revised 9-95
*6.1 HOME OCCUPATIONS.*
Employment of residents in home occupations within residential neighborhoods can have the following benefits for the residents and the City: improvement in the economic status of persons who might otherwise be unable to find suitable employment; improvement in the quality of life for persons who prefer to work at home; reduction of traffic and congestion insofar as those employed in home occupa-tions of security from the presence of residents in their homes and neighborhoods during working hours; imrovement in the local economy from increasing employment opportunities; and enhancement of the tax base for the City, both directly from taxation of home occupations and indirectly through growth of the local economy; and
Home occupations need not detract from the residential character of a dwelling or neighborhood if they are subject to appropriate criteria and restrictions to prevent substantial increases in traffic, congestion, parking problems or other deleterious impact on the neighborhood.
A. CRITERIA AND RESTRICTIONS:
1. A home occupation requires a Conditional Use permit. The conditional use permit for a home occupation is personal to the applicant, is not transferable to any other person, and does not apply to any other business of the applicant.
2. A home occupation shall be compatible with residential uses of the dwelling,, shall not change the residential character of the dwelling, shall not detract from the residential character of the neighborhood, and shall not result in substantial increases in traffic, congestion, or parking burdens in the neighborhood. In addition to the provisions governing conditional uses set forth elsewhere in the ordinance, a home occupation is subject to the following criteria and restrictions:
3. Shall produce no detectable fumes, odors, dust, heat, noise, vibration, glare, electro-magnetic field, electrical interference, or other effects outside the dwelling, including transmittal through vertical or horizontal party walls.
4. Shall occupy less than 25% of the floor area of the principal structure, and shall not require internal or external alterations or construction features not customary to a residential dwelling.
* Section rewritten and adopted 7/19/94.
5. Shall not require fixed installation of equipment or machinery.
6. Shall be carried on entirely within the principal building. No home occupation nor any storage of goods, materials, or products connected with a home occupation shall be allowed outside the dwelling or in accessory buildings or garages, except for parking of the occupants' vehicles.
7. Shall have no more than one vehicle with business identification, and shall have no vehicle with greater than one (1.0) ton capacity and shall not have any trailer.
8. Except as required by state law, there shall be no exterior indication of the home occupation, no exterior signs, nor any other on-site advertising visible from the exterior.
9. Shall not involve any on-site employment of persons not residing in the dwelling unit.
10. Retail sales shall not occur on the premises on a regular basis or in substantial volume, and no stock-in-trade shall be displayed on the premises. Retail activities are limited to storage of personal and household products (eg, jewelry, crafts, health and beauty aids, household cleaners) for sale at a location off the site.
11. Shall register as a business with the City Finance Office and shall pay applicable business and occupation taxes.
12. The application for a Home Occupation Conditional Use permit must include descriptions of the days and hours of operation; the average and maximum number of customers, clients or students per week, per day and at any one time, and whether they will be coming by car, by public transportation or on foot; the average and maximum number of deliveries per week and per day; the availability of on-street, off-street parking, and public parking at the site and in the vicinity; and any other ways in which the home occupation might affect congestion, traffic and parking in the neighborhood. Approval of an application for a home occupation as a conditional use shall be conditioned upon compliance with the description in the application and such other conditions as may be imposed by the Board. Off street parking may be required as a condition, depending on the circumstances.
13. If the applicant is not the owner of the property at which the home occupation will be conducted, the application must verify that written notice of intention to conduct the home occupation has been given to the owner of the property, and the application shall be accompanied by a copy of the letter by which notice was provided to the owner of the property.
14. After a home occupation conditional use permit has been granted, if the holder of the permit wishes to make any change in the conduct of the business that departs from the description in the application or from any other conditions or restrictions imposed by the Board, the holder of the permit must obtain prior permission of the Board on the basis of a new application.
15. If any resident living within 300 feet of a home occupation believes that it is being conducted in violation of the imposed conditions or believes that the home occupation as conducted is detracting from the residential character of the neighborhood, the resident can submit a petition of the revocation of the conditional use permit. If the Zoning Administrator is unable to resolve the problem informally, it will be placed on the agenda of the Board of Zoning Appeals for a public hearing. On the basis of evidence introduced at this hearing, the Board may revoke the Conditional Use permit or impose additional restrictions or conditions on the conduct of the business.
Section 5, Definitions
HOME OCCUPATION - An occupation, profession or trade carried out on a regular basis for financial gain by one or more occupants, who reside in a said dwelling unit, as a secondary use which is clearly incidental and subordinate to the residential use of the dwelling.
(Amended 7/19/94)