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

Section 275-42 J(2) lists uses that cannot operate as a home occupation in New Berlin no matter how small the operation or how well it otherwise meets the general home-occupation standards in § 275-42 J(1). Subsection (c) names 'automobile or other motor vehicle repair or paint shops' specifically, alongside animal hospitals or pet boarding (a), antique shops (b), dance studios for more than six students (d), furniture stripping or refinishing (e), gift shops (f), gun or ammunition sales (g), manufacturing or assembly of items from components not made on the premises (h), mortuaries (i), music studios for more than three students (j), photographic studios (k), private clubs (l), and restaurants (m), among other listed uses.

The prohibition means a resident cannot get administrative approval to fix cars, change oil, or paint vehicles out of a garage or driveway as a licensed home occupation; that activity has to move to a nonresidential zoning district where automotive service is a permitted or conditional use, subject to its own standards under § 275-41 C(3), which separately excludes servicing of semi tractors or semitrailers from that commercial use category. Anyone found running a prohibited home occupation, including a home auto repair operation, is subject to enforcement action by the Department of Community Development and the Zoning Code's general penalty provision at Code § 1-18: a forfeiture of not less than $5 nor more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution, for a first offense, with repeat violations within a year drawing a higher minimum forfeiture of $10.