Skowhegan, ME Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

The definition sits in Section IV of the Town of Skowhegan Site Plan Review Ordinance. A home occupation is an occupation, or profession, customarily conducted in a residential structure or on a residential property that is clearly incidental to and compatible with the residential use of the property and surrounding residential uses, and that employs no more than two (2) persons other than family members residing in the home.

Section V lists the activities that shall not require site plan approval, and item 6 is the establishment and modification of home occupations that do not result in changes to the site or exterior of the building. The lead-in to that list adds that certain of these activities will require the owner to obtain a plumbing permit and/or other State or local approvals, so the exclusion is from site plan review only. A home business that does change the site or the exterior is not covered by item 6. Section V also provides that when there is a question whether an activity is subject to review, the Code Enforcement Officer makes the determination.

Site plan review in Skowhegan is triggered by thresholds written for larger projects: a new non-residential building of five thousand (5,000) square feet or more or taller than thirty-five (35) feet, an expansion of more than twenty (20) percent of floor area or 5,000 square feet whichever is greater, conversion of 5,000 or more square feet from residential to non-residential use, a new non-residential use occupying more than one acre, and paved or other impervious area of ten thousand (10,000) square feet or more within any five (5) year period. Section X(1) states that the Planning Board shall review all projects.

This page covers the Site Plan Review Ordinance only. The Shoreland Zoning Ordinance carries its own home occupation definition and use table and applies only in the shoreland zone.