A “home occupation” means a business, profession, occupation or trade conducted for gain or support and located entirely within a residential building or building accessory, incidental and secondary to the use of the building for dwelling purposes and does not change the essential residential character or appearance of such building.
A Home Occupation Agreement (HOA) is required to be completed and signed for any business conducting this activity. The HOA will be reviewed by Environmental Services (Source Control), Planning and Development Services (PDS) and Tax & License Compliance for the protection of public welfare, health and safety of citizens.
If after review, the business activity does not comply with any provisions of the Tacoma Municipal Code, the license may be denied, and notification will be sent to the business owner. The business owner will be provided an opportunity to appeal the license denial.
Approval can be obtained by submitting a completed Home Occupation Agreement and fee to the Tax & License office. The agreement will be routed to the appropriate City departments for review.
You can find more information in Tacoma Municipal Code 6B.13 about the Home Occupation license requirements or PDS Tip Sheet.
Information about Live/Work or Work/Live units can be found
here.