Introduction - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)
Posted on 02/25/2025 09:20 a.m.
A bill for an act
relating to local government; permitting home-based businesses in residential
dwellings; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 462.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have
the meanings given.
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(b) "Goods" means any merchandise, equipment, products, supplies, or materials.
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(c) "Home-based business" means any business for the manufacture, provision, or sale
of goods or services that is owned and operated by the owner or tenant of the residential
dwelling.
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(d) "No-impact home-based business" means a home-based business for which all of
the following apply:
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(1) the total number of on-site employees and clients does not exceed the municipal
occupancy limit for the residential property; and
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(2) the business activities are characterized by all of the following:
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(i) are limited to the sale of lawful goods and services;
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(ii) do not generate on-street parking or a substantial increase in traffic through the
residential area;
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(iii) occur inside the residential dwelling or in the yard; and
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(iv) are not visible from the street.
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(e) "Residential dwelling" has the meaning provided in section 326B.163, subdivision
19.
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(a) The use
of a residential dwelling for a home-based business is a permitted use, except that this
authority does not supersede any of the following:
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(1) any deed restriction, covenant, or agreement restricting the use of land; or
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(2) any master deed, bylaw, or other document applicable to a common interest ownership
community.
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(b) A municipality must not require an application, registration, or any permit, license,
variance, or other type of prior approval for a no-impact home-based business to operate in
the municipality.
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(c) A municipality may establish reasonable regulations on a home-based business if
the regulations are narrowly tailored for any of the following purposes:
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(1) protecting public health and safety, including establishing rules and regulations
related to fire and building codes, health and sanitation, transportation or traffic control,
solid or hazardous waste, pollution, and noise control;
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(2) ensuring the business activity is:
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(i) compatible with residential use of the property and surrounding residential use;
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(ii) secondary to the use as a residential dwelling; and
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(iii) complying with state and federal law and paying applicable taxes; or
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(3) limiting or prohibiting the use of a home-based business for the purposes of selling
illegal drugs, liquor, operating or maintaining a structured sober living home, pornography,
obscenity, nude or topless dancing, and other adult-oriented businesses.
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(d) A municipality must not condition the operation of a home-based business on a
requirement for a person to:
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(1) rezone the property for commercial use; or
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(2) install or equip fire sprinklers in a single-family detached residential dwelling or any
residential dwelling with not more than two dwelling units.
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(e) The question of whether a regulation complies with this section is a judicial question
and a municipality that enacts a regulation under this section must establish by clear and
convincing evidence that the regulation complies with this section.
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