Vestavia Hills, AL Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

1 Home Occupations. Item 2 bars outdoor display or storage associated with the home occupation and limits sales to phone, mail or internet only, adding that no goods shall be delivered to a purchaser on the premises, which forecloses handing a repaired vehicle back to a customer at the house. Item 6 is more direct: no home occupation shall be permitted that requires the operation or keeping on premises of a commercial vehicle, which covers the tow trucks, flatbeds, and marked service vehicles an auto-repair business depends on.

Item 1's 500-square-foot/25-percent cap on the dwelling itself also leaves no room for a garage bay large enough to lift and repair cars. 2 Gas and Service Stations, a separate commercial use limited to three service bays and requiring repair work be conducted within an enclosed structure set back fifty feet from a residential lot line, a use permitted only in the districts listed on the non-residential use table, never on a residential lot.