Upland, CA Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)

Upland regulates home food businesses through Chapter 17.25 (Cottage Food Operations), built on California's Homemade Food Act (AB-1616) and Health and Safety Code Section 113758. The chapter's stated purpose is to support community-based food production while ensuring cottage food operations in residences do not create unreasonable impacts. Under the chapter, an Administrative Use Permit is required for a cottage food operation in residential and mixed-use zones, and the operation is otherwise treated as a permitted use in those zones. Operational limits track and supplement state law: no more than one cottage food employee (as defined by HSC 113758(b)(1)), not counting family or household members, may work on the premises; gross annual sales may not exceed the amounts in HSC 113758; direct sales from the site must be by prior appointment only and may not exceed 10 visitors in a single day; and no more than one visitor vehicle plus one non-resident employee vehicle may be parked on site at once. Sales and deliveries may not occur between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. The operation must be registered (Class A) or permitted (Class B) by the County Health Officer per HSC 114365. A note on state preemption: state law bars cities from prohibiting cottage food in residences and requires either a permitted-use classification or a nondiscretionary permit with reasonable standards - Upland's Administrative Use Permit approach must operate within those limits.