Montebello, CA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Montebello Municipal Code Section 17.59.030 requires the applicant to file a home occupation permit application together with a business license application on a city-prescribed form. The application must carry the notarized signatures of both the business operator and the property owner, and, for rental property, the signature of the homeowners' association board where one exists. Applicants must prove full-time residency at the site with a California Identification Card or California Driver's License issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the planning manager may require additional plans or drawings, though that requirement can be waived if deemed unnecessary.

Once a complete application is filed, the planning manager has twenty working days to approve it, approve it in modified form, or deny it outright; that decision is final unless the applicant files an appeal to the planning commission within thirty days, following the procedure in Section 17.78.060. After approval, the applicant still must process a separate business and home occupation license through the business license division before operating. A permit is good only for the holder: Section 17.59.040 states a home occupation permit is not transferrable, so a change of operator or address requires a new application.

The director of planning and community development can void a permit at any time for noncompliance with the operating standards set out in Section 17.59.050. Enforcement runs through the code's general penalty provisions in Chapters 1.12 and 17.06, which the home occupation chapter incorporates directly for both fines and other remedies.