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

Sec. 28-928 opens by permitting home occupations in residential districts 'provided that' ten conditions are met, and several define the zoning posture of the use rather than a numeric limit. Clause (1) requires the occupation be 'conducted as a secondary use to the residential dwelling and in a manner in which none of its activities are visible from a street,' so the business must stay secondary to residential use and produce no visible sign of commercial activity from the public right-of-way. to the principal building which changes its residential character as a dwelling unit,' so a garage conversion or storefront-style entrance disqualifies the use.

Clause (4) forbids open storage outright. Clause (6) restricts deliveries: no commodity may be sold or service rendered that 'require delivery or shipment of merchandise, goods or equipment by other than passenger motor vehicles, three-quarter-ton step-up van or similar sized trucks,' ruling out tractor-trailer or box-truck deliveries. ' Together these clauses function as the zoning gate for the use: a home occupation that satisfies them, along with the separate patron, traffic, noise and signage limits elsewhere in the section, is allowed by right in a residential district without a separate zoning permit or public hearing.