Two towns, nine rules, side by side

Clinton Township

Allowed by right

Chickens/poultry are allowed as part of "agricultural uses" in R Residence Districts (farms, orchards, raising of livestock), subject to numeric limits: fowl/livestock may not be housed closer than 50 feet to any property line, and more than 100 fowl (or 2 head of livestock) may not be housed closer than 100 feet to any property line. Poultry count toward an "animal unit" allowance of 50 birds = 1 animal unit; 0.5 animal unit is permitted per acre, plus 1 additional animal unit per additional acre. Hogs are prohibited on parcels of five acres or less; no separate rooster restriction is stated.

§ 165-134 (Permitted principal uses, R Residence Districts), Subsec. C

Lambertville City

Permit required

Short-term rentals (adopted 2023, amended 2024) require a City permit and are restricted to specific ownership structures: individually/collectively owner-occupied single-family homes, one unit of an owner-occupied two-family home (with the other unit also short-term-rentable), or association units where governing documents allow it and the unit is the owner's principal residence. A non-owner-occupied STR may continue only if it was already registered as of the ordinance's adoption date and meets ongoing conditions (responsible party on call, compliance with the rest of the chapter). Rooming houses, dorms, assisted living, nursing homes, and similar institutional housing may not operate as STRs. Tenants cannot sublease as an STR.

§ 5-11.1, § 5-11.2

Lambertville City

No local rule

No local rule found in code.

There is no tree-removal permit for an ordinary homeowner cutting a tree on an existing lot. Lambertville's tree rules sit inside the zoning ordinance's landscaping article, and that article's applicability clause limits it to new development and substantial expansion/renovation. Within that development context the standards do bite: existing trees retained "to the greatest feasible extent," and "specimen trees in excess of 24 inches in diameter, measured 4 1/2 feet above grade, shall not be removed unless diseased or a hazard to the general public." Separately, and regardless of development status, private individuals may not remove trees from public rights-of-way, parks, or public areas without approval from the Administrative Officer.

§ Z-510.1 (Applicability); § Z-510.13A(1), A(8), A(9)

Clinton Township

Permit at 4 trees an acre per 5 years

A permit from the Zoning Officer is required to remove any street tree with DBH ≥2.5 inches, or any other private tree with DBH ≥6 inches; replacement trees or a fee ($250-$1,000 depending on size category) are required unless exempt. Residents removing fewer than four qualifying trees per acre in a rolling 5-year period are exempt, as are hazard trees, tree farms/nurseries/orchards, and land under an active forest stewardship plan.

§§ 259-3, 259-4

Clinton Township

15 days

Inoperable/unlicensed vehicles may not be left on public property (24-hour emergency exception) or on private property for more than 15 days (consecutive or not); exempt if inside a garage/building or on a licensed dealer's lot. Separately, off-road vehicles (minibikes, ATVs, dune buggies, snowmobiles, unlicensed motorcycles, etc.) must be registered with the Township Police ($3 fee) before use and may not be operated on others' property without written permission, on streets/sidewalks (unless dismounted), or with non-factory mufflers.

§§ 264-2, 264-3; §§ 267-4, 267-5

Lambertville City

No permit required

Garage sales "held on premises devoted to residential use" are explicitly exempted from the itinerant-vendor license requirement, meaning no permit is needed for an ordinary residential yard sale.

§ 5-5.2f

Clinton Township

No permit required

No permit is required for a garage/yard sale itself, but the accompanying temporary sign is capped: one sign per parcel, ≤4 sq ft / ≤3 ft tall, set back ≥5 ft from any lot line, and displayed no longer than 3 days, twice a year, which functions as a de facto frequency/duration cap on the sale.

§ 165-109L(12)

Lambertville City

License required

Lambertville licenses "itinerant vendors" (temporary/transient sellers operating under 6 months/year) rather than a separate door-to-door "solicitor" category; a license or exemption permit is required before conducting such business in the City. Exemptions include wholesale trade shows, sales by sample/catalog for future delivery, nonprofit-sponsored sales/fairs/auctions, garage sales on residential premises, handmade-craft sales from one's own residence, and sales made by invitation of the resident.

