Guides · Your home and yard
Can I run a business from my home?
The Declaration limits the community to single-family residential use. It bars any professional, business or commercial activity to which the general public is invited. An owner or occupant may still work from home, but only if every condition on a list is met.
It must follow the law. Only people who live in the home can take part. No one outside can see, hear or smell it, and no sign may advertise it. It cannot involve door-to-door solicitation of residents. The Board also has to judge that it does not bring noticeably more traffic or parked cars than a typical home, and it must fit the residential character of the neighborhood and not be a nuisance.
“Business” is defined broadly: any ongoing work that provides goods or services to people outside your family for a fee or other payment. Part-time work counts, and so does work that makes no profit. Leasing your home under the rental rules is not treated as a business.
That is a summary in plain words. The passages below are what the documents actually say, and they are the authority.
What the documents say
The Development Area will be used solely for single-family residential purposes. No professional, business, or commercial activity to which the general public is invited will be conducted on any portion of the Development Area, except an Owner or Occupant may conduct business activities within a residence so long as
Development Area Declaration, §2.1Read page 5 in the documentscan
complies with Applicable Law; (ii) participation in the business activity is limited to the Owner(s) or Occupant(s) of a residence; (iii) the existence or operation of the business activity is not apparent or detectable by sight, i.e., no sign may be erected advertising the business within the Development Area, sound, or smell from outside the residence; (iv) the business activity does not involve door-to-door solicitation of residents within the Development Area
Development Area Declaration, §2.1Read page 5 in the documentscan
(v) the business does not, in the Board's judgment, generate a level of vehicular or pedestrian traffic or a number of vehicles parked within the Development Area which is noticeably greater than that which is typical of residences in which no business activity is being conducted; (vi) the business activity is consistent with the residential character of the Development Area and does not constitute a nuisance
Development Area Declaration, §2.1Read page 5 in the documentscan
The terms "business" and "trade", as used in this provision, will be construed to have their ordinary, generally accepted meanings and will include, without limitation, any occupation, work, or activity undertaken on an ongoing basis which involves the provision of goods or services to persons other than the provider's family and for which the provider receives a fee, compensation, or other form of consideration, regardless of whether: (x) such activity is engaged in full or part-time; (y) such activity is intended to or does generate a profit; or (z) a license is required. Leasing of a residence in compliance with Section 2.2 will not be considered a business or trade within the meaning of this subsection.
Development Area Declaration, §2.1Read page 6 in the documentscan
Related
This guide was written from the copies in this archive. Documents can be amended after they are recorded, and this is not legal advice; the recorded instruments at the Comal County Clerk are the authoritative versions.