New Brunswick, NJ Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Section 17.02.020 defines a home occupation as any activity carried out for financial gain by a resident conducted in the dwelling of that resident, and the definition is the rulebook. No goods can be displayed where they are visible from the street. The occupation is conducted in the main building by a person residing there and does not occupy more than one-half of the area of one floor. No non-resident help is employed, no trading of merchandise is carried on, and only customary home equipment is used.

The use cannot alter the exterior of the property or affect the residential character of the neighborhood, and it terminates when the resident abandons the home occupation. A home professional office is a separate defined term: the office servicing the home occupation of a resident practitioner of a recognized profession. The definition of "Professional office, home" in the same section covers the offices of a member of a recognized profession, including physicians, dentists, lawyers, architects, accountants and professional planners. Several district lists in § 17.04.040 name "Home professional offices and home occupations" as permitted accessory uses, next to private garages, storage sheds, fences and walls, and decks.

A home professional office also carries its own row in the § 17.05.020 parking table, listed as spaces in addition to the residential use requirement to which the office is accessory. For signs, § 17.06.060 limits residential nameplates, including home based and home professional businesses, to 72 square inches and requires them to be non-illuminated. Residential nameplates are exempt signs that need no sign permit if they comply, and a non-conforming nameplate requires a sign variance. The definition prints no separate home occupation license step. Section 17.08.030.B requires a zoning permit for development applications, and B.5 makes failure to obtain a zoning permit a violation.