Mono County, CA Home Business: Zoning Restrictions (2026)

Under the Mono County General Plan zoning regulations, home occupations are allowed in all residential land use designations, conditioned on obtaining a business license and complying with the home-occupation standards. Section 04.290 requires that a home occupation be clearly incidental and secondary to the residential use of the parcel and carried on within on-site structures by inhabitants of the parcel. The standards specify that the business 'shall be carried on by members of the family occupying the dwelling, with no other persons employed,' that it 'shall produce no evidence of its existence in the external appearance of the dwelling or premises,' that there be no merchandise sales except items produced on-site, no structural alterations to accommodate the business, no traffic generation beyond neighborhood norms, and no outdoor storage or advertising. A use that needs to exceed these limits — for example, a non-resident employee or more visible operation — requires an Expanded Home Occupation Permit, which must be approved by the Planning Commission at a public hearing. Because these are the County's own standards for the unincorporated areas, they apply countywide outside the incorporated Town of Mammoth Lakes, which administers its own code.