Pasco, WA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Chapter 25.150 PMC creates a home occupation framework so a business can operate as an accessory use in a residential district without disrupting the neighborhood. Section 25.150.020 bars several uses outright regardless of standards compliance: dog boarding or kenneling, vehicle repair or maintenance, motor rebuilding, vehicle painting, welding, sheet metal shops, upholstering, firewood cutting, and any Group H occupancy under the adopted International Building and Fire Code. For everything else, 25.150.040 requires the business to be clearly subordinate to the residential use, performed entirely inside a permanent structure, conducted solely by people residing in the dwelling, and confined to no more than 20 percent of the home's gross floor area (a garage may be used if the portion utilized does not exceed 600 square feet).

Applications run through the Business Licensing Service under Chapter 5.05 PMC, with fees set by PMC Title 5, and the Director must render a decision within 10 working days of a complete application, no later than 30 calendar days absent an applicant-agreed extension per 25.150.050. A denial can be appealed to the Hearing Examiner under 25.150.060, and the City Planner may revoke a license under 25.150.070 if the business no longer conforms to the standards or becomes a nuisance under Chapter 9.90 PMC. Moving the business to a new address requires an entirely new license application per 25.150.090; the existing license does not transfer.