Bethel, CT Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

The Town's brand-new Zoning Regulations, adopted by the Planning and Zoning Commission on December 10, 2024 and effective May 15, 2025, build the customer-traffic limit directly into the definitions the Commission uses to classify a home business. 2 defines three tiers under Home-Based Business and Related Terms: Home Office (occasional business use with minimal non-resident visits, no permit required), Minor Home Occupation, and Major Home Occupation. A Minor Home Occupation may include one non-resident employee, but the definition caps it at five customer, client, patron, or associate visits per week and no more than two such visitors on the premises at any one time.

6B(1) ties permit tiers to these definitions: a Home Office needs no permit, a Minor Home Occupation requires a Zoning Permit issued by the Zoning Enforcement Officer, and a Major Home Occupation, which includes anything that outgrows the Minor Home Occupation visit thresholds, requires a Special Permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Operators who exceed five weekly visits or host more than two clients at once are no longer operating within the Minor Home Occupation classification and must apply for the discretionary Special Permit process instead, which involves public notice and a Commission hearing rather than a staff-level permit.