Yakima, WA Home Business: Customer Traffic Restrictions (2026)

Yakima's home-occupation customer-traffic limits flow directly from YMC 15.04.120(C) conditions 5, 6, 7, and 10. Condition (5) bars any alteration of the residential character through emissions: noise, vibration, dust, glare, heat, smoke, or odor reaching beyond the property line. Condition (6) states the home occupation 'does not generate materially greater traffic volumes than would normally be expected in the residential neighborhood; the frequency of deliveries should be comparable to that of a single-family home without a home business' — this rules out steady retail walk-in traffic, busy salon appointments, repeat client visits throughout the day, and frequent commercial delivery truck drops. Condition (7) confines storage of equipment, materials, and goods to the designated home-occupation space and out of view from the public right-of-way (no outdoor inventory, no roll-off containers, no pallets stacked in the side yard). Condition (8) prohibits non-resident employees on premises — only immediate family members residing in the dwelling may work there. Condition (10) limits on-street parking attributable to the home occupation to typical residential levels (no overflow customer parking blocking sight lines or neighborhood circulation). Condition (12) restricts sales to goods produced on premises plus internet/phone-order delivery — no retail walk-in storefront. Group instruction (music, art, tutoring, dance, fitness) is allowed as 'Home Instruction' per YMC 15.02 only if conducted within these traffic and emission limits. Off-street parking for the home occupation is governed by YMC Chapter 15.06, which generally requires the dwelling's principal parking (typically 2 spaces for single-family) plus any incremental spaces needed for the use — Class 2/3 home occupations are reviewed for parking adequacy. Family Day Care Homes regulated as home occupations follow Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) capacity caps (up to 12 children for a Family Home child care under WAC 110-300) and are reviewed separately under Table 4-2.