Dallas, TX Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Sec. 217(8)(A) defines a home occupation as an occupation incidental to the primary use of the premises as a residence, conducted on the residential premises by a resident of the premises. Subsection (B) permits it as an accessory use in every zoning district in the city except the P(A) district. Subsections (C) and (D) require no additional off-street parking or loading for the use at all. The floor-area limit lives in subsection (E)(ii): a home occupation may not occupy more than 25 percent of the total floor area of the main structure, or 400 square feet, whichever is less, and that section-specific cap 'controls over the area restriction of Subsection (a)(3),' the general 5 percent accessory-use area limit that otherwise applies across Sec.

217. In practice that means a Dallas homeowner can dedicate a meaningfully larger share of the house to a home business than most other accessory uses are allowed, but the cap is absolute once floor area is measured against the whole main structure. The same section separately requires all home occupation activity to be conducted entirely inside the main structure rather than a garage, porch, deck, or patio, and bars signage, off-site advertising of the address, and on-site retail sales, so the floor-area allowance does not turn the use into a storefront.