Plano, TX Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

1 of the Plano Zoning Ordinance, updated under ZC2025-007 (Ordinance No. 2025-8-13), sets the operating conditions a resident must meet to run a home occupation without a separate use permit. Staffing is capped at 'only one employee other than occupants of the residence,' defined as anyone who 'receives a wage, salary, or percentage of profits directly related to the home occupation', remote workers who never visit the house for business don't count against the cap. ' Instructional classes get a narrow carve-out: they may be held outdoors if the rest of the ordinance's stipulations are met, but a session is capped at 6 students.

On-site retail is largely off the table, merchandise 'shall not be offered or displayed for sale on the premises,' though sales incidental to a service and pickup of orders placed by phone or at a sales party are allowed. Operators also can't store materials, goods, supplies, or equipment outdoors, can't alter the building in a way that changes its residential look, and can't generate noise, vibration, smoke, electrical interference, dirt, odors, or heat beyond what's normal for a residential area. No toxic, explosive, flammable, combustible, corrosive, or radioactive materials may be kept on site, and traffic generated cannot exceed what a residential neighborhood would normally see, with parking confined to the home's required off-street spaces or the street frontage of that lot.