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<br />.L-4!L <br /> <br />p <br />p <br /> <br />L <br />R <br /> <br />A <br />A <br /> <br />N <br />T <br /> <br />N <br />C <br /> <br />they can't be heard, seen, <br />smelled, or otherwise detected <br />by neighbors. <br />Newly drafted ordinances <br />run from the restrictive, which <br />set absolute limits on the size <br />of home-based businesses and <br />ban signs, commercial vehicles, <br />and outside employees, to the <br />liberal, as in Island Heights. <br />In that community, the zon- <br />ing code includes a paragraph <br />that covers all the bases. The <br />key sentence: "Nothing. . . shall <br />prevent the use of a minor <br />part of a dwelling house for an <br />office or studio" <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />N <br />C <br /> <br />G <br />E <br /> <br />11 <br /> <br />Zoning laws written in the <br />1940s and 1950s have their own <br />down side for today's <br />telecommuters. <br /> <br />Azzolina in June 1998, would <br />prevent municipalities from <br />'over-regulating or placing bur- <br />densome obstacles in the way <br />of home-based businesses." The <br />bill, which has passed in the <br />assembly and is now pending <br />before the state senate, allows <br />home-based businesses as ac- <br />cessory uses in all dwelling units <br />and waives variance require- <br />ments unless a business ex- <br />ceeds certain standards. <br />"Basically, the law would <br />allow any activity for pecuni- <br />ary gain to take place in a <br />residential area unless it's ille- <br />gal, n says Joseph Doyle, ex- <br />ecutive director of New Jer- <br />sey Planning Officials, a <br />50-year-old organization that <br /> <br />Ahead of the curve <br />New Jersey is the first state to <br />address home-based businesses <br />statewide, according to the <br /> <br />Home-Based Business Council <br />in Neptune, New Jersey. The <br />controversial Home-based Busi- <br />ness Promotion Act, introduced <br />by assemblyman Joseph <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />represents 700 zoning and plan- <br />ning boards. <br />"Municipalities have been <br />able to control cottage indus- <br />tries for many years,. says <br />Doyle, whose organization is <br />opposing the bill. "A state law <br />that identifies all homes as <br />places of commerce would re- <br />sult in chaos. It would mean <br />that your neighbor could open <br />an adult book store in his base- <br />ment and you could do noth- <br />ing to stop him. " <br />Nonsense, says Christopher <br />Hansen, founder and president <br />of the Home-Based Business <br />Council: "The bill would sim- <br />ply legitimize businesses con- <br />ducted now by residents who <br />are scared to death of zoning <br />officials. . <br />Hansen speaks from personal <br />experience. For several years <br />he ran a home-based commer- <br />cial office products business <br />in a community that forbids <br />such activity. "I couldn't do <br />anything that would shine a <br />spotlight on the fact that 1 was <br />home during the day-like join <br />the volunteerfire department: <br />he says. <br />Another opponent of the bill, <br />Michael Sullivan, a planner <br />with Clarke, Caton & Hintz in <br />Trenton, says that the mea- <br />sure ignores the diversity of <br />the state's communities. Ocean <br />