Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ Outdoor Cooking: Outdoor Kitchen Permits (2026)

Section 430-40 of the R-R Residential District article lists the accessory uses allowed alongside a single-family house: private garages and carports, private swimming pools and tennis courts, outdoor barbecue structures and storage sheds, domestic pet animal enclosures, and private stables on plots of not less than five acres. The R-1 article, in § 430-49A, adopts the § 430-40 list subject to the terms and conditions set forth there. The section also says the term "accessory" shall not include a business, nor any building or unit not located on the same lot with the principal building. Section 430-8 defines an accessory use or building as a subordinate use or building whose purpose is incidental to that of the main use or building and on the same lot.

Placement follows the accessory building rules in § 430-13. No accessory building can be placed in a required yard except as that section specifies. Where a lot has side yards wider than required, the side-yard exception keeps any accessory building at least six feet from the main building or another accessory building. No accessory building in a residential or business zone can exceed 15 feet or 1 1/2 stories, whichever is less, and no building permit for an accessory building is issued in a residential zone until a permit for the dwelling has been issued and construction started. On a corner lot no accessory building goes in the required front yard, and one attached to the main building is treated as part of the main building. A storage shed beside the cooking area must sit no closer than six feet to the side or rear lot line under § 430-10C.

Section 430-295 requires a zoning permit signed by the Administrative Officer before a building or structure is erected. Its fee schedule charges $50 for a residential deck, patio, pool, shed, fence, wall or driveway and $50 for miscellaneous items including a hot tub or walkway.

Fire rules apply on top of zoning. Under § 169-14, in buildings of Use Groups R-1 and R-2 and in multiple single-family dwellings in Use Group R-3, barbecue grills shall not be used on any porch, balcony or other portion of a building, in any room or space of a building, or within five feet vertically or horizontally of any opening, and portable gas grills shall not be stored inside any building or structure.