Monroe Township (Gloucester County), NJ Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Section 175-146 of the Monroe Township Code governs single-family attached dwelling units in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. Its Subsection F schedule of limitations sets the standards a townhouse project has to meet: structure height of 35 feet, maximum site coverage of 40%, and a minimum width of 18 feet for each unit. Subsection G then requires a minimum of 25% of the gross tract acreage as common open space and a minimum of 55% total open space, and it caps freshwater wetlands and water areas at no more than 35% of the common open space. The Planning Board reviews and approves the open space and has to make detailed findings on it.

Coverage is measured with two definitions in § 175-11. Site coverage is the percentage of the gross site area covered by roads, paving, structures or other impervious coverage. Lot coverage is the area of a lot covered by buildings, structures, paved surfaces and compacted stone. Paved surfaces include sidewalks, patios and decks, whether built of blacktop, flagstone, brick, concrete or wood, but permeable pavement is excluded, and the water surface of a swimming pool counts too.

Several neighboring rules shape how a project spends its coverage. The same section spaces townhouse buildings at 70 feet front or rear wall to front or rear wall, 50 feet rear wall to rear wall, 20 feet from any building wall to a street, curb or paved parking area, and 50 feet from any building wall to the perimeter lot line. A perimeter buffer of at least 30 feet runs along all external boundaries of the project site. Under § 175-89, the total combined square footage of accessory buildings on a lot cannot exceed the square footage of the principal building. Under § 175-117.1, the Engineer can allow an in-ground swimming pool to exceed the permissible percentage of lot coverage during lot grading review if it will not have an adverse effect on adjacent lots; that language was added 5-24-2021 by Ord. No. O:11-2021. The 40% figure above is the coverage percentage printed in the code text itself, while § 175-117.1 refers to a permissible percentage without stating one.