- Home occupation permit required:
- Yes
- Details:
- The City of Fairfax is an independent city. Fairfax County's PLUS HBB program, $140 fee, and County Food Code do not apply. Before a business license, apply for a Minor Home Occupation as a Residential Accessory Use Permit in the City Accela portal. The City's business-license flowchart lists "home-based commercial kitchens" as a Minor Home Occupation example. City Code §110-3.5.5.D.12 prohibits a home occupation that is a restaurant or food services or food-related heavy manufacturing — cottage bakers should be classed as an MHO kitchen, not a restaurant. MHO rules: household members only; ≤20% of the first floor; no accessory structures; no public advertising of the street address; traffic must stay residential. No published food supplemental form or photo checklist. The FY2025–2026 fee table lists Residential Use and Occupancy (including accessory uses) at $35 — confirm with Zoning that this is the MHO fee. Major Home Occupation is a City Council special use permit and cannot sell merchandise in the dwelling — the wrong path for a cottage baker. Contact Planning/Zoning at [email protected] or 703-385-7820.
- Home kitchen:
- Independent City of Fairfax (not Fairfax County). Virginia Home Kitchen Food Processing Exemption (Va. Code §3.2-5130 as amended by HB 402, effective July 1, 2026) still applies: no VDACS permit, registration, or routine inspection for exempt non-TCS foods; online/phone sales and in-state delivery/shipping allowed; no resale, restaurants, or out-of-state sales. Locally, a Minor Home Occupation (Residential Accessory Use Permit) is required before the City business license. The City flowchart treats home-based commercial kitchens as MHO; the prohibited-HO list includes restaurant or food services — flag this so bakers are not classed as a restaurant. No published City cottage-food health pathway; FCHD inspects food establishments in the City but its cottage-food instructions assume a County HBB.
Last verified 2026-08-19. Not legal advice.
