Franklin County, NC Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Franklin County's Unified Development Code treats a home business as an accessory use to a dwelling, and Section 5.3.10 lists which trades qualify: professional offices, teaching up to two students, computer programming, non-profit workshops, tailoring and home crafts, a single beauty or barber chair, and pet grooming without boarding. The same section then lists limitations that apply to every qualifying home occupation, and the third one is unambiguous: repair of engines, vehicles, boats, trailers, motorcycles and recreational vehicles is prohibited outright, with no permit path around it.

The code also bars outdoor storage of construction or building materials and any exterior display of products connected to the business. A qualifying home occupation is capped at 25% of the dwelling's floor area or 500 square feet, whichever is smaller, may employ only one worker who does not live on the property, and may use one accessory building of up to 1,500 square feet if a floor plan and site plan are filed with the application. Before opening any home occupation, including one that might otherwise qualify, the operator must obtain a home occupation permit issued by the Administrator in the Planning and Inspections office; operating without it, or operating a repair shop the code flatly excludes, is a Unified Development Code violation.

Under Section 3.4.2, the Administrator can revoke or deny permits, issue a civil citation of up to $500 with ten days to pay or correct, and each additional day the violation continues is a separate violation subject to further penalty; violations also carry Class 3 misdemeanor criminal exposure under the same section.