Roanoke, VA Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Sec. 2-413(g) sets standards for specific types of home occupations that the city otherwise treats cautiously, and paragraph (2) addresses vehicle repair directly: home occupations relating to repair and service on motor vehicles, appliances, or similar goods may operate as a home occupation only if the home occupation is used solely for office functions. That means a resident can run the business side of an auto repair operation from home (taking calls, scheduling appointments, invoicing, bookkeeping) but cannot perform the actual mechanical work, diagnostics, or vehicle service at the residence itself.

This sits on top of the general home occupation standards in Sec. 2-413(d), which independently bar any equipment or process not normally associated with a dwelling, prohibit mechanized equipment except inside a completely enclosed building, and forbid any commercial motor vehicle from being used, parked, or stored on site in connection with the home occupation. Actual vehicle repair work is instead classified and regulated separately under Sec. 2-419, Motor vehicle repair or service establishment, which requires all repair or maintenance activity to occur in a wholly enclosed building and applies its own district-specific standards, a use that is not compatible with a residential home occupation.

The same office-functions-only limitation applies to landscaping and lawn service businesses under Sec. 2-413(g)(1), reflecting the city's approach that home occupations tied to on-site equipment or vehicle work are confined to the administrative side of the trade.