Concord, CA Home Business: Zoning Restrictions (2026)

Section 18.200.100 is the standards-for-specific-uses provision in Title 18 (Development Code) that governs every home occupation in Concord. The Planning Division's permit acknowledgement form, signed and stamped by the City, reproduces the operative criteria verbatim. (1) Location: the business must be conducted entirely within the principal dwelling, within an enclosed structure attached to the dwelling, or within a legally permitted and constructed enclosed accessory structure detached from the dwelling, excluding required garage parking area. (2) Floor area cap: the space exclusively devoted to the business, including any related storage, shall not exceed 20 percent of the dwelling unit's habitable square footage as determined by county tax records. (3) Employees: workers on site are limited to residents of the dwelling plus one nonresident, and the nonresident's working hours are confined to 8:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. (4) Clients: no clients or customers are permitted on site except students engaged in individual home instruction (one student at a time, no more than six students per day, between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.); an administrative permit may authorize up to six nonstudent clientele per day, one at a time, as an exception. (5) Vehicles: a maximum of one business vehicle up to one-ton capacity is permitted, and only if it does not give the appearance that a business is being conducted on site. Limousines, dump trucks, tow trucks, modified pick-up trucks with raised hauling compartments, construction vehicles, trailers, construction equipment, and any vehicle over one ton are expressly prohibited. (6) Parking and deliveries: the business may not encroach on areas required for residential parking, and deliveries must be limited to the frequency and vehicle types normally associated with residential neighborhoods and confined to 8:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. (7) Nuisances: the business shall not create noise, odor, dust, vibration, smoke, electrical disturbance, or any other interference with adjacent residential uses, and shall be invisible to the neighborhood, with no excessive use of, or unusual discharge into, water, sanitary sewer, electrical, garbage, or storm drains. (8) Prohibited businesses: automotive service, diagnosis, or repair of vehicles, large machinery, equipment, or large appliances of others; beauty salons and barber shops; and any cannabis business or commercial activity are categorically banned as home-based uses. California state law independently authorizes certain home food businesses (Health & Safety Code Section 114365 et seq. for Cottage Food Operations and Section 114367 et seq. for Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations), but a CFO or MEHKO in Concord still must satisfy 18.200.100's structural, employee, and traffic criteria. State ADU law (Gov. Code Section 65852.2) allows a separate accessory dwelling unit but does not exempt the operator from 18.200.100 when the ADU is used for business purposes.