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

Section 2510 permits a home occupation "as of right," meaning no permit is needed, when the business is incidental and customarily associated with the residential use and the owner of the dwelling runs it. Six conditions in Sections 2511 through 2518 all have to be met at once. Section 2511 confines the occupation entirely inside the principal building, so detached garages or sheds cannot host it. Section 2512 caps floor area used for the occupation at 30 percent of the residence. Section 2513 bars employing anyone who is not a household member on the premises.

Section 2516 limits hazardous materials to normal household quantities. Section 2518 allows only one home occupation per dwelling, so a resident cannot stack two separate as-of-right businesses in the same house. If a homeowner cannot meet all six conditions, most commonly because the business needs to operate out of a qualifying accessory structure rather than the house itself, Section 2520 offers a special permit path through the Board of Appeals; Section 2521 allows the special permit version to run out of an accessory structure that has existed at least five years, and Section 2522 raises the floor-area cap to 30 percent of the combined floor area of the house and that accessory structure. Both the as-of-right and special-permit tracks are administered by the Board of Appeals and the Building Commissioner's zoning enforcement staff.