§ 5-5.1, § 5-5.2, § 5-5.3

Clinton Township

License required

A license is required for peddling/soliciting/canvassing (nonprofits, political speech, and noncommercial handbilling are exempt). The Township maintains a "Do-Not-Solicit Registry" kept by the Township Clerk and distributed to every licensee; soliciting at a registered address is a chapter violation and grounds for license revocation.

§§ 204-3, 204-4, 204-9 (Do-Not-Solicit Registry, exact subsection number not shown on rendered page, registry provisions run roughly §§ 204-9 through 204-13 per section text)

Lambertville City

Swimming pools require a building permit and must follow NJ Uniform Construction Code standards; a private pool area must be fenced 4-6 ft high with no gaps that would allow entry. General fences/walls are capped at 3 ft in front yards and 6 ft in side/rear yards, with named exceptions: dog runs up to 7 ft (rear yard, 5-ft setback), deer-protection wire fences up to 8 ft in R-C/R-L districts, and tennis-court enclosures up to 12 ft. Accessory buildings must sit at least 5 ft from any other building or property line and can't be built before the principal building.

§ Z-518, § Z-507.1-.2, § Z-501.2, § Z-501.4

Clinton Township

Storage sheds ≤200 sq ft / ≤10 ft eave height need only a zoning permit (with reduced 10-ft side/rear setback, 6 ft in SR/VR zones); sheds over 100 sq ft also need a construction permit. One shed per residential lot; additional accessory buildings must meet standard accessory-building rules (max height 16 ft residential; side/rear setback 10/20/30 ft depending on lot size under/1-3/over 3 acres). Fences: 4 ft max in front yard (2 ft off the property line), up to 6 ft in front yard if the zone's front setback is ≥50 ft, and up to 7 ft in side/rear yards; a zoning permit is required for any fence, plus a building permit if over 6 ft. No local swimming-pool barrier ordinance was found (governed by the NJ Uniform Construction Code).

§§ 165-97, 165-103, 165-117.1

Lambertville City

Home occupations split into two tiers. Minor (zoning permit only): confined indoors, capped at 50% of first floor/basement or 250 sq ft (whichever is less), no visible product display or signage, max 2 clients on premises at a time, no non-resident employees, no added parking, hours limited roughly 8:00/9:00 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Major (needs a Planning Board conditional-use permit): same indoor/no-display/no-sign rules but a larger 450-sq-ft cap; specific employee/client limits for major occupations continue beyond what was reviewed here.

§ Z-520.1, § Z-520.2

Clinton Township

Two categories of accessory home business are permitted by right in R Residence Districts: (1) a professional office/studio (doctor, dentist, teacher, artist, lawyer, architect, engineer, etc.) for a resident professional, capped at 1 non-resident employee and the lesser of 1/3 of one floor or 500 sq ft; and (2) "customary home occupations" (family day care, millinery, dressmaking, cabinetmaking, handicraft, small-appliance/radio/TV repair, excluding motor vehicle repair), capped at the same 1/3-floor-or-500-sq-ft limit, with signage capped at 2 sq ft and no street-visible advertising display.

§ 165-135 (Permitted accessory uses, R Residence Districts), Subsecs. H-I

Lambertville City

Accessory apartments are permitted only in the Central Business District, only as income-restricted low/moderate-income affordable units (per COAH/NJ affordable-housing rules), deed-restricted for at least 10 years, one per lot, barred from basements/cellars, and capped at 50% of the first floor if placed there. There's no general market-rate ADU allowance.

§ Z-406.14

Clinton Township

Accessory apartments are permitted only under a narrow affordable-housing set-aside program, not as a general ADU right: capped at 10 township-wide, must be occupied by a COAH-income-qualified household (and either the occupant or the host household must be a senior 62+), one apartment per improved residential lot, 400 sq ft minimum / 1,000 sq ft maximum, max 3 bedrooms, min 2 rooms including a full bath, separate egress, and Board of Health approval of the septic system serving it.

§ 165-114 (Standards for accessory apartments for lower income households in R-Residential Districts)