Newport News, VA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Section 45-402, the Summary of Uses by District, is the master table that tells a property owner what uses each of Newport News' 20 zoning districts allows. Home occupation appears as use number 10 under 'PERMITTED USES B. RESIDENTIAL,' marked 'P' for permitted use across every residential district: R1, R2, R3 and R4 single-family, R5 low multi-family, R6 manufactured homes, R7 medium multi-family, R8 high multi-family, and R9 mixed use. The table legend defines 'P' as permitted use, 'C' as conditional use, and a blank cell as not permitted; home occupation carries no 'C' anywhere, meaning it is either allowed by right in a residential district or not allowed at all, with no conditional-use path into the Park (P1), Office (O1-O3), Commercial (C1-C5) or Industrial (M1-M2) districts.

Zoning district permission is only the first hurdle. Section 45-201 defines a home occupation as any occupation clearly incidental to dwelling use that forms all or part of a resident family member's livelihood, and cross-references the operating standards at § 45-517, which cap floor space at 400 square feet and bar accessory-building use, exterior signage and neighborhood-nuisance traffic. Before operating, the owner must obtain a certificate of use and occupancy from the department of codes compliance; § 13-170(d) sets a $50 application fee for a home-occupation certificate and requires the premises be inspected before it issues.

A use permitted on the § 45-402 table but that violates the § 45-517 operating standards is still unlawful, and the zoning administrator enforces both under § 45-3501.