Chapter 17.615 — Home Occupations

The purpose of this chapter is to allow for the conduct of home occupations that are deemed incidental to, and compatible with, surrounding residential uses. A home occupation represents a legal commercial enterprise conducted by an occupant(s) of the dwelling. (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

The following standards shall apply to all home occupation uses. (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

License required. All businesses are required to register for a business license, pursuant to Title 5 (Business Licenses and Regulations) of the Municipal Code. (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

• A. Where allowed. Home occupations are allowed in all zones with a legally established residence (conforming and nonconforming) in compliance with Article 2 (Zones, Allowable Land Uses, and Zone-Specific Standards).

• B. Allowed home occupations. Any activity producing income, or intended to produce income, conducted entirely within a residential dwelling by the inhabitants of the dwelling, which use is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the structure for residential purposes, which does not change the character of the dwelling, and only when conducted in compliance with the applicable locational and operational standards identified in Section 17.615.060 (Compliance with Standards and Conditions), below.

• C. Number of businesses. If more than one home-based business is conducted at a given site, the aggregate of all home-based businesses shall comply with the standards in this chapter.

• D. Uses permitted. Except where prohibited in Section 17.615.050 (Compliance with Standards and Conditions) below, the following business activities are permitted as home occupations.

  1. Activities associated with the work of artists, sculptors, authors and composers.

  2. Activities associated with the work of dressmakers, seamstresses and tailors.

  3. Barber or Beauty Services with no more than one customer receiving services at any given time.

  4. Business, professional and sales offices, excluding medical, dental and similar uses that involve regular patient visits to the site, provided that no in-person retail sales transactions are made on the premises and that no customers or clients visit the site, except as specifically allowed by this section. Typical examples of such general business office activities include research; report writing; bookkeeping; telecommunication with clients and employees; and the sending and receiving of mail, telephone calls, and electronic communications by electronic or similar means.

  5. Family day care (large and small) subject to Section 17.430.150 (Day Care Facilities).

  6. Home catering and food preparation businesses, subject to the approval of the Riverside County Health Department. See Section 17.430.140 (Cottage Businesses).

  7. Home crafts, such as model making, rug weaving, quilting and needlework, lapidary work and wood working, limited to the uses of tools and equipment commonly available for personal residential use, but specifically excluding cabinet making.

  8. Home-based direct sales distributions businesses in which sales, merchandise distribution and product demonstrations are primarily conducted either off-site or by telephone, mail or other electronic communication.

  9. Instruction in academia, music, voice, art, dance or similar activities with no more than one pupil receiving instruction at any given time.

  10. Small electronics repair, limited to items such as personal computers and electronic recorders with a maximum weight of 40 pounds per item.

  11. Telecommuting, as defined by Article 8 (Definitions).

12. Wholesale or brokering of motor vehicles, provided that no vehicles are stored on-site and no in-person retail transactions occur onsite.

13. Other similar uses determined by the Director to be incidental to or compatible with residential activities.

(Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

Irrespective of Section 17.615.040 (Allowed Home Occupations) above, the following uses are not incidental to or compatible with residential activities and are prohibited as home occupations:

• A. Adult businesses;

• B. Alcohol sales;

• C. Ammunition, explosives, or fireworks, sales, use, or manufacturing;

• D. Businesses that entail the commercial breeding, boarding, grooming, harboring, kenneling, raising, and/or training of dogs, cats, or other animals on the premises;

• E. Carpentry (on-site) and cabinet making (does not prohibit a normal wood-working hobby operation);

• F. Cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, transportation, testing or sale of cannabis, cannabis products, or;

• G. Dance club/night clubs;

• H. Food preparation for commercial purposes;

• I. Fortune telling (psychic);

• J. Lawn mower and/or small engine repair;

• K. Noncertified Massage practitioners;

• L. Medical, dental and veterinary offices, clinics, and laboratories;

• M. Mini storage;

• N. Plant nursery;

• O. Private clubs;

• P. Retail or wholesale sales of products stored at the residence;

• Q. Storage and/or sales of equipment, materials, and other accessories to the construction and service trades;

• R. Tattoo and body piercing;

• S. Television, radio, or appliance repair;

• T. Tobacco/hookah lounges/parlors;

• U. Tow Truck services;

• V. Vehicle repair (body or mechanical), upholstery, automobile detailing (e.g., washing, waxing, etc.) and painting. (This does not prohibit "mobile" minor repair or detailing at the customer's location);

• W. Vehicle sales;

• X. Welding and machining; and

• Y. Other similar uses determined by the Director not to be incidental to or compatible with residential activities. (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

• A. Compliance required. Home occupations shall comply with the applicable locational, developmental, and operational standards identified in this section as well as any conditions imposed on business license.

