Blue Hill, NE Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

3 of the City of Blue Hill Zoning Ordinance defines Home Occupation as a business, profession, or trade conducted for gain or support entirely within a residential building, and it makes that use conditional on six standards that apply in every residential district. No commodities may be displayed on the premises, no mechanical or electrical equipment may be used beyond what a household normally uses, no materials or equipment tied to the occupation may be stored outdoors, and no alteration to the principal residence may change its character as a dwelling.

The ordinance also caps outside labor: no more than two employees from outside the immediate family may work in the home occupation, and it bars any manufacturing or processing of stock, along with the display or sale of stock-in-trade, on the premises. The same section then lists, in subsection b, examples of occupations the City treats as customary, including dressmakers and tailors, music teachers limited to five pupils, dance instructors limited to ten pupils, artists and authors, professional offices for architects, engineers, lawyers, and similar professions, ministers, sales representatives, home crafts such as model making or cabinet making, small-scale day nurseries, barbershops and beauty parlors, and small appliance or electronics repair.

Subsection c then flips the list to occupations that are never allowed as a home occupation regardless of district, covering funeral homes, larger group daycare, adult entertainment, restaurants, small grocery stores, stables or animal kennels, most tourist homes, equipment rental, and auto repair.