Charlottesville, VA Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

3 caps a home occupation at 3 customers or clients present on the premises at the same time, a ceiling meant to keep foot traffic at a level consistent with an ordinary residential street rather than a retail storefront. 5 applies the identical 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM window to deliveries of supplies used by the business, so a home business cannot schedule early-morning or late-night freight drop-offs any more than it can schedule early or late customer visits. These limits sit alongside the broader subordinate-use test in clause 1 and the one-employee cap in clause 2, and they apply to any type of home occupation, from a hair stylist to a tutor to a consulting practice, as long as the business operates as an accessory use rather than under a separate commercial permit.

Because the visitor cap counts everyone on-site at the same time, a business owner scheduling appointments must stagger them so no more than three clients overlap, even briefly, and the Zoning Administrator can treat a documented pattern of exceeding the cap as evidence the use has outgrown the home occupation category.