Boulder, CO Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Boulder Revised Code Subparagraph 9-6-3(o) makes a home occupation an allowed accessory use in every zoning district, without a use review or site plan, so long as it meets seven standards set out in Subparagraph (o)(1)(A). The business must be conducted entirely within the principal or accessory building and run only by the people who live in the dwelling, not by outside employees. It must stay clearly incidental and secondary to the residential use of the dwelling and cannot change the residential character of the property.

The floor area used for the occupation cannot exceed one-half of the first floor area of the dwelling unit. Nothing about the outside of the house or lot, including signs or displays, may change to show a business is being run there. On-site sales are limited to incidental retail, exterior storage of business material or equipment is prohibited, and no equipment or process used in the occupation can produce glare, fumes, odors, or other conditions detectable at the property line for a detached dwelling, or outside the unit for an attached dwelling.

Before starting, the operator must get a business license from the city under Subparagraph (o)(1)(C); no administrative review under Section 9-2-2 is required for that license. Subparagraph (o)(1)(D) makes it unlawful to run a home occupation except in conformance with every one of these standards, unless the Chapter 6-17 cottage food exception applies. Because the use is allowed by right when compliant, a Boulder property owner never needs a conditional use or use review approval just to start a qualifying home-based business.