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

Perth Amboy City Code § 430-58(E)(4) sets the minimum standards for a home occupation in every zone that permits one. The R-60 Residential Zone and the R-M Residential Zone list home occupations among their conditional uses. The space devoted to the business cannot exceed twenty-five percent of the gross floor area of the dwelling unit. Only residents may run it, except that no more than two persons who are not residents of the building can be employed. No display of products can be visible from the street, no occupational sounds can be audible outside the building, and no equipment can interfere with radio and television reception in neighboring residences. The business cannot use, handle or store hazardous wastes or substances, and it cannot reduce the parking or yard requirement compliance of the detached dwelling.

Parking is capped and screened: no more than five off-street spaces, including residential parking, can be required, and all parking must be screened behind hedging, landscaping or fencing from the street. The only exterior evidence allowed is one nameplate sign of not more than one square foot, set back at least ten feet from the street right-of-way. In the R-M Residential Zone no exterior displays or signs are allowed, and no clients, customers, patients or patrons are allowed at any time. Elsewhere, no more than two clients, customers or patrons can be on the premises at once, and the work must be carried on wholly within the principal building.

The permit path runs through § 430-58(B). The application goes to the approving board, which holds a public hearing and decides within ninety-five days of a complete application. All conditional uses need site plan review and approval, and the applicant carries the burden of proof. A zoning permit signed by the Zoning Officer, defined in § 430-5, is also required before the use begins.