The Law: Making Sure Your Business Complies 2

Are the laws the same throughout a state?

No, zoning laws are established locally, often at the township, city, or village level. Furthermore, each town or village decides for itself what types of home businesses it will allow. Thus in one community you might be able to run a home business that has up to two employees while in another community the same business might be restricted from having any employees. In still another community you might be able to have a homebased business if you are a fisherman or carpenter but not if you are a real estate agent or insurance broker.

Don't a lot of home businesses just ignore zoning laws?

Many people do operate businesses in violation of zoning regulations. In some communities, there is no attempt to enforce the regulations unless a resident complains and forces officials to close down the illegal home business. In fact, there was one community in Illinois where two trustees of an Illinois town had to excuse themselves from discussions of a proposed zoning law that would legalize home businesses. The reason? Each of the trustees had a homebased business.

You cannot assume, however, that it is OK to disregard local law because some town boards don't enforce regulations and some people get away with operating on the sly. If there are laws prohibiting your type of home business, it will only take one complaint to plunge you into a pot of legal hot water.

Who would complain?

Neighbors are generally the source of such complaints. A neighbor may not like seeing your truck parked in the street, may think your equipment interferes with TV reception, or may not like it that you wear a single earring or your son has shoulder-length hair. The motivation for the complaint doesn't matter; if you are in violation of the law and a complaint is filed, town officials have to follow established procedures to deal with the complaint. Even if your neighbors wouldn't complain, someone outside the immediate neighborhood might. Under the heading of "life isn't fair" comes an incident where zoning officials were alerted to an illegal home business after a postal carrier made a comment to his supervisor about the volume of mail going to one home on his route.

What would happen if someone did file a complaint?

Usually you would be forced to stop running the business from your home and could be fined, and even possibly put in jail, if you continue to violate the ordinance. Fines can be as high as $75 to $100 a day or more.

Is there anything I can do if town officials say I can't run a business from my home or apartment?

If your business creates no traffic, noise, odor, or other neighborhood disturbances you might consider trying to get the laws changed. Many communities are beginning to realize their laws are antiquated and need to be updated.

If you don't want to try to change the law, you might want to try to get a variance. A variance is a license allowing you to do something that is contrary to the general law.

Enterprising individuals sometimes tackle the problem in other ways. A woman in Florida who raised plants as a hobby decided to turn her hobby into a business by selling plants at a flea market. She applied for and got a state nursery license, but when she applied for a business certificate from the town, she was told by town officials she couldn't run a business from her home and would be prosecuted if she accepted any money for her plants.

Infuriated, the woman wrote a letter to the town licensing agency and sent copies to county officials. In the letter she compared her business to that of an Avon representative who stores and sorts inventory at home but actually sells the product and delivers it to clients away from the home. She added that if she were denied the right to run her business from home, she would make every possible effort to see that Avon representatives and other people who did similar work would also be denied the right to work at home. The woman got her business license.

Still another tactic was used by the owners of a typesetting company when town officials told them they would have to stop operating their business from a garage on their property. The owners knew it was only a matter of time until the company would outgrow the converted garage, but they weren't quite ready to move. So they challenged the zoning law in court because the town couldn't force them to stop operating the business while they were contesting the law. Although it cost them thousands of dollars in legal fees and they eventually lost, it bought them the time they needed to get ready for the move.

How do I find out about zoning laws?

To find out what the zoning laws are in your community, look in the blue pages of your phone book (the government listings), and find the number of your town or city zoning board or building department. If you can't find a phone number for either of these departments, call the main administration number for the town and ask where to get the information.

Describe the type of business you want to start and the nature of the location from which you'd like to operate (home, main street, building in an area that appears to be a mixture of residences and offices, etc.). Ask what laws might apply to that type of business and if any special permits or licenses will be needed. If you don't want to give away your identity, call anonymously. If you want to be sure to maintain your anonymity and worry about caller identification services, make your call from a pay phone. (Caller identification systems allow people who are receiving a call to see the phone number of the person making the call.)

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