Walton County, GA Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Walton County's Land Development Ordinance permits home occupations only in zoning districts that allow them, and only under conditions meant to keep the property looking and behaving residential. Section 6-1-420 caps the amount of the dwelling that can be devoted to a home occupation at 25 percent of its gross floor area, and the business must be conducted entirely inside the dwelling unit itself, not in a garage or yard structure. Only people who actually live in the home may be employed at the location; hiring outside staff to work on-site is not allowed.

There can be no outward evidence of the occupation and no impacts in appearance, noise, light, odor, traffic or utility use that would be detectable beyond the dwelling unit, so anything that changes how the house looks or sounds from the street is a problem. Customers are not permitted to visit the property for a home occupation unless the owner has obtained a special exception from the Board of Appeals; without that approval, on-site customer contact is prohibited outright. Materials, equipment and business vehicles connected to the occupation must be stored entirely inside the residence rather than left visible on the lot.

Home occupations that were already operating before January 1, 2000 are grandfathered as non-conforming uses, but they cannot be changed to a different non-conforming use, cannot expand beyond their size on the date of the current occupational tax certificate, and are tied to the specific owner and business, not transferable to a new operator. Planning and Development administers the occupational tax certificate that home occupations must hold to operate.