5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 2 cities in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
Verified from official government sources
Lehigh County does not zone; your city or township does under the PA Municipalities Planning Code. In Allentown, home occupations split into Type 1 (no-impact home-based businesses) allowed by right and Type 2 (with employees or clients), which face stricter siting and are only by right on arterial-street lots.
Allentown Zoning Ordinance § 660-48.C, .G
Type 1 home occupations are those that meet the definition and criteria of a "no-impact home-based business" under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code. ... Type 1 home occupations may not produce light, noise, vibration, or odor perceptible beyond the property lines of the subject lot.
Signage is set by your municipality, not Lehigh County. In Allentown, a no-impact Type 1 home occupation may not advertise with commercial-like exterior features, and no outdoor display of merchandise is allowed. The state MPC's no-impact definition also bars any external display or sign.
Allentown Zoning Ordinance § 660-48.G(7)
No outdoor display of any material or merchandise is allowed in conjunction with a type 1 home occupation.
Pennsylvania has no county cottage-food rule. Home food sellers register a Limited Food Establishment with the PA Department of Agriculture and may make only non-potentially-hazardous foods. Allentown zoning separately prohibits commercial food preparation as a home occupation.
Allentown Zoning Ordinance § 660-48.F(9)
The following uses are expressly prohibited as home occupations: ... (9) Commercial food preparation;
Home daycare is licensed by the state, not Lehigh County. Caring for four, five, or six unrelated children requires a PA Department of Human Services certificate of compliance as a Family Child Care Home under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3290. Allentown zoning also treats it as a child-care facility.
55 Pa. Code §§ 3290.3(a), 3290.11(c)
This chapter applies to facilities in which out-of-home care is provided, at any one time, for part of a 24-hour day to four, five or six children who are not related to the operator and who are 15 years of age or younger. ... An applicant shall obtain a valid certificate of compliance to operate a family child care home.
The county issues no home-occupation permit; your municipality does. In Allentown, a Type 1 no-impact home occupation is allowed by right, while a Type 2 (employees or clients) is by right only on an arterial-street lot and otherwise needs a special exception from the Zoning Hearing Board.
Allentown Zoning Ordinance § 660-48.H
Type 2 home occupations are permitted as of right as an accessory use to a principal use in the household living use category if the subject lot has frontage on an arterial street. Type 2 home occupations are allowed on lots without frontage on an arterial street only if approved in accordance with special exception procedures of 660-115.
2 cities in Lehigh County have their own home business rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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