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<br />sales are allowed; no "nuisance
<br />by reason of noise, odor, dust,
<br />vibration, fumes, smoke or
<br />other likely causes" may be
<br />created; and so on.
<br />"We have a lot more impor-
<br />tant things to do here than to
<br />nitpick over home occupa-
<br />tions," Hightower says.
<br />
<br />Squeaky wheels
<br />As home occupation zoning
<br />codes vary from community
<br />to community, so do the lev-
<br />els of enforcement. Many com-
<br />munities, like Escalon, choose
<br />to enforce zoning ordinances
<br />only if a neighbor complains
<br />to city hall. In smaller towns
<br />that rarely happens, says Layne
<br />Turner, the assistant manager
<br />of Richland Township, Penn-
<br />sylvania. "Most of our resi-
<br />dents know each other and
<br />handle issues with phone calls,"
<br />Turner says.
<br />Utica, New York [pop.
<br />60,0001, passed a zoning code
<br />in 1994 that requires major or
<br />minor home occupation per-
<br />mits for homeowners practic-
<br />ing a specific list of vocations,
<br />"but we don't pursue them,"
<br />says R.j. Hevier, the city's
<br />deputy commissioner of ur-
<br />ban and economic develop-
<br />ment. "Our mayor is very busi-
<br />ness friendly and supportive
<br />of home business start-ups be-
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<br />15
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<br />We have a lot more
<br />important things to do here
<br />than to nitpick over home
<br />occupations.
<br />
<br />cause many owners end up
<br />expanding and buying prop-
<br />erty downtown."
<br />Glencoe, Illinois jpop. 8,5001.
<br />a Chicago suburb, has regu-
<br />lated home businesses with
<br />the same simple ordinance
<br />since the 19705, says develop-
<br />ment director John Houde. In
<br />recent years only three cases
<br />have required official inter-
<br />vention-a financial planner
<br />who employed a nonresident
<br />as a secretary; an importer who
<br />sold items out of his basement;
<br />and a couple who advertised
<br />every piece of antique furni-
<br />ture in their house in the local
<br />paper. In the latter case, vil-
<br />lage officials saw the ads and
<br />the traffic they generated and
<br />told the couple to stop; in the
<br />first two, the home business
<br />
<br />Resources
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<br />
<br />Sample ordinances: Island Heights, New Jersey:
<br />732-270-6415; BucksCounty.Planning Commission:
<br />215-345-3400; Utica, New York: 315-792-(1181; Escalon,
<br />California: 209-838-4105; Richfield, Wisconsin: 414-
<br />628-2260; Richland Township, Pennsylvania: 215.
<br />536-4066_ ..
<br />Other contacts: New Jersey League'of Municipali-
<br />ties: 609-695-3481; New Jersey Planriing Officials:
<br />908-412-9592; Home-based Business Council; 732-
<br />776-6496. .."
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<br />operators were turned in by
<br />their neighbors.
<br />Complaints from neighbors
<br />are tricky, Houde says. Zoning
<br />officials must substantiate the
<br />violation, by observing and in-
<br />vestigating, then serve notice
<br />on the violators and give them
<br />a period of time to cease and
<br />desist. Once notified, he says,
<br />most home-business owners
<br />comply with local zoning codes
<br />or apply for variances. In
<br />Glencoe, the financial planner
<br />closed down his business, and
<br />the importer found a commer-
<br />cial space to display his wares.
<br />Courts generally take the
<br />side of communities when
<br />home-business owners stretch
<br />zoning codes beyond their lim-
<br />its. In 1994 a Pennsylvania
<br />court upheld a zoning hearing
<br />board's rejection of an appli-
<br />cation by a landowner who
<br />wanted to create 12 additional
<br />parking spaces for his home
<br />business. And in 1998 a New
<br />York court ruled that a fence
<br />construction business grew
<br />beyond a permitted "accessory
<br />use" when the business owner
<br />stored materials and machin-
<br />ery in open view of his neigh-
<br />bors.
<br />Courts have ruled in favor
<br />of home-based business own-
<br />ers when issues concerned zon-
<br />ing code definitions of "pro-
<br />
<br />fessional" or "customary" in.
<br />home occupations. In 1991, a
<br />New York court overruled a
<br />zoning board's refusal to al-
<br />Iowa dentist to install a dental
<br />chair at home to treat emer-
<br />gencies.
<br />Jerold Lax, associate profes-
<br />sor of urban planning at the
<br />University of Michigan and a
<br />partner in the law firm of
<br />Bodman, Longley & Dahling
<br />LLP, says he expects contro-
<br />versies over home-based oc-
<br />cupations to escalate. "This is
<br />a good example of how the
<br />law does not serve planning
<br />objectives," Lax says. "If com-
<br />munities and even states like
<br />New Jersey rule that anything
<br />legal can be done in your home,
<br />there's a potential of under-
<br />mining what planning tries to
<br />accomplish by maintaining the
<br />character of a residential neigh-
<br />borhood."
<br />But back on Chestnut Av-
<br />enue, Stanley Janusz says, "The
<br />definition of wor k has changed
<br />and broadened. The officials
<br />of Island Heights have given
<br />us the right to be in business
<br />for ourselves. And they've cre-
<br />ated a happy, interesting envi-
<br />ronment."
<br />
<br />Julie Bennett is a freelance writer
<br />in Northbrook, Illinois.
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