Dearborn, MI Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

Sec. 7.03.D of the Zoning Ordinance, Site development standards for residential uses, lists five conditions a home occupation must meet to count as "a permitted accessory residential use of property." It must be conducted entirely within the dwelling by the owner or tenants, be clearly incidental to the residential use, not change the character or appearance of the residence, and not result in sales of goods on the premises. The fourth condition, Sec. 7.03.D.4, is the sign rule at issue here: "It must not result in any signs or displays on the premises." There is no square-footage allowance or window-sign carve-out, the standard is a flat zero.

The Zoning Ordinance's own definitions section, Sec. 1.03, backs this up: a "home occupation" is defined as an occupation conducted entirely within a dwelling that, among other conditions, "does not result in any signs or displays on the premises." Because the sign bar is written into the definition itself, a home business that posts a sign is not just noncompliant, it falls outside the definition of home occupation entirely and becomes an unauthorized commercial use in a residential district. That is a materially different, and more serious, problem than a mere accessory-use violation, since no residential district lists general retail or office signage as a permitted or special land use.

A property owner who disagrees that a display constitutes a prohibited "sign" can seek relief from the zoning board of appeals under Sec. 32.05, which hears appeals from enforcement decisions and can grant variances where practical difficulties prevent strict compliance, provided the board finds the variance preserves the spirit of the ordinance and the safety of the neighborhood.