Yellowstone County, MT Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

Section 27-1009.M, Home Occupations, sets a list of operating standards that apply on top of whatever permit or approval a home-based business already has, and the traffic and hours limits sit at the top of that list. Under Section 27-1009.M.1(a), the occupation should not generate traffic before 7:30 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m., and under (b) it should not generate, on average, more than four vehicle trips to the residence during any hour. Those two limits work together: a home occupation that brings clients or deliveries to the house has to keep both the timing and the volume of that traffic within the residential character of the neighborhood.

The same section caps the scale of any gathering at the home: Section 27-1009.M.1(j) prohibits group instruction, assembly, or activity for more than five persons, which covers everything from a home fitness class to a tutoring group. Employment is limited too. Section 27-1009.M.1(d) says no person may be employed other than the residents of the dwelling, so a home occupation cannot bring in outside staff who would add their own vehicle trips to the count. The planning division built in some flexibility for uses it did not anticipate: Section 27-1009.M.1(c) lets the Zoning Coordinator approve an unlisted use in writing if it meets the intent of the section and conforms to all of its other restrictions, including the trip and hour limits.