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

Section 317-10 of the Zoning Code defines HOME OCCUPATION or HOME PROFESSION as a use customarily carried on in a dwelling by a member of the resident family, clearly incidental and secondary to the dwelling's residential use, with no more than one nonresident employee. The code lists qualifying uses by name: artist work, instruction in art, music, voice, dance or sculpture limited to one student at a time, and professional offices for a physician, surgeon, dentist, lawyer, architect, clergyman, accountant, engineer, or licensed real estate or insurance broker, plus rideshare drivers for Uber, Uber Black, Lyft and Lyft Lux.

The same section expressly excludes trades that draw foot traffic or nuisance concerns, a beauty parlor, undertaking parlor, massage parlor, tattoo parlor, barbershop, electrolysis parlor, or animal hospital or care facility can never qualify as a home occupation, no matter how small. Physically, the operation must stay inside the basement or first floor and can never exceed 35% of the dwelling's total floor area, and no exterior display may reveal that the home is used for anything but a dwelling; goods cannot be sold or stored long-term on site.

Off-street parking must still be provided under Article VII's parking schedule. Because establishing or changing a use of a building requires a zoning permit from the administrative officer under § 317-63, a resident starting a qualifying home occupation needs that permit before beginning, and § 317-62 bars the City from issuing any permit, license or certificate that would conflict with these standards.