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

Sec. 42-275 divides home-based businesses into a permitted list and a prohibited list, and auto repair sits firmly on the prohibited side. Subsection (a)(8) opens by stating the following uses shall be prohibited as home occupations, and item k names vehicle and motor repair specifically, with item l adding vehicle parts sales, upholstery, or detailing as a separate banned category. The prohibition is not limited by scale: the code does not distinguish between a single side job and a full operation, so any vehicle or motor repair work run out of a Janesville home falls outside what a home occupation permit can authorize.

The same subsection also bars tow truck services and limousine or taxi services, showing the City groups vehicle-servicing and vehicle-based businesses together as incompatible with residential neighborhoods regardless of noise or traffic impact. A resident who wants to run an automotive repair business must instead locate in a zoning district that allows it as a principal use, such as the B3 General Commercial District, which lists automotive repair shops but not body shops among its permitted uses under Sec. 42-442, or pursue the gasoline service station conditional use process in Sec.

42-440 for a repair bay use. Because vehicle repair is outright barred rather than merely restricted, there is no interpretation process or waiver available the way there is for an undefined use under Sec. 42-275(b); the prohibition is absolute.