Shreveport, LA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

O of the Unified Development Code makes the home occupation permit a recurring one, not a one-time approval. 1 requires a home-based business certificate of occupancy and forces every operator to reapply for a new one every two years, giving the city a standing check on whether the use still fits the standards. 2 ties eligibility to residency: the business must be conducted by an individual who permanently resides in the dwelling, and only residents of that dwelling may be employed there, which rules out hiring outside staff to work on site.

4 confines the entire operation, including any storage, to inside the principal building or a permitted accessory structure, so no outdoor work areas or storage yards are allowed. 8 prohibits any alteration to the residence or its accessory structures that would change its residential character. 11 adds a nuisance backstop, requiring that noise, odor, smoke, electrical interference, and vibration stay within what is normally associated with residential use. Together these provisions make the certificate of occupancy the gatekeeper for a use that must otherwise stay invisible from the street and confined to the people who actually live in the house.