Can I run a business from home in Westlake Village, California?
Yes. Westlake Village requires no City license or permit for a home business, but it must follow the code's limits: no employees who don't live there, no more than 2 customers at a time and none from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., and no sales of goods on site. Some businesses, including salons, auto repair and medical offices, are banned.
| City permit or license | None required [1] |
| Non-resident employees | Not allowed [3] |
| Customers at one time | 2 max [4] |
| Customer visiting hours | Not between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. [5] |
| Garage use | Up to 50 sq ft, door closed [8] |
| Largest business vehicle | Three-quarter ton truck [9] |
No City permit
The City doesn't require a license or permit to run a home business [1]. Some businesses need a Los Angeles County business license or state permits, and your HOA may have stricter rules or ban home businesses outright; the code doesn't override CC&Rs [12].
Operating limits
A home occupation is work done by the people who live in the home, and it can't need frequent customer visits [2]. The main limits:
- Employees: only residents (babysitters and domestic help don't count) [3].
- Customers: no more than two at a time [4], and no visits between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. [5].
- Sales and signs: no sales or displays of goods on site [6], no advertising that gives your street address [7], and no change to the home's appearance [14].
- Space: up to 50 sq ft of the garage, with the door closed, without losing required parking. Other accessory buildings can't be used [8].
- Vehicles and parking: nothing larger than a three-quarter ton truck [9], and business parking must be on-site, extra to the home's required parking and outside required yards [10].
- No noise, dust, smoke, odors or deliveries that generate traffic.
Banned businesses
The code lists uses that can't be home occupations [11]: industrial uses, auto repair and painting, barber and beauty services, carpentry and cabinet making, welding and machining, medical offices and clinics, adult businesses (including massage parlors) and firearms sales.
State-protected uses
Small family day care homes are allowed as an accessory use, but the code requires a conditional use permit for large family day care homes [13]. State law makes licensed large family daycare homes a by-right residential use and bars cities from prohibiting cottage food operations, so state law may override the CUP requirement and the code's no-employee and no-sales rules for those businesses.
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Next steps
- Read Municipal Code Chapter 9.28 and confirm your business isn't on the prohibited list.
- Check your HOA's CC&Rs for home-business restrictions.
- Get any Los Angeles County business license, fictitious business name filing, or county/state permit your business type needs (e.g., cottage food registration with L.A. County Environmental Health).
- Questions: Westlake Village Planning Department, 818-706-1613.
Common questions
- Do I need a business license for a home business in Westlake Village, California?
- No City license or permit is required. Some businesses need a Los Angeles County business license or state permits, and your HOA may have stricter rules or ban home businesses outright.
- What are the home occupation rules in Westlake Village, California?
- Only residents may work in the business, with no more than two customers at a time and no visits between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. No sales or displays of goods on site are allowed, and you can use up to 50 sq ft of the garage with the door closed.
- What home businesses are not allowed in Westlake Village, California?
- The code bans industrial uses, auto repair and painting, barber and beauty services, carpentry and cabinet making, welding and machining, medical offices and clinics, adult businesses and firearms sales as home occupations.
- Can I run a family day care from home in Westlake Village, California?
- Small family day care homes are allowed as an accessory use. The code requires a conditional use permit for large family day care homes, but state law makes licensed large family daycare homes a by-right residential use, so it may override that requirement.
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
- City webpage, Home Occupations, Home Occupations - City webpage, p. 1
The City of Westlake Village does not require any license or permit to operate a home-based business.
- Sec. 9.28.010, Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
A home occupation is gainful employment engaged in by the occupant(s) of a dwelling. A home occupation shall not require frequent customer access or have associated characteristics which would reduce the residents' enjoyment of their neighborhood.
- Sec. 9.28.020(10), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
No employees other than residents of the dwelling shall be allowed in connection with a home occupation (baby-sitters or domestic servants are not considered employees of a home occupation).
- Sec. 9.28.020(12), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
There shall be no more than two (2) clients or customers on the premises at any one time.
- Sec. 9.28.020(11), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
Clients or customers shall not visit the home occupation between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
- Sec. 9.28.020(2), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
There shall be no sales of goods or displays of goods on the premises.
- Sec. 9.28.020(3), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
There shall be no advertising which identifies the home occupation by street address.
- Sec. 9.28.020(4), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
Up to fifty (50) square feet of a garage may be used for home occupation purposes, however, such use shall not interfere with the maintenance of required parking. The garage door shall remain closed during operation of the home occupation.
- Sec. 9.28.020(5), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
No vehicle larger than a three-quarter ton truck may be used in connection with a home occupation.
- Sec. 9.28.020(6), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
Parking for vehicles used in connection with the home occupation shall be provided on-site in addition to parking required for the residence. Such parking shall not be located in any required yard.
- Sec. 9.28.030, Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
The following uses, either by operation or nature, are not incidental to or compatible with residential activities and shall therefore not be permitted as home occupations:
- Sec. 9.28.010, Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
This Chapter shall not abrogate, annul or impede enforcement by homeowner associations Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions of record or amendments thereto that prohibit home occupations.
- Sec. 9.5.040(1), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.5 R-1 (Single-Family Residential) Zone (9.5.030 accessory uses), p. 1
The following uses may be permitted subject to the approval of a conditional use permit pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 9.26 of this Article. 1. Large family day care homes.
- Sec. 9.28.020(1), Municipal Code Article 9 Ch. 9.28 Home Occupations, p. 1
The home occupation shall not alter the appearance of the dwelling unit.