• B. Required standards. Home occupations shall comply with all of the following standards.

  1. Home occupations shall be clearly incidental and subordinate to the primary use of the dwelling unit.

  2. The site of a home occupation must be the principal residence of anyone engaged in a home occupation. In addition, no more than one nonresident employee or assistant is permitted to engage in home occupation activities at the site at any given time.

  3. Home occupations shall be conducted within a dwelling and shall be clearly incidental to the use of the structure as a dwelling.

  4. There shall be no direct on-site sale of products, either wholesale or retail.

  5. A maximum of one customer or client vehicle at any given time shall be allowed to visit the premises of a home occupation

  6. There shall be no exterior use or storage of material or mechanical equipment, as determined by the Director to be for a home occupation use and not for normal household or hobby use.

  7. The use/s shall not generate pedestrian or vehicular traffic beyond that determined by the Director to be normal for the zone or neighborhood in which it is located.

  8. Commercial vehicles or trailers, except those normally incidental to residential use, shall not be kept on the site, and any need for parking generated by home occupation use/s shall be met off the street and other than in a required yard.

  9. Home occupations shall not involve excessive storage of materials or supplies on the premises, as determined by the Director. Combustible and/or hazardous substances shall receive approval of the Fire Department.

  10. There shall be no signs allowed other than the address for the main dwelling. There shall be no other advertising using the home address, with the exception of advertising in the telephone directory or via the Internet.

  11. Not more than one room or the equivalent of 20% of the floor area of the entire dwelling unit, whichever is greater, shall be employed for home occupation uses. Use of the garage is allowed; provided that all required vehicle storage is maintained in compliance with this Development Code, and the garage doors shall be closed at all times.

  12. The appearance of the dwelling or any accessory structure shall not be altered so that the dwelling may be reasonably recognized as serving a nonresidential use (either by color, construction, dust, materials, odors, lighting, noise, signs, sounds, vibrations, etc. or that disturbs the peace). The existence of a home occupation shall not be apparent beyond the boundaries of the subject site.

  13. There shall be no use of utilities or community facilities beyond that normal to the use of the property for residential purposes as defined in the zone.

• (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

The Director may approve a business license application for a home occupation, with or without conditions. The Director may deny a business license application for a home occupation for any of the following::

• A. The proposed home occupation is inconsistent with the General Plan, any applicable specific plan, and the development and design standards of the subject zone;

• B. The proposed home occupation will be detrimental to the public convenience, health, interest, safety, or welfare, or materially injurious to the properties or improvements in the immediate vicinity; or

• C. The proposed home occupation will interfere with the use or enjoyment of neighboring existing or future residential developments, or will create traffic or pedestrian hazards.

• (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

In approving a business license application for a home occupation, the Director may impose conditions (e.g., buffers, hours of operation, landscaping and maintenance, lighting, parking, performance guarantees, property maintenance, surfacing, time limits, traffic circulation, etc.) deemed reasonable and necessary to ensure that the approval would be in compliance with the purpose of this chapter. (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

The Director, Code Enforcement Officer, Building Inspector, or Riverside County Sheriff Deputy shall have the right at any time, upon request, to enter and inspect the premises subject to a business licenses for a home occupation in order to verify compliance with the locational, developmental, and operational standards identified in Section 17.615.060 (Compliance with Standards and Conditions), above. (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

A change in the type of home occupation activity (e.g., a change from one allowed activity to another allowed activity) conducted by the original resident/permittee shall also require a new business license before conducting an allowed home occupation. (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)

The procedures and requirements in Chapter 17.660 (Implementation, Time Limits, and Extensions), and those related to appeals and revocation in Article 7 (Administration) shall apply following the decision on a business license application for a home occupation. (Ord. 24-13, 10/1/2024)