Bergenfield, NJ Accessory Structures: Shed & Carport Rules (2026)

Chapter 186's general zoning regulations set the framework for backyard sheds, garages and other detached accessory buildings. Section 186-40D fixes a hard ceiling: in every residential zone, an accessory building's height can never exceed the height of the principal dwelling on the lot, and no accessory building may contain a dwelling unit. Section 186-40E requires a detached accessory building to sit behind the front building line of the primary house, and if any part of it falls within a side yard, it must still meet the schedule's side yard requirement for that zone.

Ordinarily, side and rear yard setbacks for the principal building would apply to accessory structures too, but § 186-43B carves out a specific exception for a shed or garage placed at the rear of the lot: as long as it extends no closer to the street than the rear wall of the principal building, its side or rear setback can shrink to as little as three feet, rather than the larger residential-zone standard. That reduced three-foot setback is still subject to § 186-40G's separate rules for corner and through lots, which can require both intersecting street frontages to be treated as front yards.

Because Chapter 186 folds zoning and building rules into one ordinance, a shed that clears these limits is still built at the applicant's own cost and remains subject to a zoning permit and, once it crosses the thresholds set in the Uniform Construction Code, a construction permit as well.