Wausau, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

28(4), let residents run a limited business from a dwelling, but subsection (m) draws a hard line around vehicle work. It states the home occupation shall not involve manufacturing, processing, the sales or repair of large appliances, vehicles, or motors, commodity or equipment rental, the care, grooming, breeding, or keeping of animals, or the construction of equipment and machinery. The same clause bars restaurants, taverns, clubs, amusement or entertainment establishments, and any use that dispatches persons other than the resident, or dispatches equipment, from the premises.

, and there can be no exterior evidence of the business or exterior alterations to the structure. A vehicle repair operation, with cars parked and worked on outdoors, visible tools and parts, and typically more than two customer visits a day, cannot be brought into compliance with the home occupation permit issued by the Department of Inspections and Zoning under (4)(p). Anyone wanting to run an auto repair business in Wausau has to locate in a zoning district that permits vehicle repair as a principal commercial use rather than attempt it as a home occupation.