Caldwell, ID Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Section 10-12-03-22, added by Ordinance 3670 on April 21, 2025, makes it unlawful to engage in a home occupation, as defined in Section 10-01-10, anywhere in Caldwell without a home occupation permit from the City Planning and Zoning Department. The written application must be signed and sworn by both the resident and the property owner, and pays an initial fee set by City Council; the permit is non-transferable between people or between sites, so a move or an ownership change forces a brand-new application. To qualify, the business must stay clearly incidental and secondary to the dwelling's residential use, be run by the people who live there plus at most one outside participant, and sell nothing but goods the resident actually produces, with stolen property or contraband strictly prohibited.

No more than one-fourth of the dwelling's gross floor area can be devoted to the occupation, garages do not count toward that fraction, and an accessory structure used for the business is capped at fifty percent of the garage or 200 square feet, whichever governs. The Director can order a compliance inspection before issuing the permit and can conduct scheduled or random inspections afterward. A permit can be revoked at any time for violating any condition or city law; the operator gets thirty days to fix the problem after notice and can request a public hearing before City Council within seven days of the revocation notice, but loses that right if the deadline passes uncured.

Selling stolen goods or contraband is treated more seriously: on top of revocation, the City Council can impose a civil penalty of up to $2,000 at the police chief's request, with any collected fines directed to a dedicated drug-prevention fund.