East Brunswick, NJ Building Setbacks & Zoning: Setback Rules (2026)

East Brunswick Township sets yard setbacks zone by zone inside Chapter 228, Zoning, not in one townwide table. In the R-1 Single Family Rural Residence District, § 228-12 prints a minimum front yard setback of fifty (50) feet for principal and accessory structures, a minimum rear yard setback of forty (40) feet, and a side yard setback of 20 feet on one side with fifty (50) feet across two sides. Accessory buildings carry their own minimum of 20 feet from a side or rear line, and maximum building height is thirty-five (35) feet. The same section prints a density of one dwelling unit per acre, a minimum lot width of one hundred fifty (150) feet, one acre of minimum lot area (the code prints 47,000 for corner lots) and building coverage of twenty-five percent.

The numbers shrink as the residential districts get denser. Section 228-21 for the R-2 Single Family Suburban Residence District prints a forty (40) foot front yard, 20 feet on one side and forty (40) feet across two sides, a forty (40) foot rear yard and a fifteen (15) foot accessory building side or rear setback. Section 228-30 for the R-3 Single Family Residence District prints a rule that no principal or accessory building can be closer than thirty five (35) feet to the street line, including both streets of a corner lot, plus 10 feet on one side and twenty-five (25) feet across two sides, a 20 foot rear yard and a 10 foot accessory building setback.

Two add-ons for residential property sit outside the district sections. Section 228-224H lets a single family dwelling outside the Historic District zones build a front porch or deck that extends no more than eight feet from the front wall and in no event comes closer than fifteen feet to the front property line, without a variance. In the Historic District Residential Zone porches extend no more than five feet. Section 228-222E sets all impervious surfaces back five feet from all property lines, or two feet on the side yard of an undersized lot under one acre.