Westminster, CO Business Licensing & Operations: Auto Repair on Residential Property (2026)

Section 11-4-10(A) allows home occupations that meet the chapter's criteria in any zoning district, including residential areas of a PUD, but subsection (B)'s limitations close the door on home-based auto repair specifically. Under (B)(1), the use has to operate entirely within the dwelling unit and only by people who live there, with a narrow, unrelated carve-out for supervised backyard swim instruction. Under (B)(4), a home occupation can't use more than 20 percent of the dwelling's gross floor area or 300 square feet, whichever is less, and the same subsection states flatly that "a garage shall not be utilized for, or in conjunction with, a home occupation," a categorical ban that alone rules out repair work needing a garage bay, lift, or bay door.

Subsection (B)(5) bars employing anyone who doesn't live in the dwelling, cutting off hiring a mechanic to help. Subsection (B)(6) caps equipment power directly: "no motors shall be used in the conduct of the home occupation, except electric motors having two horsepower or less," a limit far under what compressors, lifts, and most power tools used in vehicle repair draw. Subsection (B)(8) closes a potential workaround by stating that any use requiring a special use permit under Section 11-4-8 isn't a home occupation at all, so a repair shop can't be treated as a home occupation just because it also seeks other approvals.

Before operating any permitted home occupation, (C) requires a license under the procedures in Chapter 3 of Title V, and (D) declares any home occupation conducted without that license, or in violation of any limitation in the section, a public nuisance abatable under Title VIII, Chapter 4.