City Departments
Planning Department
Zoning Division
Customary Home Occupation
Regulations
Customary home occupations may be established
in any principal dwelling unit. The purpose of these regulations
is to allow certain business-type uses to take place in
a residence while nonetheless preserving the residential
character of the property in particular and the neighborhood
in general. Customary home occupations shall be incidental
to a residential unit and shall not be considered a substitute
to traditional retail establishments which rely on a substantial
amount of walk-in traffic. The following customary home
occupation requirements shall apply in addition to all other
applicable requirements of the Gastonia Zoning Ordinance
for the district in which such principal dwelling unit is
located.
A Zoning Certificate of Occupancy Permit
is required prior to the commencement of the home occupation
(1) The home occupation shall be
clearly incidental and subordinate to the residential
use of the dwelling and shall not change the exterior
residential character of the dwelling.
(2) No accessory structures or
outside storage of materials or equipment shall be allowed
in connection with the home occupation. Said requirement
shall not be applicable to swimming instructions given
in an outdoor swimming pool.
(3) Use of the dwelling for the
home occupation shall be limited to either twenty-five
percent of the gross floor area of the principal structure
or one thousand square feet, whichever is smaller.
(4) Only residents of the dwelling
for the home occupation may engage in the customary home
occupation. One nonresident, engaging in work ancillary
to the customary home occupation (e.g.', a receptionist),
may report to work at the dwelling. Nonresidents reporting
to work at the dwelling to engage in the same or nearly
the same customary home occupation are prohibited as the
increase in patronage or parking at the home that would
be occasioned by such duplication is incompatible with
the surrounding residential uses.
(5) No display of products shall
be visible from any adjoining streets or properties. ON-premise
sales of products are limited to those made or reconditioned
on the premises and those which are necessary to the service
being provided.
(6) No external alterations inconsistent
with the residential use of the dwelling shall be permitted.
(7) Only vehicles used primarily
as passenger vehicles [passenger automobiles, passenger
vans and passenger pick-up trucks, each having a load
capacity of one (1) ton or less] shall be permitted in
connection with the customary home occupation. Provided,
however, up to one truck other than a pickup truck or
passenger type van, may be permitted in connection with
the home occupation provided the lot is at least one acre
in size, the vehicle does not exceed 1 ¼ ton in
capacity, and it is parked behind the rear building line
and a maximum of five feet from any lot line. No external
alterations inconsistent with the residential use of the
dwelling shall be permitted.
(8) Chemical, mechanical, or electrical
equipment that creates odors, light emission, noises,
or interference in radio or television reception detectable
outside the dwelling shall be prohibited.
(9) Customary home occupations
may be in operation at any time between the hours of 7:00
A.M. and 9:00 P.M.
(10) Instruction in music, dancing,
and similar subjects shall be limited to a maximum of
(2) students at a time (including the number of persons
waiting on the property to receive such instruction).
(11) Signage for customary home
occupations shall be as regulated in Article VIII, which
allows for either one wall, ground, or monument sign per
establishment. The maximum are of the sign is one and
one half square feet. A ground or monument sign has a
maximum height of five feet. A sign permit is required.
(12) Home occupations shall be
limited to or be similar to the following uses: artist's
fine arts studio, handmade artisan crafts such as pottery;
jewelry; and quilting, barber/beauty shop, building specialty
trades or contractor, cleaning and maintenance service,
computer and data processing service, consultant, detective,
doctor or lawyer limited to two patients or clients at
one time, dressmaker, sewer, tailor, drapery maker, engineer,
architect, drafter or surveyor, floral service with no
on-premise sales, food catering and preparation service
for off-site consumption, furniture upholstery and antique
restoration and repair, home electronics repair, instruction
in the fine arts, insurance agent, interior decorator,
internet and mail order business within no on-site delivery;
storage; or shipping of goods, locksmith, lawn and garden
services, martial arts instructor, message therapist,
message and errand service, real estate agent, stock or
security broker, swimming pool service, tax preparation
service, telephone answering service, and writer or journalist.
(13) In no instance may an automobile
repair shop, automobile shop, fortuneteller, animal
grooming establishment, tanning and nail salon, pest control
service, small engine repair and services, retail sales
operations, wholesale sales operation with on-site delivery
and storage of goods, or a retail florist be conducted
as a customary home occupation.
(14) Off-Street Parking Requirement
- One space for each employee who does not reside on-premise
plus the required spaces for the residential dwelling
unit plus one space for each three hundred square feet
of gross floor area devoted to the home occupation (up
to a maximum of three such spaces).
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