Peoria, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Section 5.4.7(B)(3) governs use of a garage, detached or attached, or another accessory building for a home occupation, and subsection b draws a hard line around vehicle work: "Auto and engine related occupations shall not be permitted. Routine, minor maintenance on vehicles registered to the residents of the property may occur. Only one vehicle may be repaired at one time, regardless of ownership or reason. Any repair of non-resident-owned vehicles is not permitted." That means a Peoria homeowner cannot run an auto repair shop, mechanic business, or engine-related trade from a home garage as a home occupation under any circumstances; the exception is narrow and covers only light upkeep, such as an oil change or minor repair, on a vehicle registered to someone who actually lives at the property, and only one vehicle can be worked on at a time no matter who owns it.

The same subsection restricts other accessory-building home businesses too: item 3.a bars using any garage space needed to meet the principal use's required off-street parking for a home occupation and blocks converting an existing garage unless a replacement garage is built, item 3.c bars construction or landscaping businesses that store goods, supplies or equipment on-site, and item 3.d bars scrapping, junking or salvaging operations outright. Combined with the section-wide cap of one vehicle "of a type ordinarily used for conventional private passenger transportation" under item 8, Peoria's zoning code treats vehicle-heavy trades as fundamentally incompatible with the home occupation category rather than something to license and monitor.