Jacksonville, FL Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

Sec. 401(n) sets the criteria for a home occupation as a permitted use. Under (n)(1)(i), the operator must reside on the premises, which must be that person's primary residence. Under (ii), the use must stay clearly incidental and subordinate to the residential use and never change the home's residential character. Under (iii), there can be no exterior change to the building and no visible evidence of the business beyond an allowable sign under Part 13. Under (iv), the no-visitor, no-traffic rule quoted above applies. Additional criteria in the same subsection, not fully quoted here, bar storing flammable or hazardous materials, ban equipment that creates off-lot noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical interference, prohibit running the business out of a detached accessory building, cap the space at 250 square feet or ten percent of the dwelling's gross floor area under (ix), and forbid advertising the home address under (xi).

Sec. 401(n)(2) requires signing a disclosure statement, before starting, certifying the applicant has received, understands and will comply with those criteria. A looser track exists for a home occupation approved as a permissible use by exception under (n)(3): it allows non-family employees or independent contractors and expands the space cap to 25 percent of floor area, but it still bars accessory-building use and requires avoiding 'excessive traffic' rather than a flat zero. Sec. 401(n)(4) extends the same rules to arts, handicrafts and small food production such as breads, cakes and candy made at home.