Clarkstown, NY Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Clarkstown allows a home-based business to identify itself without a sign permit under § 243-6, "Signs exempt from permit requirements," which applies "in all zoning and overlay districts." Subsection J permits a nameplate sign bearing only the name and address of the principal occupant, capped at 12 inches high and 24 inches long, and lets a home occupation add a second sign of the identical 12-by-24-inch size, still exempt from the permit process.

Within the Hamlet Center Zoning Districts (Congers, Valley Cottage, West Nyack), § 290-7.2K(6)(d)[1] adds an alternative for approved residential home occupations: a single facade-mounted plaque sign as otherwise specified in the district's sign standards, or, instead, a small freestanding pole sign no larger than three square feet per side and six feet tall, set back at least 15 feet from the road. Either option there still requires Architectural Historic Review Board approval as part of the Hamlet Center sign standards even though it is exempt from a formal sign permit.

Underlying both provisions is Clarkstown's home occupation definition at § 290-3, which excludes higher-impact uses like animal hospitals, barbershops, beauty parlors, massage establishments and kennels from qualifying as home occupations "in the opinion of the Building Inspector," and the home occupation performance conditions in Chapter 290, which bar outdoor storage or display, cap the use to no more than 25% of habitable floor area or 250 square feet, and require no noise, odor, smoke, glare or vibration beyond the property line. A home business sign is therefore only lawful once the underlying occupation itself qualifies as a home occupation.