Zoning Regulations and Your Home-Based Business

It can happen anytime: a well-meaning but nosy neighbor who knows you have a home business decides to call your community zoning board to complain about the increase in traffic on your block and claim your business is behind it, and all of a sudden you're out of business before the paint on your new sign could dry.

That is, it can happen anytime unless you prepared in advance and know your right beforehand. Many new business owners forget this simple but potentially critical step on their way to entrepreneurship and leave themselves open for a nasty situation later on. To prevent that from happening, here are some tips about researching and complying with the local zoning regulations in your area (and, if worse comes to worst, fighting them.)

First, call your local zoning office and ask to see copies of the ordinances pertaining to home occupations (fire, vendor, etc.) Try not to mention that you're opening a business, because zoning officials become wary at the word.

If you rent your home or apartment, read the lease to see if there will be any restrictions on running a business there. Along the same lines, if you own your home but are part of a homeowners' association, check what the restrictions are for operating a business out of your home.

If you can research online, many municipalities maintain Web sites that outline their ordinances. If you still need to call, try to call from a phone line away from your house, or even a pay phone if no other options are available. Tell the official you you're considering the purchase of a home in the area (where you actually do reside) and that you'd like to know the regulations pertaining to a home occupation; when asked, give your home occupation.

If the homeowners' association in your complex doesn't allow your type of business, try asking for a "special exception" hearing. In many cases your business will be accepted at this hearing, especially if you don't hang a sign outside your house and don't expect more than light - if any - customer traffic. It's usually the businesses that don't generate any type of traffic or commotion that get a special exception. If you have neighbors you can trust, ask them to help you by standing up in your favor or writing a letter in favor of your business. If you can prove your business will have no impact on the lives of other residents, they have little reason to deny your request.

If it's your municipality that's giving you a hard time, you can apply for a variance to operate your business. This is much, much harder than a simple "special exception" hearing at your homeowners' association, and because the government is involved you can expect to get wrapped up in red tape. Applications for a variance can eventually cost upwards of five thousand dollars, and there's still no guarantee of approval. For those who do attain a variance, the high cost involved often makes the victory bittersweet.

The other major risk to acquiring a variance is that, if you manage to get one, your home is now classified as a commercial site and therefore subject to unannounced inspections any time of day (or night) without a search warrant. Zoning officials and fire marshals have often required home-based business owners to install fire sprinklers, fireproof curtains and doors to separate their work area from the rest of the house. Not to mention OSHA and other commercial regulations. If this wasn't enough to make you reconsider a variance, many business owners don't realize they could have that variance revoked at any time, for any reason, without notice. For this reason alone many business owners try to avoid variances altogether, and nearly all local governments allow this to occur so long as the business isn't causing trouble for the neighborhood.

While they can be annoying, zoning laws are not all bad. They can actually help keep your neighborhood peaceful against businesses that are troublesome to residential areas. The laws regulating noise and traffic are there for a reason: to ensure you and everyone on your street or apartment complex can enjoy peace and solitude within their own confines. If you discover the zoning regulations ahead of time and guarantee that your home-based business will not cause any sort of trouble within your community, you should avoid any potential roadblocks down the road.