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Resident urges Pequannock to amend zoning to allow cottage food operators
Summary
A resident asked the Pequannock Township Council to update its home-occupations ordinance so small, made-to-order cottage food businesses can obtain state permits; council members recommended a planning-board review of the master plan as the practical path for a zoning change and estimated roughly six months to act.
Thomas Kemy, a resident, urged the Pequannock Township Council on June 25 to revise the township’s home‑occupations zoning to allow “cottage food operator” activity following recent state rule changes. “The New Jersey Department of Health has recently enacted regulations that streamline the requirement for small‑scale food production and distribution,” Kemy said, adding the new state permit covers home food businesses with gross annual income under $50,000.
The request grew from Kemy’s plans for a made‑to‑order home baking business; he told the council customers would place orders online or by phone and goods would be delivered rather than sold at the home. He argued such uses would pose no greater neighborhood impact than existing permitted home occupations such as tailors or seamstresses.
Council members and staff said the change would require a municipal zoning amendment. Officials noted the state health permit cannot be issued until local zoning allows the use. Council members recommended the planning board undertake a reexamination of the master plan and make a zone‑change recommendation to the governing body. One council member estimated an expedited schedule would still likely take about six months.
The council did not take a formal vote on a zoning change at the meeting but expressed consensus to ask the planning board to study the issue and report back. Officials also noted the planning process would include public notice requirements and considerations—such as parking and traffic rules—that are built into the township’s home‑business standards.
Next steps: the council asked staff to refer the matter to the planning board for a reexamination and to return any recommendation to the governing body for possible ordinance drafting and formal hearings.
