Green Bay, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Section 44-1587(b) draws the line for auto work done from a residence: "A home-based occupation shall not involve the conduct of a retail or wholesale business, a manufacturing business, a commercial food service requiring a license, or auto service or repair for any vehicles other than those registered to residents of the property." A homeowner can work on their own car or a household member's car as a home occupation, but cannot run a repair operation, even an informal one, that services neighbors' or customers' vehicles; that use is grouped with retail, wholesale, manufacturing, and unlicensed food service as uses a home occupation is flatly barred from becoming.

Even permitted own-vehicle repair work has to stay contained: subsection (c) requires the home-based occupation to "be carried on wholly within the main building or within a permitted accessory building," and subsection (g) bars exterior storage of equipment or supplies tied to the occupation, meaning tools, parts, or a lift can't sit in the driveway or yard between jobs. Subsection (d) separately forbids exterior alterations that change the residential look of the house, garage, or property to accommodate the work.

Because vehicle repair carries fire and chemical hazards, subsection (o)(4) flags "business activities or uses that create a greater risk of disease, fire, explosion, or other hazard" as independent grounds to deny or pull a home occupation's approval, on top of the customer-vehicle ban. A property owner who wants to go beyond these limits, such as servicing more than an occasional non-resident's vehicle, needs a conditional use permit reviewed under Article II of Chapter 44, and even that path is closed if the Plan Commission finds the use would impair the character of the residential neighborhood under subsection (o).