Wilmington, NC Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

Section 18-279(a) limits staffing to one person outside the family residing on the premises. Subsection (b) caps the footprint: the home occupation may use up to 25 percent of the dwelling unit's floor area, but never more than 400 square feet, and the use must remain clearly incidental and subordinate to the dwelling's residential purpose. That floor-area cap does not apply to the separately regulated bed and breakfast use under subsection (k). Subsection (d) confines the occupation to the principal structure; with the sole exception of bed and breakfast uses, no home occupation may be conducted in an accessory building such as a detached garage or shed.

Subsection (i) bars any entrance or exit built specifically for the occupation, and subsection (j) permits only one home occupation per dwelling unit, so a resident cannot stack a second business under separate cover. Home occupations also cannot display products visible from the street or manufacture or sell merchandise beyond baking, sewing, and home crafts under subsection (g). The Planning, Development & Transportation Department administers these standards as part of the zoning use permitted-by-right in residential districts; no separate special use permit is required unless the standards of Section 18-279 are not met, in which case the use is not permitted as a home occupation at all.