Barrow County, GA Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

Barrow County Code § 89-219(a) defines a home business as a home occupation limited to the office use of a practicing professional, an artist or a commercial representative, and it may involve very limited visits or access by clients or customers, but it cannot involve receiving, storing or transferring merchandise at the home. Subsection (b)(2) then sets the traffic control that applies to every home occupation category, including a home business: the use cannot create traffic inconsistent with the surrounding property uses, meaning a residential street cannot see the volume or pattern of vehicle trips typical of a commercial location.

Subsection (b)(1) adds related nuisance limits, barring noise, dust, vibration, smell, smoke, glare or electrical interference detectable beyond the dwelling unit. A home business is capped at using no more than 50 percent of the dwelling unit, and it may employ only the people who live in the dwelling plus one outside employee, which further caps the volume of visitors and staff vehicles a property can generate. Because a home business must be approved through special use approval under subsection (d)(1), Planning and Community Development can weigh anticipated client traffic when it reviews the application, and if the operator later stops living on the premises, any new occupant must apply for a fresh special use approval before continuing client visits.

A home office, by contrast, is a stricter category that bars any client, supplier or public visits at all, so an operator who needs even occasional customer visits must qualify as a home business rather than a home office.