McCracken County, KY Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

McCracken County's zoning definitions in § 150.016 draw a firm line between a HOME-BASED BUSINESS and one that generates customer traffic. A home-based business must be run out of a dwelling house for one family, or a single housekeeping unit, on one lot, and may use only a minor part of the home or an accessory building as an office or studio. The definition limits the operation to no more than one non-resident employee and states plainly that customers or clients do not regularly visit the site, closing off home offices that would otherwise draw walk-in traffic through unincorporated McCracken County neighborhoods; it also bars any outside storage of equipment or materials.

The county's Planning and Zoning Administrator applies this definition when deciding whether a proposed home business qualifies as a permitted accessory use or instead needs Board of Adjustment review as a use that does not fit the definition. Because the standard turns on regular customer visits rather than a numeric trip cap, a business that occasionally has a client stop by is treated differently under the code than one that operates as a de facto storefront or showroom out of a residence. Operating outside these limits, such as by allowing regular client visits or a second non-resident employee, exposes the property to the county's general zoning misdemeanor penalty, which is not limited to a licensing fee but treated as a code violation like any other unpermitted use.