Stratford, CT Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

Stratford does not print a daily visitor count for home businesses. It controls customer traffic through three provisions in Section 4.4.11 of the Zoning Regulations, adopted by the Zoning Commission.

The flat ban is in Section 4.4.11(C)(1)(d). A computer-based business is permitted in a multifamily district or residence only if there are no non-resident employees, no on-site storage of goods and products, no business related deliveries, no signs and no customers visiting the residence. That makes a multifamily address the strictest setting in the Town of Stratford for a home business.

In one-family districts the control is parking. Section 4.4.11(C)(3) requires off-street parking under Section 6.8 (Parking and Loading) at a minimum of 2.0 spaces in RS Districts. No parking spaces can be provided in the minimum front setback area, and proper provision must be made for a turn-around on site. Section 4.4.11(C)(4) then closes the loophole: parking for more than one vehicle, or any use or storage of materials related to a permitted home occupation that is visible off the premises, constitutes a change in the residential character, and the use is not permitted. A steady stream of client cars therefore cannot be parked on the street side of the property without putting the permitted status at risk.

The other standards in the same section reinforce the low-traffic profile. Home offices and customary incidental home occupations each employ no more than one person who does not reside on the premises, and a service-type home occupation excludes the sale of food or beverages for consumption on the premises. Section 4.4.11(B) limits home offices and certain home occupations to one-family residence districts only.