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

Section 18.160.020 lists the criteria the community development director uses to decide whether a home-based business qualifies as a valid "home occupation" in a Redlands residential district, and subsection D is squarely aimed at foot traffic: "The home occupation shall not allow customers or clientele to visit the dwelling." The only carve-out in the code is for "incidental uses such as music lessons, tutoring, and the sale of produce," and even those are not automatic: they "may be permitted if the intensity of such use is approved by the community development director" when the application is reviewed under Section 18.160.050.

A home occupation permit application goes to the planning department with a signed form and a council-set fee (Section 18.160.030); the director's decision becomes final ten days after it is mailed unless appealed to the planning commission under Section 18.160.100, and a public hearing before the planning commission can be requested, triggering mailed notice to owners within a 100-foot radius (Section 18.160.060). Because a home occupation permit is limited to one year and must be renewed annually with the city business license (Section 18.160.080), a business that quietly starts hosting client visits risks losing that renewal, since the annual renewal requires a signed statement confirming continued compliance with Section 18.160.020.