Sacramento, CA Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Hourly cap
- 1 client/customer per hour
- Daily cap
- 8 clients/customers per day
- Family rule
- Counted as one visitor
- Total bar for some uses
- Pet services, healing arts, etc.
- Applies to
- Administrative and CUP home occupations
Summary
Sacramento caps client and customer visits to a home occupation at one per hour and eight per day under City Code § 17.228.230.A.4, and counts a parent with children as a single visitor. The cap applies unless the specific occupation's special condition or CUP already bars visits at the house altogether.
Unless prohibited by a special condition under section 17.228.210, or by a condition of approval of a home occupation conditional use permit under section 17.228.220, clients or customers are permitted to visit the permitted residence; provided, that on any single day there shall be no more than one client or customer per hour and no more than eight customers or clients visiting the residence in a day. A family unit, such as a parent and one or more children, is considered one client or customer for purposes of this restriction.
Full Breakdown
Section 17.228.230.A.4 sets the one universal rule for foot traffic at any permitted home occupation in Sacramento: 'on any single day there shall be no more than one client or customer per hour and no more than eight customers or clients visiting the residence in a day.' The code also defines away a common workaround, 'a family unit, such as a parent and one or more children, is considered one client or customer for purposes of this restriction,' so a parent bringing three kids to a tutoring session still counts as one visit against the daily cap.
This general rule only kicks in where visits are allowed in the first place: the opening clause makes it subject to 'a special condition under section 17.228.210, or ... a condition of approval of a home occupation conditional use permit under section 17.228.220,' which is how several listed occupations bar visits entirely, healing-arts practitioners can't have 'office visits and treatment' at the residence at all (§ 17.228.210.J), tutoring must stay inside if it happens at the house (§ 17.228.210.H), and pet services can't be performed at the residence at all (§ 17.228.210.E).
For occupations without such a bar, general office uses, artists, hair stylists, manicurists, the one-per-hour, eight-per-day cap under § 17.228.230.A.4 is the operative limit, enforced through the same administrative or CUP permit that authorizes the occupation.
Violations & Fines
Exceeding one client per hour or eight per day, or accepting on-site visits for an occupation whose special condition or CUP bars them outright, violates § 17.228.230.A.4 and the underlying permit condition; because a home occupation permit is issued for specific terms, exceeding them is treated as an unpermitted use subject to zoning enforcement and possible permit revocation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many clients can visit my Sacramento home business per day?
Does bringing my kids to an appointment count as multiple visits?
Can a home therapist see patients at the house?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sacramento
California rules heatmap·Compare Sacramento to another location·View the California home business overview
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Customer Traffic Restrictions in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Sacramento County handle customer traffic restrictions.