Troy, NY Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Troy's zoning chapter, Chapter 285 of the City Code adopted by the Troy City Council, defines a home occupation in § 285-12 as an occupation, profession, or activity carried out for gain that is clearly a customary, incidental, and secondary use of a residential dwelling unit and that does not alter the exterior of the property or affect the residential character of the neighborhood. The same definition treats "home business" as the same thing. Two tests sit inside the definition: the activity has to be secondary to living in the dwelling, and it cannot change how the property looks from the street or the character of the neighborhood.

Home occupations are listed in § 285-52(B)(3) among the allowed uses of the R-1 Single-Family Residential Detached district, alongside detached single-family residences, open spaces and accessory structures. They do not appear in the R-1 special permit list, which names churches and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools. The R-2 district allows all uses allowed in an R-1 Zone (§ 285-53), the R-3 district allows uses allowed in the R-2 Zone (§ 285-54), and the R-4 district allows uses allowed in the R-3 Zone (§ 285-55), so the home occupation allowance carries through R-1 to R-4.

Parking is a printed requirement. The off-street parking lines in the R-1, R-2, R-3 and R-4 district sections each read "Home occupation: two spaces," and the R-1 section sends other uses to the parking schedule in § 285-91. Signs are capped by § 285-97(E): home occupation signs are limited to three square feet in area and are displayed as described for signs in the R-1 and R-2 Zones in § 285-99B, C, D and E.

The definitions tie several related uses to the home occupation concept. A professional office, such as a lawyer, clergyman, physician, dentist, architect, engineer or accountant, that meets the home occupation criteria is considered a home occupation under the "office, professional" definition. A bed-and-breakfast is itself defined as a home occupation that can accommodate no more than six guests at any given time for a period of no longer than seven days, with no meals served except breakfast, and it is an allowed use in the R-4 district under § 285-55. Complaints about a home business go to the Director of Code Enforcement in writing under § 285-21.