Can I run a business from home in Piedmont, California?
Yes, with a home occupation permit from the City Clerk and a city business license. Piedmont's rules are strict: no non-resident employees, no customer visits, no signs, and the business may use only one room (not the garage); cottage food operations get limited exceptions.
| Permit | Home occupation permit from the City Clerk [2] |
| Neighbor notice | Adjacent residents notified; 15-day comment period if they don't sign [3] |
| Employees | Residents only (cottage food: 1 non-household employee) [5] |
| Customer visits | Not permitted (cottage food direct sales excepted) [6] |
| Signs | None allowed [7] |
| Space | One room; garage may not be used [8] |
| Business license | Required [4] |
When you need a permit
A home occupation is any occupation conducted at a residence. Piedmont presumes you need a permit if you provide paid services on the premises, keep an inventory of commercial products, regularly advertise your home address, or list your home as the business location on your business license application [1][2].
How to apply
Submit an application and non-refundable fee to the City Clerk, with a floor plan showing which room you'll use. You must notify adjacent residents; if any don't sign the notification form, the city mails them notice and allows a 15-day comment period [3]. The City Clerk then decides whether the business complies with the restrictions; the decision can be appealed to the City Council within 10 days. The permit stays valid as long as the location and nature of the business don't change. You must also keep a current city business license [4].
Restrictions
- Employees: only residents (or people primarily employed on the premises, like a housekeeper); a cottage food operation may have one non-household employee [5].
- Traffic and visitors: no traffic or parking beyond what's normal for the neighborhood, and no business invitees may visit, except cottage food direct sales [6].
- No resale merchandise delivered or stored on site, and no outdoor storage.
- No signs and no external sign of a business through color, lighting, noise, vibration or anything else [7].
- One room only, and not the garage [8].
- No advertising the address, though business cards, stationery and invoices may show it.
Prohibited businesses
Auto mechanic or garage, retail general merchandise, scrap or salvage sales or storage, pornographic products, massage businesses, and manufacturing with heavy machinery are not allowed [9].
Cottage food operations
A cottage food operation must use the primary kitchen, stay within state sales limits, hold an Alameda County Environmental Health registration or permit (copy to the City Clerk within 15 days), and may not sell from a garage, accessory structure or outside the house. Licensed small family day care homes are a permitted use in Zone A under state law.
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Next steps
- Draw a simple floor plan showing the one room you'll use (not the garage).
- Submit a home occupation permit application and fee to the Piedmont City Clerk, and have adjacent neighbors sign the notification form.
- Get a City of Piedmont business license and keep it current.
- For a cottage food business, first register or get a permit from Alameda County Environmental Health and send a copy to the City Clerk within 15 days.
Common questions
- Can I run a business from home in Piedmont, California?
- Yes, with a home occupation permit from the City Clerk and a city business license.
- Can I have employees or customers at a home business in Piedmont, California?
- No non-resident employees and no customer visits are allowed, though cottage food operations get limited exceptions.
- Can I put up a sign or use my garage for a home business in Piedmont, California?
- No signs are allowed, and the business may use only one room, not the garage.
- Do neighbors get notice of a home business in Piedmont, California?
- Adjacent residents are notified, with a 15-day comment period if they don't sign.
California state protections for home-based businesses
California has no general statewide home-occupation law. Cities and counties set the rules on employees, signs, customer visits and parking. State law protects a few specific home businesses:
Family child care homes (Health & Safety Code §1597.45):
- A licensed small (up to 8 children) or large (7 to 14 children) family daycare home is a residential use by right under all local ordinances, including zoning. A city can't require a use permit.
- Cities can't charge a business license, fee or tax for operating one, and it isn't a change of occupancy under building codes.
- Local rules may apply only if they are identical to those for other homes in the same zone, whether the home is rented or owned.
Cottage food operations (Gov. Code §51035; AB 1616, effective 2013):
- Cities and counties can't prohibit home cottage food operations. They must allow them as a permitted use or through a permit limited to reasonable spacing, traffic, parking and noise standards.
- A cottage food operation has no more than one full-time-equivalent employee besides family or household members. Class A (direct sales only) is capped at $75,000 a year and Class B at $150,000, adjusted for inflation (H&S Code §113758).
- You must register (Class A) or get a permit (Class B) from the county environmental health agency.
Home kitchens selling meals (microenterprise home kitchen operations): allowed only where the city or county has authorized them, with a permit and a limit of 30 meals a day and 90 a week (§113825).
What the ordinance says
- Sec. 17.44.010 Definitions, City Code Chapter 17 Planning and Land Use (zoning; through Ord. 791 N.S., 04/2026), p. 68
Home occupation means an occupation conducted at a residence. It does not include a residential rental under division 17.40.
- Sec. 17.44.020(A) Purpose; Presumption, City Code Chapter 17 Planning and Land Use (zoning; through Ord. 791 N.S., 04/2026), p. 68
The existence of any of the following create a presumption that there is a home occupation for which a permit is required:
- Sec. 17.44.020(C) Notice, City Code Chapter 17 Planning and Land Use (zoning; through Ord. 791 N.S., 04/2026), p. 68
The applicant must notify adjacent residents of the intent to obtain a home occupation permit and conduct a business, in a form prescribed by the City Clerk.
- Sec. 17.44.020(F) Business license tax, City Code Chapter 17 Planning and Land Use (zoning; through Ord. 791 N.S., 04/2026), p. 69
Each person operating an approved home occupation must also have a current city business license.
- Sec. 17.44.030(1) No employee, City Code Chapter 17 Planning and Land Use (zoning; through Ord. 791 N.S., 04/2026), p. 69
Other than residents (or persons who are primarily employed on the premises such as a housekeeper), no other employee may be involved in the home occupation. However, a cottage food operations business may employ not more than one part-time or full-time non-household member as an employee.
- Sec. 17.44.030(2) No traffic, City Code Chapter 17 Planning and Land Use (zoning; through Ord. 791 N.S., 04/2026), p. 69
No business invitee is permitted to visit the premises, except that a cottage food operation may engage in direct sales.
- Sec. 17.44.030(5) No sign; no other indication, City Code Chapter 17 Planning and Land Use (zoning; through Ord. 791 N.S., 04/2026), p. 69
There may not be any sign on the premises used in connection with the home occupation.
- Sec. 17.44.030(6) One room only, City Code Chapter 17 Planning and Land Use (zoning; through Ord. 791 N.S., 04/2026), p. 69
No more than one room in the residence or any structure on the premises may be used in connection with the home occupation (except for telephone or computer uses). A garage may not be used for the home occupation.
- Sec. 17.44.030(8) Prohibited occupations, City Code Chapter 17 Planning and Land Use (zoning; through Ord. 791 N.S., 04/2026), p. 70
The following occupations or businesses are not permitted, including the use of the telephone number of the premises for business purposes: automobile mechanic or garage; retail general merchandise;