Can I run a business from home in Sierra Madre, California?
Yes, with a permit. Every home business in Sierra Madre, even one with no customer visits, needs a one-time Home Occupation Permit and an annual city business license. A standard (ministerial) permit requires no added traffic or parking impact, no signs, all work indoors, and use of no more than the greater of 25% of the home's floor area or 400 sq ft; businesses that can't meet those limits can seek a discretionary permit with neighbor notice.
| Permits required | Home Occupation Permit plus annual business license [1] |
| Signs | No visible signage or exterior identification [2] |
| Customer traffic (ministerial) | None; no impact on street parking [2] |
| Max area (ministerial) | Greater of 25% of floor area (excluding garage) or 400 sq ft [3] |
| Max area (discretionary) | 50% of floor area (excluding garage) [4] |
| Neighbor notice (discretionary) | Owners within 300 ft; 14-day comment period [5] |
| Employees | Non-resident employee needs adequate on-site parking [6] |
| Permits per home | One [7] |
Permit and license
Sierra Madre allows home occupations in residential zones, including as a by-right use in R-1 and R-H, but no home occupation may start without a Home Occupation Permit and an annual business license [1]. The City's webpage says this applies even if customers never visit, such as consulting, online services or creative work. If your business license lapses, the permit becomes void.
Ministerial (staff) approval
You qualify for a simple ministerial permit if the business generates no pedestrian or vehicular traffic and doesn't affect street parking, the home doesn't look nonresidential, there are no visible signs, it creates no site nuisance, there is only one home-occupation business license per home, and everything happens inside an enclosed structure with nothing stored or displayed outdoors [2]. The business can use no more than the greater of 25% of the floor area (excluding the garage) or 400 sq ft [3].
Discretionary approval
If you can't meet all of those, you can apply for a discretionary permit. Traffic must stay within what's normal for the district, no signs are allowed, outdoor activity must not be visually detrimental, and the business can use up to 50% of the floor area [4]. The City mails notice to all property owners within 300 feet and allows at least 14 days for comments, and the director may refer the application to the Planning Commission [5].
Employees
The code doesn't cap employees, but if someone other than the resident family works on site you must show adequate improved parking for that employee [6]. Only one home occupation permit and license is issued per dwelling unit [7].
Prohibited uses
Home occupations can't include narcotic paraphernalia sales, massage businesses, tobacco retailing, cannabis uses prohibited by the code, or adult businesses, unless state law preempts [8]. State law protects licensed family daycare homes and cottage food operations (see state rules).
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Next steps
- Fill out the City's Home Occupation Permit Application describing your business, whether anyone else will work at the home, and where in the house it will operate.
- Submit it through the Accela Citizen Portal (Planning > Create an Application for Entitlement); for discretionary review, include a 300-foot owner mailing list with two sets of labels.
- Within 10 business days of approval, sign and return the affidavit accepting the conditions of approval.
- Apply for the annual City business license in Accela (Licenses > Home Occupation), uploading your permit approval; renew yearly. Questions: (626) 355-7135, CityPlanner@sierramadreca.gov.
Common questions
- Do I need a home occupation permit in Sierra Madre, California?
- Yes. Every home business in Sierra Madre, even one with no customer visits, needs a one-time Home Occupation Permit and an annual city business license. If the business license lapses, the permit becomes void.
- How much of my home can I use for a business in Sierra Madre, California?
- Under a standard ministerial permit, the greater of 25% of the floor area (excluding the garage) or 400 sq ft. A discretionary permit allows up to 50% of the floor area, with notice to owners within 300 feet and a 14-day comment period.
- Can I have employees at my home business in Sierra Madre, California?
- The code doesn't cap employees, but if someone other than the resident family works on site you must show adequate improved parking for that employee.
- What are the rules for a home business in Sierra Madre, California?
- A ministerial permit requires no added traffic or street-parking impact, no visible signs, all work inside an enclosed structure and only one home-occupation license per home. Businesses that can't meet those limits can seek a discretionary permit.
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. 17.85.030(A), Municipal Code Title 17 Ch. 17.85 Home Occupations (ministerial and discretionary home occupation permits; short-term rentals as home occupations), p. 1
No home occupation may be established and conducted without first obtaining a home occupation permit pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and an annual business license pursuant to the provisions of Title 5 of the Sierra Madre Municipal Code.
- Sec. 17.85.040(A)-(C), Municipal Code Title 17 Ch. 17.85 Home Occupations (ministerial and discretionary home occupation permits; short-term rentals as home occupations), p. 1
That the home occupation will not generate any pedestrian or vehicular traffic nor impact street parking or public parking facilities. B. That in no way will the appearance of any structure or the conduct of the business be such that any portion of the premises may be reasonably recognized as serving a nonresidential use, either by color, form, or materials of construction. C. That no visible signage, or other forms of exterior identification, which identifies the home occupation will be installed or otherwise placed on any part of the property where the home occupation is located.
- Sec. 17.85.090(A)(8), Municipal Code Title 17 Ch. 17.85 Home Occupations (ministerial and discretionary home occupation permits; short-term rentals as home occupations), p. 1
Not more than the greater of (i) twenty-five percent of the total floor area of all structures on the property directly associated with the dwelling unit where the home occupation will occur, excluding the garage, or (ii) four hundred square feet shall be occupied for the home occupation except for a short-term rental for the sole purpose of transient occupancy for periods of no more than thirty consecutive days in which case the guest count shall not exceed two persons per bedroom.
- Sec. 17.85.050(F), Municipal Code Title 17 Ch. 17.85 Home Occupations (ministerial and discretionary home occupation permits; short-term rentals as home occupations), p. 1
Except when a home occupation is for a short-term rental for the sole purpose of transient occupancy for periods of no more than thirty consecutive days and where guest count does not exceed three persons per bedroom, that not more than fifty percent of the total floor area of all structures on the property directly associated with the dwelling unit where the home occupation will occur, excluding the garage, will be occupied for the "home occupation."
- Sec. 17.85.080(B)(3), Municipal Code Title 17 Ch. 17.85 Home Occupations (ministerial and discretionary home occupation permits; short-term rentals as home occupations), p. 1
The director shall notify by mail all property owners within a three-hundred-foot radius of the pending home occupation application. Said notification shall describe the proposed home occupation and shall provide a comment period of not less than fourteen calendar days.
- Sec. 17.85.070(F), Municipal Code Title 17 Ch. 17.85 Home Occupations (ministerial and discretionary home occupation permits; short-term rentals as home occupations), p. 1
For a home occupation with on-site employment of an individual other than the resident family, that the site where the home occupation activity will be conducted provides an adequate improved parking area for the employee.
- Sec. 17.85.090(A)(6), Municipal Code Title 17 Ch. 17.85 Home Occupations (ministerial and discretionary home occupation permits; short-term rentals as home occupations), p. 1
No more than one home occupation permit and associated annual business license shall be issued for the dwelling unit;
- Sec. 17.85.060, Municipal Code Title 17 Ch. 17.85 Home Occupations (ministerial and discretionary home occupation permits; short-term rentals as home occupations), p. 1
A home occupation shall not be permitted for any of the following uses, unless otherwise pre-empted by state law: