ADU rules in Wildwood

Wildwood allows an accessory apartment only inside an existing single-family house. Section 17-503A permits the additional unit to be created "by the addition of an accessory apartment within a single-family dwelling," and each residential district lists the use as "Accessory apartment units within detached single-family dwellings, subject to § 17-503." Nothing in Chapter 17 permits a dwelling unit in a separate backyard building: section 17-201 defines an accessory building, structure or use as "nonhabitable unless specifically permitted under this chapter," and the residential districts cap all accessory structures at a 450 square foot garage plus 150 square feet of storage shed, one story and 14 feet tall. A detached ADU would need a use variance from the Planning Board.

One additional dwelling unit may be created as an accessory apartment inside a single-family dwelling in any of Wildwood's four residential zoning districts: R-1 Low Density Residential, R-2 Moderate Density Residential, RM Residential Multifamily, and WR Waterfront Residential. Each of the four lists "Accessory apartment units within detached single-family dwellings, subject to § 17-503 and the bulk requirements below and herein" among its permitted accessory buildings and uses. Read section 17-503A's district list with care: it still names R-3, WR-1 and MC-R, but those districts no longer exist. Section 17-401, as amended 3-22-2023 by Ord. No. 1254-23, establishes only R-1, R-2, RM and WR as residential districts, and the Zoning Map adopted the same day carries only those four in its legend. Section 17-201 defines the unit as "a single additional dwelling unit within a single-family detached dwelling which shall contain at least two rooms and have sanitary and cooking facilities for the exclusive use of its occupant."

Section 17-503E caps the accessory apartment at 25% of the dwelling's net habitable floor area and sets a 500 square foot minimum; 17-503F requires at least two rooms with sanitary facilities, cooking facilities, and a kitchen sink for the exclusive use of its occupants. For enlargements of an existing dwelling, 17-503H repeats that the apartment shall be no more than 25% of the net habitable floor area of the existing building. The 17-201 definition restates both the 25% cap and the 500 square foot minimum.

Nothing in Wildwood's accessory apartment rules requires the owner to live in either unit. The full text of section 17-503 (subsections A through H), the section 17-201 definitions, and the accessory-use listings in all four residential districts were read and contain no owner occupancy condition, and Chapter 22's rental licensing regime imposes none either. This is a verified absence rather than an affirmative statement in the code, so confirm with the Zoning Officer before relying on it for a purchase.

Section 17-503C requires off-street parking "in accordance with § 17-608B(2)," but as codified 17-608B(2) contains parking area design standards (driveway, turning area, and aisle dimension requirements), not a space count. The numeric requirement for accessory apartments appears in the Schedule of Off-Street Parking and Loading Spaces at 17-608A.4.a: 1-bedroom 1.0, 2-bedroom 1.5, 3-bedroom 2.0 spaces per dwelling unit. Section 17-608 was adopted 1-23-2019 by Ord. No. 1128-18 and amended 8-23-2023 by Ord. No. 1268-23, which may explain the stale cross-reference. Note that the principal single-family dwelling's own parking is set separately by the New Jersey Residential Site Improvement Standards (N.J.A.C. 5:21), not by this schedule.

Which approval you need depends on whether the house has to grow. All four residential districts list accessory apartment units among their permitted accessory buildings and uses rather than among their conditional uses, so an apartment carved out of the existing single-family house is treated as an accessory use that must meet the section 17-503 standards. Section 17-503H adds a conditional use step for the other case: "Before a construction permit or certificate of occupancy shall be issued for any creation of an apartment involving the enlargement of an existing dwelling, application shall be made to the Planning Board for a conditional use as permitted by this chapter," and that review includes any required site plan review. Treat the Planning Board route as the default in practice: section 17-503 is codified inside "Section 500. Conditional Uses and Supplemental Regulations," and the City's own adopted Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan describes accessory dwelling units as permitted on a lot "which meets all the conditional requirements of the ordinance." Ask Wildwood's Zoning Officer which track applies before assuming an interior conversion avoids a Planning Board hearing.

Section 17-503 itself is silent on renting the accessory apartment. Chapter 22, repealed and replaced in its entirety 1-13-2021 by Ord. No. 1185-20, requires an annual Rental Permit per individual rental unit (§ 22-4), passing inspection before issuance (§ 22-4e, § 22-5), prohibits occupancy or leasing of unlicensed units (§ 22-12), and includes complaint, revocation, and landlord bond provisions (§ 22-22 through § 22-29). Its definitions cover SHORT TERM RENTAL and SEASONAL RENTAL as described; no clause was found banning short term rental of an accessory apartment specifically. The City's Rental Housing Mercantile License Application makes the practical default explicit: without twelve-month leases attached, "the property will be considered a seasonally rented property."