16.44.010I, 16.48.010I).

Not applicable, because Ship Bottom allows no ADU of any form. Title 16 sets no owner-occupancy condition on any dwelling, including the two-family dwellings allowed in R-3 and MFR; the only owner-occupancy distinction in the code is the liability insurance minimum, $300,000 for a multifamily home of four or fewer units with one unit owner-occupied against $500,000 for other rental owners, with the certificate filed with the Borough Clerk every year (§§ 5.66.020, 5.66.030). The short-term rental ordinance introduced 11-25-2025 (Ord. 2025-09C) would have licensed short-term rental of both units of a two-family dwelling only where the owner lived in one of them, but the council tabled it 4 to 3 on 12-19-2025 (the mayor breaking a tie), which the borough attorney said "would effectively reject it". New Jersey has no ADU statute that imposes or preempts an owner-occupancy rule.

Single-family houses in every residential district, and each unit of a two-family dwelling in R-3 and MFR, must provide two off-street spaces per dwelling unit (§§ 16.24.010E.1, 16.32.010E.1, 16.40.010F.1); two spaces assigned to one unit may be stacked (§ 16.52.080E.3), and a house or duplex lot gets one curb cut per frontage, 12 feet wide or 20 feet for a two-car garage (§ 16.52.080C.1). The state Residential Site Improvement Standards govern parking in connection with "any other residential development approval" and are "the maximum that may be required" (N.J.A.C. 5:21-1.5(a), (b)); Table 4.4 sets maximums of 1.5 spaces for two bedrooms up to 3.0 for five and applies the single-family values to each unit of a duplex (5:21-4.14(c)), so a two-bedroom unit is held to 2 locally against a state maximum of 1.5. The commercial upper-floor accessory apartments need one space for an efficiency or one bedroom and two for two or more bedrooms in SC (§ 16.44.010F.6), while the GC text reads "one parking space for every two or more bedroom units" (§ 16.48.010F.6), which the Land Use Review Board on 3-17-2026 asked the council to raise to two spaces for up to three bedrooms and three for four or more; no ordinance had been introduced through 10-27-2026.

Not applicable: no ADU of any form is a permitted or conditional use. The only route to a habitable accessory building, or to a second dwelling on a house lot outside R-3 and MFR, is a d(1) use variance from the nine-member Land Use Review Board, which holds the zoning board's powers and may grant it only by at least five affirmative votes with the mayor (Class I) and the council member (Class III) excluded (§§ 16.76.010, 16.76.020L); the application is incomplete without the use-variance checklist of a traffic impact study, a signed planner's report with a community impact analysis, a geotechnical report and photographs (§ 16.76.060, Ord. No. 2024-03), the fees are $625 plus a $2,000 escrow (§ 16.84.010A.5d), and any approval may be appealed to the governing body within 10 days of publication (§ 16.76.030G). A conforming two-family dwelling in R-3 or MFR is ministerial: a zoning permit from the Zoning Officer, approved or denied within 10 business days ($150 for new structures), then a construction permit and certificate of occupancy (§ 16.88.030C.5, D; § 16.84.010A.15c; § 15.06.010).

Ship Bottom's rental rules sit in Title 5, not zoning. Chapter 5.44 Article II (Ord. 2022-21, 12-27-2022), titled "Short-Term and Private Event Rentals", sets no license or minimum stay: it prohibits renting or using a residential property "or segment thereof" for commercial purposes such as weddings, banquets and pool parties, bans renting "any amenity, feature, accessory, or appurtenance" separately, requires that a lease be "for the possession and use of the entire residential property for residential purposes", caps occupancy at the figure the Code Enforcement Official calculates, and makes advertising a noncompliant rental (Airbnb and VRBO are named) a violation (§§ 5.44.050, 5.44.060). Article I lets a hearing officer require the landlord of a seasonal rental (any term under a year that includes part of May 15 to September 15) to post a $500 to $5,000 bond, held four years, after three substantiated disorderly-conduct convictions in a year (§§ 5.44.010, 5.44.020). Every rental owner files a certificate of liability insurance with the Clerk each year (§§ 5.66.020, 5.66.030), pre-1978 rental units need a lead-safe certification at tenant turnover or every three years unless rented seasonally for under six months a year (§ 8.66.020), and the 3 percent occupancy tax reaches hotel rooms only (§ 5.64.020). The council dropped a full short-term rental licensing scheme (Ord. 2025-09C: stays of 30 days or less, at most 180 days a year, $925 in first-year fees, rental certificates of occupancy) by tabling it on 12-19-2025, and denied a 3 percent transient accommodation tax (Ord. 2025-10C) 5 to 1 on 12-30-2025; no replacement had been introduced through 10-27-2026.