St. Charles County, MO Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

495 turns that idea into enforceable numbers. Only one occupation is allowed per resident (A(1)), and only two customers or clients may be inside the home at once, rising to ten for photography studios because a studio session naturally brings in a small group rather than a single client (A(2)). The rest of Subsection (A) caps the space that traffic can be generated from: the business may use no more than twenty-five percent of the primary residence's floor area, and never more than 500 square feet across every structure on the lot (A(3)).

No separate exterior entrance is allowed except where the State requires one for a beauty salon (A(8)), no outdoor storage or display is permitted (A(7)), and the business must be run only by household members using ordinary domestic equipment, not gas-powered, chemical, or industrial machinery (A(9), (A(11))). Goods and services must be provided on a custom, appointment or to-order basis rather than as a walk-in, continuing retail enterprise (A(10)), which keeps client visits occasional rather than constant. Together these standards mean a two-chair hair studio or a tutoring business can legally see clients, but only within the two-at-a-time cap, in a residence that still functions and looks like a house.