Home Business in Roanoke, VA (2026)
4 verified home business rules for Roanoke, Virginia, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Zoning & Home Occupation Permits
Roanoke permits home occupations in dwellings citywide under Sec. 36.2-413, but caps the use at 250 square feet of finished floor area, bars any exterior change to the home, and lists machine shops, welding, escort services, and sign making among uses excluded outright.
Roanoke Home Occupation Zoning Standards
Some RestrictionsRoanoke City Code § 36.2-413(b), (c), (d)(1), (d)(4)
(b)Applicability. Regulations of this section shall apply to all home occupations in any zoning district in which they are permitted as of right or by special exception.(d)General standards for all home occupations. Any home occupation, including a personal service home occupation, shall be subordinate and incidental in both character and scale to the use of a dwelling unit for residential purp...
Signage Rules
Roanoke home occupations may not post any sign advertising the business on the property. Sec. 36.2-413(d)(13) makes this an absolute bar, alongside a related rule barring any goods or merchandise displayed where visible from the street or a neighboring lot.
Roanoke Bans Signs Advertising Home Occupations
Heavy RestrictionsRoanoke City Code § 36.2-413(d)(6), (d)(13)
(d)General standards for all home occupations. Any home occupation, including a personal service home occupation, shall be subordinate and incidental in both character and scale to the use of a dwelling unit for residential purposes...(6)There shall be no display of goods, merchandise, or products visible from the street or any adjoining property.(13)No sign may be placed on the property advert...
Customer Traffic Restrictions
A standard Roanoke home occupation cannot receive customers or clients at the dwelling at all under Sec. 36.2-413(e)(2). Only a personal service home occupation, such as a hair or nail service, may host clients, and even then through no more than one dedicated non-front entrance.
Roanoke Bans Client Visits to Home Occupations
Significant RestrictionsRoanoke City Code § 36.2-413(e)(2)
(e)Specific standards for home occupations as permitted accessory uses. Home occupations, except those defined as personal service home occupations, shall be permitted as accessory uses as set forth in the Use Tables in Article 3 of this chapter subject to the general standards set forth in subsection (d), above, and the following additional standards:(1)No more than a total of one (1) person o...
Home Daycare
Roanoke lets residents run a home-based daycare by right in every zoning district, no special exception needed. A 'day care home, child' can serve up to four unrelated children under thirteen, and a larger 'family day home' can serve five to twelve, both permitted uses under the residential and multi-purpose district use tables in Sections 36.2-311 and 36.2-315.
Roanoke Home Daycare Zoning Rules
Few RestrictionsRoanoke City Code, Zoning Ordinance, Appendix A (Definitions), 'Day care home, Child' and 'Family day home'; Use Tables §§ 36.2-311, 36.2-315
Day care home, Child: A child day program offered in the residence of the provider, serving one (1) through four (4) children at any one (1) time, exclusive of any children related to the provider by blood, marriage, or adoption. A child day program means a regularly operating service arrangement for children where, during the absence of a parent or guardian, a person has agreed to assume respo...