Sandoval County, NM Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

Sandoval County's Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance defines a 'Home Occupation' as a business activity performed on the premises of a residence by one or more resident family members, provided the activity stays secondary and subordinate to the home's residential use (§ 6(B)(37)). To keep that subordinate character, the definition sets five conditions a home business must meet, and the second directly limits customer and delivery traffic: no vehicular or pedestrian business traffic to the premises may exceed what is customary for an ordinary single-family residence. The same section also caps the business to one non-resident employee on site at a time, bars business equipment or supplies visible from outside the lot lines, forbids noise or other nuisance beyond what a residence normally generates, and limits signage to a single non-illuminated sign no larger than four square feet.

Home occupations are a permissive, by-right use in the county's Rural Residential/Agricultural (RRA) District, the zoning that covers most of unincorporated Sandoval County, so no conditional-use hearing is required if the business stays within these limits (§ 9(1)). The Zoning Officer administers and inspects for compliance, and any use not listed as permissive or conditional in a zone district is otherwise prohibited there (§§ 4, 15).