Everett, MA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Section 12-11 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Everett, Massachusetts, sits in Chapter 12 (Licenses and Business Regulations) and controls every business run from a home in this Middlesex County city. The Everett City Council wrote it to protect residential market value and to guarantee neighbors freedom from excessive noise, excessive traffic, nuisance and fire hazard.

A home occupation must be limited in extent, defined as a customary home occupation or recognized profession, clearly incidental and subordinate to residential use, compatible with neighboring residential uses, and unable to substantially change the appearance or condition of the residence or an accessory structure. A dwelling unit gets one home occupation. The business can occupy no more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the combined total floor area of the dwelling unit and accessory buildings, not counting unenclosed decks and open porches. Garage sales and yard sales are not home occupations. On-premises retail is prohibited except for goods produced or fabricated on the premises, with incidental retail sales allowed alongside other permitted home occupations. Only immediate family members or people permanently residing on the premises can be employed there, with a Board of Appeals exception for up to two additional part-time employees for periods not exceeding three months.

The permit runs through the City Clerk. Applications are on City Clerk forms, there is no application fee, and the annual permit fee is set in Article XI of Chapter 12. The permit goes to a designated person who resides at the residential address, cannot be transferred between people or addresses, and ends if the holder dies or moves, except that a surviving spouse or child residing at the same address can continue it on notice to and written authorization from the City Clerk. A home business operating under a name needs a valid business certificate. Applicants must permit a reasonable inspection by the Code Enforcement Officer or designee. A use that fails the definition cannot be registered and is treated as either a conforming or a nonconforming commercial activity.