{"id":17715,"date":"2025-07-14T07:06:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T11:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/?p=17715"},"modified":"2025-07-14T07:06:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T11:06:25","slug":"lavallette-clears-up-building-code-rooftop-decks-access-prohibited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/2025\/07\/lavallette-clears-up-building-code-rooftop-decks-access-prohibited\/","title":{"rendered":"Lavallette Clears Up Building Code: Rooftop Decks, Access Prohibited"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lavallette<\/a>

Lavallette Borough Hall (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Lavallette officials last week adopted new regulations to clarify the borough\u2019s building code, formally prohibiting rooftop decks and access above the second story of new homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve basically always had it,\u201d explained Councilwoman Joanne Filippone, however the code needed clarification based on some recent planning board applications. \u201cOur current ordinance states that there be no development above the second level, and so does this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the new ordinance, which passed unanimously, no development can occur above the second floor of a residential home, including rooftop decks, bell towers, lighthouse-style \u201crooms\u201d and widow\u2019s walks. Beyond the baseline prohibition, no features will be allowed that enable access to the roof, or anything above the second floor, in order to prevent such accessories to evolve into rooftop decks or similar.<\/p>\n

Lavallette\u2019s building code restricts building height to 30 feet in the borough\u2019s three residential zones, with all requiring no more than two floors, over each other, of living area. The code also allows for a \u201chalf story\u201d above the two floors, but it cannot be habitable and can only be used as storage space or to house mechanical equipment, such as heat or air conditioning. This usually comes in the form of a gable or gambrel-style roof.<\/p>\n

The primary issue that needed clarification was the inclusion of rooftop decks, which were never intended to be allowed under the code.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a couple in town that were approved by a former zoning officer, but we don\u2019t want third-story decks,\u201d said Filippone.<\/p>\n

The borough also saw another application come before the planning board that sought permission to include what was described as a \u201clight tower\u201d structure atop the home. It was approved with modifications, however officials believed the code should be updated to better reflect the intent of the governing body.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re concerned that the second floor ceiling could be extended over an opening,\u201d said Filippone. \u201cSo instead of having a vaulted tower, you could have access to a third-story deck.\u201d<\/p>\n

The revised ordinance goes into effect 20 days after publication in a print newspaper, in accordance with state law.<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lavallette officials last week adopted new regulations to clarify the borough\u2019s building code, formally prohibiting rooftop decks and access above the second story of new homes. \u201cWe\u2019ve basically always had it,\u201d explained Councilwoman Joanne Filippone, however the code needed clarification based on some recent planning board applications. \u201cOur current ordinance states that there be no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[2927,1959,29,2928,235],"class_list":["post-17715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lavallette-government","category-lavallette","tag-building-code","tag-featured","tag-lavallette-nj-news","tag-rooftop-deck","tag-zoning"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/DSC_0387.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgsn9q-4BJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17716,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17715\/revisions\/17716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}