Monroe County, FL Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

A Monroe County home occupation special use permit, required under Land Development Code Section 134-2 for any home-based business operated from a residential dwelling in the unincorporated Keys, cannot involve any retail sales or service that necessitates or requires customers to visit the dwelling unit or the property. The Planning Director checks for this specifically when reviewing an application, alongside a companion rule that the home address cannot appear on any advertising material, including stationery and business cards, so the ban on client visits is paired with a ban on publicizing the address as a place of business at all.

This customer-traffic bar sits among thirteen standards the Planning Director must confirm before issuing the permit, which also include a cap on nonresident employees, outdoor storage and equipment noise limits, and a requirement that the home occupation not increase the average daily automobile trips generated by the residence. Together those standards mean a Keys home business can operate administratively, by phone, online or off-site, but cannot function as a walk-in shop or studio that draws the public to a residential street. A business that instead depends on customers coming to the house does not qualify as a home occupation at all under this section, and the Planning Director can deny the application or the Planning Commission can revoke an already-issued permit for a violation of any provision of Section 134-2.