Opinion ID: 2263467
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Bedroom restrictions

Text: The effect of zoning against multifamily dwellings is magnified by restrictions upon the number of bedrooms which may be included in each dwelling unit. In the Department of Community Affairs study area [9] 59% of the already limited area of land zoned for multifamily dwellings is restricted to one-bedroom or efficiency apartments. On only 20.4% of this land is construction of apartments of three or more bedrooms permitted. In addition, in many areas where some construction of larger apartments is permitted, they are limited to a small percentage of any individual development. The Residential Land Supply, supra at 11. In the North Jersey outer-ring counties, 78% of the land zoned for multi-family housing is burdened with bedroom restrictions. In the South Jersey outer-ring counties, 83% of the land zoned for multifamily housing is so restricted. The situation is particularly acute in Burlington County, where 95.8% of the land zoned for multifamily housing has bedroom restrictions. The Department of Community Affairs concluded from these figures that:    [I]n general, the multi-family zoned land is geared to accommodate the housing needs of single people, married couples without children, and retired people, and not geared to the housing needs of the large part of the population living as families with children. [ The Residential Land Supply, supra at 12; footnote omitted].