Hanover County, VA Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

Section 26-279 of the Zoning Ordinance sets the standards every home occupation must meet, other than vehicle and equipment storage tied to a construction or service contractor's office. , Monday through Saturday, which limits when clients or customers can be on site. The home cannot show any exterior sign of business use beyond a single nonilluminated sign no larger than two square feet. For client and employee traffic, the code requires one parking space per nonresident employee plus one space per two hundred square feet of floor area devoted to office, personal service, retail sales or home craft uses, or one space per student for instructional uses, all in addition to the home's own residential parking.

That parking must sit in the side or rear yard only, at least ten feet from any property line, keeping client vehicles off the front yard and away from neighboring lots. Home craft businesses can only assemble goods on site; sales of those crafts must happen off site unless the owner obtains a special exception to operate a Home Craft Shop. Home retail sales businesses, which by definition bring walk-in customers to the property, are not permitted by right at all: Section 26-279(10) requires a special exception from the Board of Supervisors, which can also approve on-site repair and product demonstration as part of that exception.