14. Zoning and What You Can Build
Paramus does not cap house size with a floor area ratio. The code says so directly: "there shall be no maximum floor area ratio."175 Four things limit a house instead: the required yards, a 25% cap on the building's footprint, a 50% cap on everything paved or built (house, driveway, walks, patio, pool surround), and a height limit of 30 to 35 feet. On a standard Paramus lot those rules allow a house more than twice the size of the 1950s house it replaces, with no hearing. That is the zoning half of the teardown story in Section 2.
The rules in one table
The single-family zones are named for their minimum lot width in feet. Most of the Borough is R-75 (5,198 parcels) or R-100 (1,971).176
Table 14.1. Single-family zoning limits. As of October 3, 2026.
| Standard | R-50 | R-75 | R-100 | R-150 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum lot | 9,375 sf, 50 ft wide | 9,375 sf, 75 ft wide | 12,500 sf, 100 ft wide | 30,000 sf, 150 ft wide |
| Front yard | 25 ft | 35 ft | 35 ft | 50 ft |
| Side yard, each / combined | 8 ft / 18 ft | 10 ft / 20 ft | 12 ft / 25 ft | 25 ft / 50 ft |
| Rear yard | 20 ft | 30 ft | 30 ft | 50 ft |
| Height, pitched roof | 30 ft | 30 ft | 32 ft | 35 ft |
| Building footprint | 25% of lot | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| All paved and built surface | 50% of lot | 50% | 50% | 50% |
| Floor area ratio | none | none | none | none |
Source: Borough of Paramus Code, Chapter 429, and the Borough's residential zoning handout.177, 178 All zones allow two and a half stories under a pitched roof; a flat roof is limited to 20 feet and two stories. A corner lot has two front yards, which shrinks what fits on it. Every new house needs an enclosed garage. An older lot that is smaller than today's minimum can still be built on without a variance.175
What that allows on a typical lot
The most common lot in Paramus is 75 by 125 feet in R-75 (9,375 sf).176 The 25% cap allows a 2,344 sf footprint. Two full floors on that footprint is about 4,690 sf, garage included, before the attic half story or the basement.
| R-75 lot, 75 by 125 | R-100 lot, 100 by 125 | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house built 1945 to 1975 | 1,896 sf | 2,255 sf |
| Allowed without a hearing (two floors, with garage) | about 4,690 sf | about 6,250 sf |
| Median house built 2015 or later (living area) | 3,772 sf | 4,617 sf |
Source: Table 14.1 arithmetic; Borough of Paramus 2026 tax list.176
Builders are using most of what the code allows, and they are doing it without a hearing. Nothing adopted since 2017, and nothing on the Council's or Planning Board's published agendas, reduces the size of house allowed on a single-family lot.179, 180
What this means for you
If you own a 1950s house in R-75, the right to build on your lot is worth more than the house. If you are buying next to one, assume it will be replaced by a house about twice its size.
The limit owners actually hit is the pool, not the house
A new house at full footprint, plus a driveway and front walk, already uses about 3,300 of the 4,688 sf of paved and built surface allowed on a 75 by 125 lot. That leaves about 1,400 sf for a patio, pool coping and equipment pad. A second story on an older cape, or a modest rear addition, usually fits with room to spare.178
When a plan exceeds a limit, the owner asks the Board of Adjustment for a variance at a public hearing. The Board's record shows how rarely a house needs one. Of 24 meetings scheduled from September 2025 through September 2026, eight were canceled for lack of business, in a town where the State counted 52 houses demolished in 2024.181, 182 Eighteen single-family applications were heard. None asked for extra height, and none asked for a bigger footprint for the house itself. They were for what goes around the house: additions into a yard, pools and patios, fences on corner lots, driveways. The one denial was a carport two feet from a neighbor's line.181
What I tell my buyers: in Paramus the house is rarely the zoning problem. The pool is. Before you make an offer on new construction, I ask the builder for the zoning table on the approved plot plan and read two lines: building coverage and impervious coverage. If the second one says 47% or 48%, the patio and pool you are picturing means a hearing at the Board of Adjustment, and I would rather you know that before closing than after.
What a teardown involves, and what a neighbor can expect
- Demolition takes a construction permit and a $3,000 security deposit. There is no review, no required notice to neighbors and no waiting period, except on the Borough's short list of designated historic properties, where the Board can delay a demolition up to six months.183, 184
- Soil. Digging a full basement usually moves more than 400 cubic yards, which requires a public hearing at the Planning Board. Twelve single-family lots had one between October 2025 and October 2026.185, 186 For a neighbor, this is the only public hearing a standard teardown gets, and the place to ask about truck routes, retaining walls and where the roof water goes.
- Work hours. Contractors may work in a residential zone only between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.187
- Trees. Borough street trees are protected: removing one takes a permit and fees.188 Trees on a private developed lot are lightly regulated, apart from required buffers and wetlands. The Borough has also adopted a tree removal ordinance under its State stormwater permit, so call the Shade Tree office (201-265-2100 ext. 4120) before taking down any tree.189
The State's permit counts show the pace: 25 houses demolished in 2015, 57 in 2023 and 52 in 2024, with new one- and two-family permits running at about the same number each year.182 Paramus is replacing houses, not adding them.
Why the teardowns are in R-75
R-75 holds 68% of the Borough's single-family houses, 84% of those built since 2015 and 109 of the 116 teardown pairs in Section 2.176, 190 The lot allows roughly two and a half times the house that stands on it, and a builder can count on that size without a hearing. In R-100 the existing houses are larger and cost more to buy, so the gain is thinner.
What this means for you
If you are selling an original house, builders are part of your buyer pool, and they pay for frontage, a rectangular shape and a lot of 9,375 sf or more. A corner lot is worth less to them than its area suggests. If you are buying a new house, check how much of the 50% allowance is left before you plan a pool.
Second units and in-law suites
Paramus single-family zoning does not allow an accessory dwelling unit. A second unit with its own kitchen is permitted only in the small two-family zone (R-2F); anywhere else it needs a use variance, the hardest kind to win, requiring five of seven Board votes.175, 191, 192 If your plan depends on rent from a basement or an in-law apartment, it does not work here. Ask the Zoning Officer (201-265-2100 ext. 2237) how the Borough treats a second kitchen for extended family.
Affordable housing does not change these rules
The Borough's Fourth Round housing plan places new density on the highway corridors and on named commercial sites, not in the single-family zones.193 The owners who should read it are those whose lot backs onto Route 17 or Route 4 or sits near one of the named sites. Section 13 covers each project.
I’ll walk you through what any of this means for a specific house, your budget, or your tax bill. No obligation, and nothing to sign up for.