Grays Harbor County, WA: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Section 17.36.030 lists the uses the board of adjustment may approve as conditional uses in the R-3 Resort Residential District, and subsection K covers motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle, automobile, light-duty truck, boat, motor home and recreational-vehicle repair, but not including repair of heavy trucks or larger vehicles, subject to two conditions: the property cannot have any frontage on a private lane, and it must be at least one acre in size. Those two conditions mean a small in-town residential lot on a private lane does not qualify no matter how the business is run, and repairing anything bigger than a light-duty truck, six thousand pounds empty-scale weight or less under § 17.08.010, is outside the use entirely regardless of lot size or frontage.

The code treats this as a distinct conditional use from the county's general home occupation rule at § 17.60.050, because a repair shop involves outdoor equipment, noise and vehicle storage that a typical home occupation confined entirely within the dwelling does not. A related, narrower accessory use lets a resident park, repair and maintain a single heavy truck they personally operate, permitted by right under § 17.20.020(E) and § 17.40.020(D), but that only covers the operator's own truck, not a repair business serving other people's vehicles.