Greenwood, IN Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Sec. 10-03-12.A of Greenwood's Unified Development Ordinance sets the baseline standards every home occupation must meet. Floor area is capped: a maximum of twenty-five percent of the gross floor area of the dwelling shall be utilized for a home occupation. The business cannot change how the house looks from the street, since the external appearance of the structure shall not be altered to accommodate the home occupation use, and it cannot spill outside: there shall be no outside storage of any kind related to the home occupation use, and only commodities made on the premises may be sold on the premises, with no display of any products visible from outside the dwelling.

Equipment that creates offensive noises, vibration, smoke, dust, odor, heat, glare, x-rays, radiation, or electrical disturbances is barred outright. The section's longest provision, A.12, lists uses the City has decided grow too large or intrusive for a residential district and bans them from qualifying as home occupations at all, naming auto and vehicle repair, barbershops, beauty shops, dance studios, dental and medical offices, vehicle painting, photography and photo-developing studios, private schools with organized classes, upholstering, television and radio repair, small-engine and appliance repair, freight or trucking operations, welding and machine shops, antique or gift shops, equipment rental, veterinary clinics, kennels and stables, and restaurants or other eating and drinking establishments.

Operating any of these, or any other use inconsistent with the section, out of a Greenwood home does not qualify as a lawful home occupation and is pursued as a zoning violation.