Stafford County, VA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Stafford County's zoning definitions in Section 28-25 create three tiers for at-home work. A home occupation is the strictest: no employees besides resident family, no customer visits at all, no indoor or outdoor storage of goods for sale, and the use must stay inside the dwelling on no more than 25 percent of its finished floor area, selling or transferring goods only offsite. m. m. Sunday), capped at five visits a day, where one visit means a vehicle carrying up to six passengers. It also permits one business vehicle under 13,000 pounds parked off-street, with fleet parking barred, and still holds the 25 percent floor-area cap.

Home Business II raises the ceiling further: up to two non-family employees, ten customer visits a day on the same schedule, two business vehicles under 13,000 pounds each, and storage of merchandise inside an accessory building capped at 15 percent of the lot. None of the three tiers may sell retail or wholesale goods directly on the premises beyond the permitted number of direct sales. Any change in how a dwelling is used still requires a zoning permit from the zoning administrator under Section 28-182, and a change of use can trigger a certificate of occupancy requirement under Section 28-184.