Yakima, WA Home Business: Zoning Restrictions (2026)

Yakima's home occupation framework is set in YMC Chapter 15.04 (Permitted Land Uses) under YUAZO Title 15, originally adopted by the Yakima Urban Area Joint Board and administered by the City of Yakima Planning Division (509-575-6183). YMC 15.02 defines three relevant terms: 'Home Occupation' — the accessory use of a dwelling unit for gainful employment involving the manufacture, provision or sale of goods and/or services in the home; 'Home Occupation, Business Administration' — an administrative office for a licensed commercial business in an approved commercial zone, or a home-based internet business with no on-site resale of commercial goods (phone calls, mail, paperwork, computer work only); and 'Home Instruction' — teaching of an art, hobby, skill, trade, profession, or sport as a home occupation. YMC 15.04.120(C) sets thirteen mandatory conditions: (1) conducted inside a structure on the practitioner's primary residence (where the person resides the majority of the calendar year); (2) incidental and subordinate to residential functions; (3) no external alterations that change the building's residential character; (4) the home-occupation space must be readily convertible back to residential use; (5) no alteration of normal residential character via color, materials, lighting, signs, or emission of noise, vibration, dust, glare, heat, smoke, or odors; (6) no traffic volumes greater than typical residential — delivery frequency comparable to a single-family home; (7) on-site storage of equipment, materials, or goods is permitted only within the designated home-occupation space and not visible from the public right-of-way; (8) only immediate family members residing in the dwelling count as employees (no non-resident employees on premises); (9) one identification sign permitted per YMC Ch. 15.08 (small, non-illuminated); (10) on-street parking from the home occupation may not exceed typical residential parking; (11) home occupation activities confined to the principal dwelling or an attached/permitted accessory structure; (12) sale of goods limited to those produced on premises plus internet/phone order delivery; and (13) compliance with all Washington State licensing (UBI), federal, and local rules. Table 4-2 (YMC 15.04.030) categorizes specific home occupations across all Yakima zoning districts — Suburban Residential (SR), Single-Family Residential (R-1), Two-Family Residential (R-2), Multifamily Residential (R-3), Professional Business (B-1), Local Business (B-2), Historical Business (HB), Small Convenience Center (SCC), Large Convenience Center (LCC), Central Business District (CBD), Regional Development (RD), Light Industrial (M-1), and Heavy Industrial (M-2). Class 1 uses are permitted by right (over-the-counter); Class 2 require Type 2 administrative review by the Administrative Official; Class 3 require Type 3 Hearing Examiner review. Class 2/3 applications require notice to surrounding property owners (YMC 16.05). Washington's HB 1110 (2023, RCW 36.70A.635) Middle Housing law does not address home occupations but does require Yakima — a city over 75,000 population — to permit duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in all single-family zones (compliance by mid-2025 / six months after Yakima's next periodic GMA comprehensive plan update). Washington has not enacted a Home-Based Business Protection Act analogous to Florida HB 403 or Arizona HB 2333, so YMC 15.04.120's conditions remain enforceable.