Rutherford County, TN: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Section 1101 N of the Zoning Ordinance lets a resident run a "minor" home-based business by right in any residential zoning district, including residential portions of approved planned developments, but only within a closed set of rules. 1 require the business to stay inside the dwelling or an approved accessory building, avoid changing the home's outside appearance, keep stock-in-trade out of street view, and stop any vibration, heat, glare, dust, odor, noise or smoke at the property line; deliveries are limited to passenger vehicles, mail carriers, and express carriers like UPS or FedEx.

f flatly excludes automobile and vehicle repair from the list of activities the Planning Director can approve as a minor home business, alongside kennels and veterinary clinics, medical and dental clinics, restaurants and bars, funeral homes, on-premise retail sales, and adult entertainment. The Planning Director also extends that exclusion to any unlisted business found similar to one on the list. A minor home business that is allowed still faces tight caps: no more than 25 percent of the home's floor area or 500 square feet of an accessory building, one nonresident employee, one business vehicle kept out of the front yard, and no vehicle with more than three axles on a lot under two acres.

Because repair work doesn't fit any of that, the only lawful path is a "major" home-based business, requiring a Special Exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals under standards in Chapter 14, not a simple permit from Planning staff.