Story County, IA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Chapter 89 of the Land Development Regulations sets the standards a home business must meet in unincorporated Story County. The business must be service and/or product oriented, owned and operated by the resident owner or co-owner, and confined to no more than 49 percent of the dwelling's gross floor area, with at most one accessory building (capped at 2,400 square feet of gross floor area) used for the operation. Emissions of odor, gas, dust, smoke or noise cannot be detectable at the property line, and outside storage or display of products is prohibited.

01(2) needs no permit at all; anything above those thresholds requires a Home Business Permit from the Planning and Development Department, issued only after review of hazardous materials, private sewage disposal capacity and impact on neighboring property values. Businesses listed in Table 90-1's Table of Conditional Uses, principal HI Heavy Industrial uses, or operations storing chemicals like liquid propane or anhydrous ammonia cannot qualify as home businesses at all. Permits must be renewed every two years. Owners who have run a compliant home business for at least a year can ask the Planning and Development Director for a minimal easing of the standards (up to two extra employees or parking spaces, a small screened storage area, or a 120-square-foot shed) or, for bigger changes, apply for a Conditional Use Permit allowing a temporary expansion of up to three years while transitioning to a permanent site.