Santa Cruz, CA Home Business: Signage Rules (2026)

SCMC Section 24.10.160(3) lists activities a home occupation 'shall not involve,' and subsection (f) is 'The placement of a sign advertising the business.' Combined with subsection 2's rule that a home occupation 'shall not change the residential character of the dwelling units,' this means no on-premise advertising sign for a home business is permitted in any residential zone, even where the city's general sign regulations would allow certain residential signs. The restriction reinforces the intent in subsection 1 that home enterprises remain incidental and secondary to the dwelling and compatible with surrounding residential uses. Any business signage that would otherwise be permitted is governed by the city's sign provisions, but a sign advertising the home occupation itself is barred outright.