Decatur, GA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Home occupations are an accessory use under Decatur's Unified Development Ordinance, permitted with a principal dwelling but governed by fifteen numbered standards in Sec. B. The floor-area cap is explicit: no more than 25% of the total floor area of the main dwelling can be used for the home occupation (Sec. B(11)). Staffing is limited to the resident family plus one outside employee, and that employee can't work more than 20 hours a week at the premises (Sec. B(5)). Every person carrying on a home occupation must first obtain a City business license (Sec.

B(4)), which is how the Zoning Administrator's office tracks compliance. Signage is nearly eliminated: the only exterior indication allowed is a nameplate no larger than 24 square inches, with no other freestanding or attached signs permitted (Sec. B(3)). No stock in trade may be kept or sold on site, and no outdoor open storage related to the business is allowed. Commercial deliveries are capped at 20 per week, and no vehicle over one ton is permitted to park on the premises. The code names examples that qualify: art studios, design services, professional offices of a learned profession, real estate or insurance agents, teaching, beauty parlors and barbershops, and web-based services, while expressly excluding restaurants, veterinarian offices and medical, dental or chiropractic offices.

, Georgia's Zoning Procedures Law, governs how the City of Decatur adopts or amends its zoning text, any future change to these home-occupation standards would go through the same public notice and hearing process as other UDO amendments, not an administrative tweak. The rules apply only inside the roughly four-square-mile City of Decatur in DeKalb County; a similar-sounding home business on a nearby unincorporated Decatur-addressed property is governed by DeKalb County's code instead.