5 rules for unincorporated Yellowstone County, Montana.
Verified from official government sources
Where county zoning applies (such as the Laurel-Yellowstone County jurisdictional area and other adopted districts), a home occupation is a permitted accessory use in residential districts if it stays incidental to the home. Much rural unincorporated land has no zoning, so no county home-business rule applies there.
Laurel-Yellowstone County Zoning Regs 17.52.030(A)
Home occupation is permitted in a dwelling customarily incidental to the principal use as a dwelling subject to the following limitations ...
In Yellowstone County zoning districts, a home occupation may display no illuminated sign, and only one non-illuminated sign giving the name and occupation, not more than one square foot in area. Larger or lit signs are not allowed for a home business.
Laurel-Yellowstone County Zoning Regs 17.52.030(A)(4)
No illuminated sign is used, and no sign other than one giving the name and occupation, and not more than one square foot in area, is displayed.
Montana lets you sell non-potentially-hazardous homemade foods without a food license. Under MCA 50-50-117 you must register your cottage food operation with the local health authority - RiverStone Health in Yellowstone County - and list your products. Sales must be direct to consumers.
MCA 50-50-117 & 50-50-116
A person in charge of a cottage food operation shall register with the local health authority in the county in which the person's domestic residence is located ... Providing cottage food products by consignment, including at a retail food establishment or through a wholesale establishment, is prohibited.
A family day care home in Yellowstone County zoning districts is a permitted use in residential zones and cares for up to six children; a group day care home covers seven to twelve. Both must be licensed by the State of Montana. Larger operations are day care centers.
Laurel-Yellowstone County Zoning Regs 17.08.230
"Family day care home" means a private residence in which supplemental parental care is provided for up to six children, including the operator's children, from separate families on a regular basis. Such day care home shall be licensed by the [state] ...
In Yellowstone County zoning districts, a home occupation must stay within the home or an accessory building, use no more than 25 percent of one story, employ only immediate family, and create no noise, vibration, glare, fumes, or odors off the premises. A permit application is required.
Laurel-Yellowstone County Zoning Regs 17.52.030(A)(5)-(6)
No more than twenty-five percent of the area of one story of the building is devoted to the home occupation; No equipment shall be used ... which creates noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors, or electrical interference ...
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