S-116, the Home-Based Business Legislation, was scheduled to be considered at the February 27 Voting Session. The legislation was removed from the agenda.
For more than 25 years, the League has opposed this type of legislation as an infringement on municipal planning and that illegal home businesses would now be permitted as a preexisting, nonconforming use for municipalities that do not have specific prohibitions for home-based businesses.
As amended, this legislation provides guardrails to ensure that the activity is compatible with the residential use, including the volume of visitors, prohibition of outside appearance of a home business including signage, no equipment in use that creates noise or odors, and the volume of deliveries is compatible with the area.
A municipality may by ordinance establish standards to apply to home businesses within residential districts, but is limited to the volume of visitors, the volume of deliveries, and parking acceptable for home businesses in a residential area.
We will alert you if this legislation is posted for consideration.
Contact: Paul Penna, Director of Government Affairs, ppenna@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x110.