Tigard, OR Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Chapter 18.760 of the Tigard Municipal Code treats a home business as an accessory commercial use of a dwelling in the City of Tigard, Oregon, and § 18.760.050.I removes car work from the list of businesses a household can run. Motor vehicle repair and painting are not allowed as home occupations. Mechanical repair conducted outside of an entirely-enclosed building is not allowed. Junk and salvage operations and the storage or sale of fireworks are also not allowed. Section 18.760.050.G separately prohibits storage or distribution of toxic, flammable, or explosive materials, and spray painting or spray finishing operations that involve toxic or flammable materials that in the judgment of the fire marshal pose a dangerous risk to the residence, its occupants, or surrounding properties.

Vehicles themselves are also limited. Under § 18.760.050.J, exterior storage of commercial vehicles, as defined in the Oregon Vehicle Code, is prohibited, except that one commercially licensed vehicle of not more than 0.75 ton gross vehicle weight can be parked outside of a structure. Any permitted home occupation must operate entirely within the dwelling unit or a conforming accessory structure and stay within the cap of 25 percent of the combined floor area or 528 square feet, whichever is smaller (§ 18.760.050.D).

The street is not an alternative. Section 10.28.022 prohibits parking a vehicle on the right-of-way of any highway, or on any public street or public way within the city limits, for the purpose of washing, greasing or repairing the vehicle, except as may be necessitated by emergency. Hobbies that do not result in payment are exempt from Chapter 18.760 under § 18.760.020.B. A home occupation that existed under county authority before annexation, or under city authority before 1983, with continuous operation since, can hold nonconforming status, and the owner or tenant carries the burden of proving it under § 18.760.090.