New Braunfels, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

5-5 lists uses that are barred from that status outright, regardless of size, hours, or how the operator otherwise structures the business. Subsection (c) names 'automobile, boat or trailer paint or repair shop,' along with small engine or motorcycle repair, welding shops, and large household appliance repair shops, as uses that 'shall not, in any event, be deemed' home occupations. Subsection (h) closes any gap by separately excluding 'repair shops for any items having internal combustion engines,' which sweeps in lawnmower, generator, and similar small-engine work that might not read as automotive.

Because these uses cannot be a home occupation at all, a resident cannot cure the problem by getting a home occupation permit, limiting customer visits, or working only in a garage; the use itself is disqualified. 11, which require repair activity to stay fully inside a building and bar storage of wrecked or inoperative vehicles except behind a six-foot screening fence while awaiting repair. The prohibition sits alongside other categorically barred home occupations in the same list, including animal hospitals and kennels with more than two horses per acre, restaurants, mortuaries, and equipment rental businesses, all under the same 'shall not, in any event' standard.