Dearborn Heights, MI Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Section 36-143(a)(1) sets the core intensity standard for every home occupation permitted in Dearborn Heights: it must remain clearly incidental and secondary to the dwelling's residential use, and no more than 15 percent of the habitable floor area of each floor of the residence may be devoted to the business. The section defines habitable floor area narrowly by exclusion, leaving out unfinished attics, attached garages, breezeways, and enclosed or unenclosed porches, so a homeowner cannot inflate the allowable business space by counting a converted porch or garage against the total floor area, only against the smaller habitable base.

Home occupations may not use detached accessory buildings at all, except for incidental storage, which forecloses converting a backyard shed or detached garage into a workshop, salon, or office space for the business. Subsection (b) lists uses that qualify outright as home occupations, including home offices for architects, doctors, brokers, engineers, and lawyers, workshops for tailors and craftspeople, personal services such as barbershops and beauty parlors, small-device repair services, and tutoring or artist studios; uses not specifically listed can still be approved as a special land use under article XIV, division 3.

Subsection (c) lists uses expressly barred as home occupations regardless of floor area, including adult regulated uses, automobile-oriented uses, kennels and veterinary clinics, medical or dental clinics, mortuaries, general restaurants, and retail sales beyond an incidental accessory to the permitted occupation. Subsection (d) further prohibits any outdoor display or storage tied to the business, machinery not ordinarily incidental to a residence, and any exterior alteration that gives visible evidence the home is being used for business. Together these standards keep the zoning compliance process focused on genuinely small-scale, low-visibility home businesses rather than converted commercial operations.