James City County, VA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Section 24-2 defines "home occupation" as any occupation or activity clearly incidental and secondary to a dwelling's residential use and conducted solely by the residents, then conditions that status on meeting every one of seven numbered requirements. Subsection (1) requires the activity be conducted entirely within the dwelling itself, not in a detached shed or yard. Subsection (2) caps the floor area used for the business at 25 percent of the first floor. Subsection (3) bars any external alteration to the home and prohibits outdoor storage of machinery or equipment that creates noise, odor, smoke, dust or glare, or that is otherwise dangerous or detrimental to the residents or adjacent property.

Subsection (5) prohibits displaying or offering articles for sale on the premises, and subsection (6) bars any equipment or process that could disrupt neighboring dwellings. ) Because the test is written into the use's definition rather than a standalone permit section, a home occupation that satisfies all seven conditions is treated as a permitted accessory use in residential districts without a special use permit; the zoning administrator, part of Community Development, evaluates compliance case by case, typically after a complaint, rather than through an upfront license review.