Novato, CA Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

Section 19.34.080 lets the Director approve a home occupation in conjunction with a City Business License, and subsection C sets operating standards that every home occupation must meet. Subsection C.9 is the traffic rule: the frequency of visitors, customers or deliveries cannot exceed that normally and reasonably occurring for a residence, and on-site presence of clients is limited to one client or family at a time.

Neighboring standards back it up. Subsection C.5 says the use cannot negatively impact on-street parking in the neighborhood. Subsection C.8 allows no on-site employees other than full-time residents of the dwelling. Subsection C.10 bars motor vehicles used or kept on the premises except residents’ passenger vehicles or a pickup truck not exceeding one-ton carrying capacity. Subsection C.4 allows no window display or advertising signs other than one name plate not exceeding one square foot, and no display of merchandise or equipment on the premises. Activity must stay inside the main dwelling, limited to 25 percent of the gross floor area or one room, whichever is greater, or inside a garage or other approved accessory structure without displacing the required off-street parking spaces in the garage.

Several businesses are barred outright by subsection B.2 because they bring traffic: on-site sales, exercise studios other than one-on-one personal trainers, medical clinics, laboratories and doctor’s offices, animal hospitals and grooming facilities, and personal services other than licensed massage therapists and physical therapists. Office-only uses, including offices for an architect, attorney, consultant, counselor, insurance agent, tutor or writer, and electronic commerce are listed as approvable examples.

Subsection D lets the Director act on a complaint or an observed violation by determining whether the home occupation complies with its permit. A noncompliant business can have its permit suspended or revoked, or its operating conditions amended, and after revocation no new application can be filed within one year.