EL PASO COUNTY
LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE

Chapter IV - Section 35.6

Home Occupation

1.   Subject to further elaboration in this Section 35.6, a home occupation is a secondary or incidental use of a dwelling or detached accessory building in a residentially zoned area and is for gainful employment or work of the resident, including: 

a.   Any principal or sideline occupation or trade or any hobby which results in the sale or trade of any products manufactured by the resident on the premises or the preparation or provision of any service by the resident on the premises; 

b.   Any professional or business office, whether the resident's principal or occasional work place; 

c.   Any educational or training service requiring pupils, students or trainees to come to the premises for instruction by resident(s) (e.g., music or art studios); and 

d.   Any non-profit, civic or religious organization or association for which the resident is employed, works, serves or represents, whether or not the resident is remunerated for such services. 

2.   A home occupation shall not include any principal or secondary permitted use or use subject to special review listed in any zone district which allows residential uses. Such uses shall be allowed only as specified in the applicable zone district and/or by procedures and standards otherwise provided in these Zoning Regulations. 

3.   This Section 35.6 shall not be interpreted to permit the operation of any of the following types of uses, among others, on residential property: 

a.   Auto repair garages, auto re-conditioning (detailing), or auto body/ paint shops; 

b.   Any form of food service (restaurants, catering, etc.); 

c.   Any form of vehicle/trailer sales or rental storage; 

d.   Contractor's equipment yard or equipment rental or sales; 

e.   Funeral parlor; 

f.   Any form of hospital (other than doctor's office); 

g.   Any form of pet boarding or veterinary hospital; 

h.  Any form of rental warehousing; 

i.   Commercial stables; 

j.   Any trucking, hauling, bussing, taxi, or limousine dispatch service which would require the parking of vehicles on site between jobs or service calls; or 

k.   Any industrial or heavy commercial use. 

B. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND STANDARDS

On any residentially occupied property within any zone districts which include a specific reference to this Section 35.6 (Home Occupations), a home occupation may be conducted in any residential dwelling and/or detached accessory building on the premises, provided the following are satisfied: 

1.   Such occupation shall be clearly incidental or secondary to the use of the property as a residence, and the use of the dwelling or detached accessory building for such occupation shall not result in any visual or other essential change in the residential character of the property. 

2.   Such occupation shall be conducted only by a person or persons residing on the premises and only so long as contained entirely within the dwelling or a detached accessory building. 

3.   The total area used for such occupation(s) shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the existing dwelling or more than five hundred (500) square feet of any accessory building. The operation of a home occupa-tion shall not result in the elimination of the dwelling's kitchen or all of its bedrooms. 

4.   There shall be no advertising of the home occupation visible outside the dwelling except as provided in Section 35.4, Advertising Devices, under sub-paragraph F.1.a. Except by customary exterior residential lighting, no sign illumination is allowed. 

5.   There shall be no outside storage or display on the premises of material, tools or equipment used as part of the home occupation or any products manufactured as part of the home occupation. 

6.   No sale of goods, supplies or other inventory shall be permitted unless such sales are clearly incidental and related to providing a service (e.g., sale of hair care products at a beauty shop) or unless the items are produced, constructed or assembled on the premises or are clearly incidental and related to the sale of such "homemade" items. 

7.   The occupation will ordinarily not bring more than three (3) clients or customers to the property at any one time. 

8.   If the home occupation will result in any clients or customers coming to the property, no less than two (2) on-site parking spaces shall be available. 

9.   Any mechanical, electrical or electronic equipment or machinery used in the home occupation must be operated in a fashion so that no noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors, heat, or electrical interference are detectable to the normal senses beyond the boundary line of the property. In no case shall any equipment be allowed which involves the use of hazardous, explosive or highly flammable (other than fuel needed to power the equipment) substances or which produces hazardous, explosive or highly flammable wastes or products. 

10.   The occupation is conducted in compliance with all applicable building, fire, health, and environmental laws, codes, and regulations. 

11.   No activity associated with a home occupation shall be allowed which results in detrimental visual impacts upon the surrounding neighborhood. 

12.   More than one home occupation may be conducted on any property provided all of the above provisions are complied with. 

13.   In addition to the general requirements and standards contained within this paragraph B., a Bed and Breakfast Home shall also operate in accordance with the following: 

a.   An owner(s) of the property shall reside within the Bed and Breakfast Home. 

b.   Meals shall be served to residents and overnight guests only. 

c.   The maximum length of stay for overnight guests shall be thirty (30) days. 

d.   Each guest room or sleeping area shall be provided with a smoke detector. 

e.   The Home shall obtain all required licenses. 

C. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW AND GENERAL PROVISIONS

1.   For any proposed or existing home occupation or rural home occupation, an administrative review and written recognition of such occupation may be sought from the County Development Services Department. It is not a prerequisite that administrative recognition be obtained from the Development Services Department; however, failure to fully qualify as a home occupation under subsection A above, failure to comply with the requirements and standards contained in subsection B. above, or failure to comply with the requirements and standards for a qualifying rural home occupation in subsection D. below may result in a review and action by the Development Services Department in accordance with this subsection C. 

2.   Any resident seeking recognition of his/her home occupation or rural home occupation should prepare and submit a letter to the Development Services Department describing the home occupation or rural home occupation and explaining how all of the requirements listed in subsection B. and D. as applicable will be adequately addressed. Within thirty (30) days of receipt of this letter or receipt of any letter fully responding to any additional questions or concerns raised by the Development Services Department, the Development Services Director or designee will issue a letter either recognizing or not recognizing the use as a qualified home occupation or rural home occupation. Conditions or restrictions may be included in order to assure that potential neighborhood impacts related to those matters identified in subsection B. and D. as applicable are eliminated or satisfactorily mitigated. 

3.   The Development Services Director or designee may, on his/her own initiative, review any activity that might be regarded as a home occupation or rural home occupation subject to this Section 35.6 and issue a letter in accordance with paragraph C.2. above. 

4.   If recognition as a home occupation or rural home occupation is not given by the Development Services Director or designee, the activity must qualify as a principal permitted use or an approved Use Subject to Special Review, as applicable, for the overlying zone district. If qualified for neither or if Use Subject to Special Review or Variance of Use approval is not diligently sought or obtained, the activity if currently in operation will be regarded as a violation and subject to zoning enforcement. 

5.   The interpretation or application by the Development Services Director or designee of the definitions, requirements and standards of this Section 35.6 may be appealed in accordance with Section 1. M. of these Zoning regulations. 

D.   RURAL HOME OCCUPATION

A rural home occupation is secondary or incidental use of a dwelling or detached accessory building which otherwise meets the requirements set forth in subsections A-C above, except as specifically modified and expanded herein. The purpose of the more broadly defined rural home occupation is to recognize the unique land use characteristics in low density agriculturally zoned areas and to reasonably accommodate the home-based businesses that traditionally occur in these areas. 

1. Rural home occupations are only allowable in those zone districts where they are specifically listed. 

2.   The minimum lot or parcel size for a rural home occupation is 10 (ten) acres. For smaller lots or parcels, the home occupation definition and requirements must be met. 

3.   Provided the business(es) meets the requirements set forth in Paragraph D.4 below, the following types of uses among others may qualify as rural home occupations: 

a.   Contractor's equipment yards, construction businesses, welding shops. 

b.   Trucking and hauling businesses 

c.   Vehicle storage and/or repair businesses 

d.   Other small businesses which primarily serve a rural agricultural or ranching clientele 

4.   Rural home occupations shall conform to the requirements and standards in subsection B above with the following allowable exceptions: 

a.   Outside storage, parking and work areas are allowed provided these are set back a minimum of fifty (50) feet from all property lines and are limited in combination to one (1) acre or five (5) percent of the total property, whichever is less. All outside storage areas of greater than five thousand (5,000) square feet of gross area shall be screened from public view in accordance with Section 35.5.18.b of the Land Development Code. 

b.   A maximum of two (2) outside employees is allowed, who are not family members or principally employed in a use which is otherwise permitted on the property. 

c.   The total number of one-way vehicle trips generated by the rural home occupation shall not exceed an average of 20 (twenty) per day. 

d.   A maximum of ten (10) unlicensed and/or inoperable non-agricultural vehicles shall be allowed in conjunction with the rural home occupation. 

e.   The rural home occupation shall not result in any excessive noise, vibration, dust, glare, drainage, erosion or other environmental impacts to surrounding property owners. 

f.   More than one rural home occupation is allowed on a single property, provided that aggregate impacts are limited to those stipulated in this paragraph. 

5.   The following types of businesses, among others do not qualify as a rural home occupation: 

a.   Any heavy industrial, solid waste disposal, solid waste transfer, scrap tire recycling or mineral extraction use 

b.   Any heavy commercial use 

c.   Any use involving significant public occupancy or overnight accommodations other than those uses specifically permitted in the zone district. 

d.   Any commercial tower or utility use, not otherwise permitted. 

e.   Any outdoor concert, shooting range, race track or comparable use. 

6.   For qualifying rural home occupations in the applicable zone district, this subsection D specifically supercedes the following requirements in subsections A and B of this section: 

a.   Paragraph A.3 

b.   Paragraph B.2, B.3, B.5 and B.7-9 

All other requirements in subsections A-C shall apply to rural home occupations except that Paragraph B.11 shall be interpreted to allow reasonable outside storage which is visible to neighboring properties. 

Written recognition of a rural home occupation may be obtained utilizing the procedure contained within subsection C. of this section. 

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