Salt Lake County, UT: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Salt Lake County lets residents run certain businesses out of a dwelling under Chapter 19.85, but §19.85.010.A limits a "home business" to activity "clearly incidental, secondary and in addition to the use of the structure for dwelling purposes," and §19.85.010.B then lists eleven specific activities that don't qualify at all, no matter how minor. Three go directly to vehicle work: "motor vehicle, trailer or boat repair" (B.1), "auto body and/or fender work" (B.7), and "towing operations" (B.8). The same exclusion list also bars lawn mower or small engine repair (B.6), welding, iron works and foundries (B.10), and major appliance repair (B.11), businesses the county treats as too noisy, too industrial, or too likely to store hazardous materials for a residential neighborhood.

Because these activities fall entirely outside the definition of "home business," a resident can't cure the problem by applying for the standard home-business permit under §19.85.030, that process only approves businesses that already fit within §19.85.020's home-business standards (owner-occupancy, limited outside employees, appointment-only customers, a floor-area cap, and so on). Someone wanting to fix cars for pay at a residential address in the unincorporated county would instead need a use permitted or conditionally permitted in the applicable zone under Title 19's use tables, and in practice that generally means a commercially or industrially zoned property, not a home-business license.