Champaign, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Section 37-167 treats a home occupation, defined elsewhere in Chapter 37 as an accessory use within a dwelling involving the manufacture, provision, or sale of goods or services carried on by the dwelling's residents, as a permitted accessory use in any district where residential dwellings are allowed, but only within a long list of limitations that bear directly on something like at-home auto repair. The business cannot employ anyone who doesn't live at the residence, must be conducted entirely inside the principal building or an accessory structure, and cannot exceed 25 percent of the home's gross floor area.

No equipment, goods, materials, or storage connected with the occupation can be kept outdoors, and nothing about the operation can alter the residential appearance of the property. The owner cannot allow more than six clients or customers at the property in any 60-minute period, or more than sixteen in a 24-hour period, and vehicular traffic tied to the business cannot exceed two vehicles on the property at any one time, with sufficient off-street parking required on the same lot. , commercial deliveries are limited to USPS and standard package carriers (no semi-trailer trucks under any circumstance), and any commercial vehicles used for the business are capped at two, each with a maximum load of one ton.