4 published records
Business licenses and permits in Union County, New Jersey
Union County, New Jersey, seat Elizabeth. According to the county's 2024 infrastructure grants release, the county is made up of 21 municipalities: Berkeley Heights, Clark, Cranford, Elizabeth, Fanwood, Garwood, Hillside, Kenilworth, Linden, Mountainside, New Providence, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle, Roselle Park, Scotch Plains, Springfield, Summit, Union, Westfield and Winfield. The county-level records here follow the county road network: the Bureau of Inspection's Road Opening Permit and Curb / Driveway Permit for work in the county right-of-way, and the County Planning Board's site plan review, which the Land Development Standards (§302) place before 'the issuance of any municipal building permit by a local building official'. The Office of Health Management issues retail food permits on county properties, including Union County Parks events; its 2025 temporary food application states that 'permitting is done by each municipality independently' for events in the towns it serves. Each municipality's own building, zoning, health and business licensing stacks on these county records and is not itemised in this entry. The population figure of 594,160 is the 2024 Census estimate supplied with the assignment.
What are you opening in Union County?
- RestaurantsFull-service restaurants carry the densest permit load of any small business: food, fire, occupancy, waste, and usually alcohol.See the full permit list
- Coffee shopsCafés are permitted as food service establishments even where no cooking happens, and the plan review step catches most operators by surprise.See the full permit list
- Retail storesRetail is the lightest common permit load, but the sales tax permit and the certificate of occupancy are non-negotiable in every jurisdiction.See the full permit list
- Salons and barbersPersonal care is licensed at state board level as well as locally, so the shop license and the practitioner licenses are separate obligations.See the full permit list
- Food trucksMobile food is the one category with no certificate of occupancy — but it gains a commissary agreement, and the unit itself is inspected rather than the premises.See the full permit list
- Fitness studiosPrepaid memberships trigger state registration and often a surety bond, which catches operators who budgeted only for the fit-out.See the full permit list
- Childcare centresThe heaviest permit load of any small business: state agency licensing, per-person background checks, and a stricter fire standard than ordinary commercial use.See the full permit list
- Contractors and tradesLicensed at state board level rather than locally, and the only common category with no premises permits at all — the bond is usually the long pole.See the full permit list
- Auto repair shopsOrdinary commercial permitting plus an environmental layer: waste oil, solvents and stormwater are each registered separately.See the full permit list
- Veterinary clinicsA state facility permit, controlled substances registration at both state and federal level, and a medical waste manifest — none of which a general business license covers.See the full permit list
Permits that apply to every type of business in Union County
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| County Planning Board Site Plan Review (Building or Expanding a Commercial Site Along a County Road)only if it applies to you | Union County Planning Board, Bureau of Planning and Economic Development | Per the fee schedule adopted by Ordinance 819-2020: site abutting a county road or affecting a county drainage facility, $500 plus $10 per parking space (warehouse use, $350.00 plus $5.00 per 1,000 sq ft of floor area); site not abutting a county road with less than 1 acre of impervious surface, $200; site not abutting with 1 acre or more of impervious surface, $600; exemption review $200, credited against the review fee if the exemption is denied; revisions within one year, 25% of the original fee for the first and 50% for each later one; application fees not to exceed $20,000. Separately, an inspection fee of 2% of the estimated cost of the itemized improvements (§311) and, where §306 applies, a $5,000 traffic-study escrow | county action within 30 days of a complete application (§308); approval valid 3 years if the municipality gave preliminary approval only, 2 years if it gave final approval (§312) | 2026-10-08 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
What do these permits involve in Union County?
County Planning Board Site Plan Review (Building or Expanding a Commercial Site Along a County Road)
This applies to a business when building or expanding a commercial site along a county road. Section 302 of the Union County Land Development Standards states that, 'Prior to the issuance of any municipal building permit by a local building official', a site plan for any proposed land development along a county road or affecting county drainage facilities, including proposed commercial development or any development requiring off-street parking or standing for five or more vehicles, must be submitted to the County for review and action. Section 302 exempts site plans for land development not along a county road that include less than one acre of impervious surface. The review fees are those in the schedule adopted by Ordinance 819-2020 on October 1, 2020, and the county's March 2025 Land Development Review application form reproduces the same schedule. Section 311 sets the 2% inspection fee, payable to the County of Union with written notice to the County Engineer before the improvements are installed. Under §306, a site plan adjacent to a county road must include a peak-hour traffic assessment; for a project generating 100 or more peak-hour trips, the independent review of the applicant's traffic impact study is funded through an escrow that §306 sets at $5,000. The Bureau of Planning can be reached at 908-527-4268.
Sources
Every figure in the table above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Union County Ordinance 819-2020 (Land Development Standards fee schedule, adopted October 1, 2020)Union County Board of County Commissioners · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
- Union County Land Development Standards (consolidated, amended through September 2020)County of Union, New Jersey · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
- Union County Land Development Review application form (March 2025)County of Union, New Jersey · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
- Union County Planning Board pageCounty of Union, New Jersey · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
Who issues business permits in Union County?
Permitting in Union County is split across 3 agencies we hold records for, with tax registration handled at state level. No single office issues everything, which is why an opening usually means filing in several places rather than one.
Union County issuing agencies
- Union County Division of Public Works, Bureau of InspectionIssues Road Opening Permits and Curb / Driveway Permits for work in the county road right-of-way under Chapter 46 of the Laws of Union County, as amended by Ordinance 852-2024 · Collects the application fees, permit fees and cash bonds set out in the county's Policy and Procedures for Right of Way Excavations2 permits
- Union County Office of Health ManagementInspects and issues permits for retail food establishments on county properties under Laws of Union County §1-128(A)(1)(t) · Processes Temporary Mobile Retail Food Establishment applications for events at Union County Parks and facilities, as described in its 2025 application instructions1 permit
- Union County Planning Board, Bureau of Planning and Economic DevelopmentReviews and approves site plans for land development along a county road or affecting county drainage facilities under §302 of the Union County Land Development Standards · Collects site plan review fees under the schedule adopted by Ordinance 819-20201 permit
Other New Jersey jurisdictions we cover
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.