Waco, TX Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)
Key Facts
- Patron/employee cap
- IRC dwelling occupancy limit
- Traffic baseline
- 9.57 daily trips (ITE)
- Traffic ceiling
- 50% above baseline (~14.4 trips/day)
- On-street parking generated
- None allowed
- Governing section
- § 28-928(2), (8)
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor, separate offense per day
Summary
A Waco home business can't host more patrons or employees at once than the International Residential Code's occupancy limit for the dwelling allows, and it can't push traffic more than 50 percent above a typical home's 9.57 daily trips, the two numeric caps set in Sec. 28-928(2) and (8) of the zoning code.
(2)The home occupation may not at any time be operated by a total number of the employees or patrons in excess of the occupancy limit as permitted by the International Residential Code for a residential dwelling unit as adopted in section 6-26, article II, chapter 6 of the code of ordinances.... (8)The home occupation shall be conducted in such a manner that it does not generate on-street parking or a substantial increase in traffic through the area. For the purposes of this section a substantial increase in traffic shall mean a 50% increase in the daily trips generated for a residential home of 9.57 as estimated by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 88).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 28-928 permits home occupations in residential districts only if they meet ten conditions, two of which set hard numbers on activity the business generates. ' That means the cap moves with the IRC occupancy formula for the specific house rather than a flat citywide number. Subsection (8) separately targets traffic: 'The home occupation shall be conducted in such a manner that it does not generate on-street parking or a substantial increase in traffic through the area. 8 additional trips a day, and it may not create on-street parking demand at all.
Both limits are enforced together with the rest of Sec. 28-928, including the requirement that the business stay invisible from the street, so a code enforcement review of a home-business complaint checks patron counts and observed trip generation against these two clauses specifically.
Violations & Fines
Operating a home occupation that exceeds the IRC occupancy limit or the 50-percent traffic threshold violates Sec. 28-928 and is enforced as a misdemeanor under the chapter's general penalty, Sec. 28-11, with each day of continued violation a separate offense and a fine under Sec. 1-14; the city can also treat the excess activity as evidence the use is no longer a lawful home occupation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many customers can visit a Waco home business at once?
How much extra traffic can a home business generate?
What if my home business creates a parking problem on the street?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Waco
Texas rules heatmap·Compare Waco to another location·View the Texas home business overview
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