Cheektowaga, NY Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

The Town's home-based business rules sit in § 260-28 of the Zoning Code, the General residential district provisions. A home-based business is defined as use of part of a dwelling by a resident occupant for a business that is not clerical and involves assembling or treating goods for exchange off the premises. It requires a temporary permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, issued only after a public hearing advertised under Town Law § 267-a(7) and processed under the special-use-permit procedure in § 260-78; the permit runs for a maximum of two years and can be renewed.

Substantively, the business must stay clearly incidental to the residential use: floor area is capped at 15% of the ground floor area of the principal structure, and the operator may employ only one non-resident assistant. , and the operation cannot generate offensive odors, noise, vibration, heat, glare or dust. Critically for customer traffic, § 260-28E(4) bars the business from permitting the receipt of clients or animals at the residence at all, so any model built around walk-in or scheduled customer visits to the home fails outright, regardless of hours or floor-area compliance.

All activity and storage must occur inside a fully enclosed building, and deliveries must arrive in the operator's own personal vehicle, not a commercial carrier. The Zoning Board of Appeals may attach further conditions to safeguard public health, safety and welfare when it issues the permit.