Kennewick, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

KMC 18.42.090 lets the Planning Director approve a home occupation "for any residential unit, regardless of zoning designation," but only if it meets a list of criteria, and subsection (1)(n) draws a hard line: "A home occupation shall not include automobile repair, body shop work, dog kennels, dog boarding, nor construction-related heavy equipment or vehicles." Even occupations that qualify face tight limits: no structural alterations, entrance from inside the residence, no more than 25 percent of the residence's floor area (including an accessory building) devoted to the business, no exterior advertising beyond a residential-use sign, no window displays, no retail sales on the premises, and no more than one temporary or irregular employee outside the immediate family during the first 18 months. No more than two occupation-related vehicles under 10,000 pounds GVW may be kept on site, and customer visits are capped at four per day by appointment, only one vehicle on the premises at a time, and only between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Because automobile repair is categorically excluded rather than merely restricted, the Planning Director has no discretion to approve it as a home occupation under 18.42.090(2), which requires denial in an "R" district if the applicant cannot substantially meet every listed criterion, and (1)(n) is a per se failure. A home occupation permit is not final in any case until the applicant has also obtained a City business license under KMC 18.42.090(3). A resident who wants to run an auto repair business must instead locate in a zoning district that permits automotive repair as a principal use and obtain the applicable commercial permits; working on one's own currently registered vehicle in a garage or on an approved parking surface remains separately governed as a nuisance-avoidance rule under KMC 9.48.010(2)(t), not as a home occupation.