Irondequoit, NY Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Residential auto repair in the Town of Irondequoit is controlled from several directions. The core rule is § 235-13D, which governs private garages. Subsection (4) states that no business, occupation, service or residence can be permitted or conducted in a private garage. Subsection (5) allows vehicle repairs or maintenance in the garage only when they are performed by the resident or residents of the property and only on vehicles owned or leased by the residents of the premises.

That means a neighbor's car, a friend's truck or a customer's vehicle cannot be worked on in your garage, whether or not money changes hands. The home occupation rules close the other door. Section 235-8A(7)(c) lists what home occupations do not include, and the list names repair, storage and/or painting of motorized vehicles or boats, along with welding and large appliance repair. A home auto repair business therefore cannot be approved through the Director of Community Development's home occupation process.

Unregistered vehicles add a second layer. Under § 225-4B(2), an unlicensed or unregistered motor vehicle can be under repair outdoors only if the owner lives on the premises, only one such vehicle is on the premises at a time, it creates no safety hazard or nuisance, and it stays no more than seven cumulative or consecutive days within a one-year period. Otherwise it must be inside a completely enclosed building. The Town can serve a written notice requiring removal within seven days.

Noise is regulated too. Section 160-16 prohibits anyone in a residential area of the Town from repairing, rebuilding or testing a motor vehicle so as to create excessive noise at the property line between 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. A licensed repair business belongs in a commercially zoned location, not a home garage in the Town of Irondequoit.