Brookhaven, NY Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Definition
- Brookhaven Code § 85-1, HOME OCCUPATION
- District rule
- § 85-190B(3), A Residence District
- Must be run by
- The resident of the dwelling
- Excluded uses
- Dance studios, tearooms, beauty parlors, mortuaries
- First offense fine
- $2,500 to $6,000 (§ 85-158E)
Summary
Brookhaven's Zoning Code lets residents run only 'customary home occupations' from their homes, defined in § 85-1 as accessory, service-type uses with no stock-in-trade and no exterior sign of business. In the A Residence District, § 85-190B(3) limits the use to occupations conducted by the person who actually lives there.
HOME OCCUPATION: An accessory use of a service character customarily conducted within a dwelling by the residents thereof, which is clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling for living purposes and does not change the character thereof or have any exterior evidence of such secondary use, and in connection therewith there is not involved the keeping of a stock-in-trade. ... Dance studios, musical instrument instruction in groups, tearooms, tourist homes, beauty parlors, convalescent homes, mortuary establishments and stores, trades or businesses of any kind not herein excepted shall not be deemed to be home occupations. [§ 85-190B(3):] Customary home occupations only when conducted by the person residing on the premises.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4966897; v79 updated 2026-05-28; through 05-28-2026).
Full Breakdown
Section 85-1's definition of HOME OCCUPATION requires the use to be 'clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling for living purposes' with no exterior evidence of the business and no keeping of stock-in-trade. It names the professional offices of a physician, attorney, architect, accountant or dentist, and single-pupil music instructors, as qualifying home occupations, along with a dressmaker, milliner or seamstress who employs no more than one paid assistant. ' In the Town's A Residence District, § 85-190B lists accessory uses permitted with a principal one-family dwelling, and Subsection B(3) allows 'customary home occupations only when conducted by the person residing on the premises,' while B(2) separately permits a professional office for a physician, lawyer, architect or teacher residing on site, confined to the main building and no more than one-third of the first-floor area.
Other residential zoning districts carry the same accessory-use limitation in their own analogous sections. Because home occupations are accessory uses rather than a special permit category here, no separate home-occupation permit application is described in this chapter; compliance is judged against the § 85-1 definition and the district's accessory-use listing by the Building Division at the certificate-of-occupancy or complaint stage.
Violations & Fines
Operating a business from a Brookhaven home that exceeds the customary home occupation definition, for example, a business with paid staff beyond one assistant, exterior signage, or stock-in-trade, is a zoning violation. Section 85-158E lists § 85-190 among the sections carrying that penalty: $2,500 to $6,000 for a first offense, $5,000 to $10,000 for a second within five years, and $7,500 to $15,000 with up to six months for a third.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I run a hair salon from my Brookhaven house?
Does someone else have to live in the home to run the business?
Can I hire help for a home sewing business in Brookhaven?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Brookhaven
How Brookhaven compares: Easiest Cities to Run a Home Business·New York rules heatmap·Compare Brookhaven to another location·View the New York home business overview
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Zoning & Home Occupation Permits in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Suffolk County handle zoning & home occupation permits.