Cottage food operations in unincorporated Monterey County are allowed under California's Homemade Food Act. State law (Government Code 51035) bars the County from prohibiting them in a residence and requires classifying them as a permitted residential use. Class A operations register and Class B operations get a permit and inspection through County Environmental Health.
California's Homemade Food Act (AB 1616), codified in Health & Safety Code 113758 and Government Code 51035, lets residents make and sell certain non-potentially-hazardous foods, such as baked goods, jams, granola and candies, from a home kitchen. Government Code 51035 provides that a city or county shall not prohibit a cottage food operation in a residence and must classify it as a permitted residential use for zoning purposes (cottage food operations are treated as residences for building and fire code purposes). Monterey County's zoning ordinance recognizes this through its definition of 'cottage food operation' in Title 21 (Section 21.06.215). State law sorts operations into two tiers: a Class A cottage food operation may make only direct sales (to the consumer) and registers with the local environmental health department, while a Class B operation may make direct and indirect sales (including through stores and restaurants) and must obtain a permit and pass an inspection. The Class A gross annual sales limit is $75,000 and the Class B limit is $150,000, each adjusted annually for inflation. Operators may employ no more than one full-time-equivalent non-household employee, must complete an approved food processor course, must label products as required, and may only make foods on the CDPH-approved cottage food list. In unincorporated Monterey County, the County Environmental Health (Consumer Health Protection) program handles cottage food registration and permitting.
Operating a Class B cottage food business without the required permit and inspection, exceeding the gross sales limit, or making foods not on the approved list, can lead to enforcement by County Environmental Health, including orders to stop sales, fines, and permit denial or revocation. Because state law treats a compliant cottage food operation as a residential use, the County cannot apply additional zoning prohibitions beyond reasonable standards on spacing, parking, traffic and noise.
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