Home occupations shall be located, developed, and operated in compliance with the following.
(A) Purpose. The provisions of this section are intended to allow the conduct of home enterprises which are incidental to and compatible with surrounding residential uses.
(B) Applicability. This section applies to home occupations in any residential unit in the city regardless of the zoning designation. It does not apply to family day care, which is regulated separately.
(C) Business license required. Where applicable, a separate City of Alhambra business license is required for each home occupation.
(D) Operational standards. Home occupations shall comply with the following operating standards:
(1) Residential appearance. The residential appearance of the unit within which the home occupation is conducted shall be maintained, and no exterior indication of a home occupation is permitted.
(2) Location. All home occupation activities shall be conducted entirely within the residential unit except the assembly of small craft items or limited storage of materials may occur within a garage or accessory building. Storage shall not interfere with nor reduce the number of available parking spaces.
(3) Floor area limitation. The home occupation shall be confined completely to one room located within the dwelling which space shall not occupy an area equivalent to more than 25% of the gross area of one floor thereof, or 100 square feet, whichever is less.
(4) Storage. There shall be no exterior storage of materials, supplies, and/or equipment for the home occupation.
(5) Employees. No employees or independent contractors other than residents of the dwelling unit shall be permitted to work at the location of a home occupation except as otherwise allowed for cottage food operations.
(6) Client visits.
(a) Clients or customers shall not visit the home occupation between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
(b) There shall be no more than three clients or customers on the premises at any one time.
(7) Direct sales prohibition. Home occupations involving the display or sale of products or merchandise are not permitted from the site except by mail, telephone, internet, or other mode of electronic communication or except as otherwise allowed for cottage food operations.
(8) Hazardous materials. Activities conducted and equipment or materials used shall not change the fire safety or occupancy classifications of the premises, nor use utilities different from those
normally provided for residential use. There shall be no storage or use of toxic or hazardous materials other than the types and quantities customarily found in connection with a dwelling unit.
(9) Nuisances. A home occupation shall be conducted such that no offensive or objectionable noise, dust, vibration, smell, smoke, heat, humidity, glare, refuse, radiation, electrical disturbance, interference with the transmission of communications, interference with radio or television reception, or other hazard or nuisance is perceptible at or beyond any lot line of the unit or structure within which the home occupation is conducted, or outside the dwelling unit if conducted in other than a detached single-unit dwelling.
(10) Vehicles. No vehicle larger than a three-fourths-ton truck may be used in connection with a home occupation.
(11) Traffic and parking generation. Home occupations shall not generate a volume of pedestrian, automobile, or truck traffic that is inconsistent with the normal level of traffic in the vicinity or on the street on which the dwelling is located or which creates the need for additional parking spaces, or involve deliveries to or from the premises in excess of that which is customary for a dwelling unit.
(12) Equipment. There shall be no use of material or mechanical equipment not recognized as being part of the normal household or hobby use except as otherwise allowed for cottage food operations.
(13) Signs. No signs shall be permitted for a home occupation.
(E) Cottage food operations. A cottage food operation is allowed as a home occupation and an accessory use to any legally established residential unit subject to the following standards:
(1) Registration. Cottage food operations shall be registered as "Class A" or "Class B" cottage food operations and shall meet the respective health and safety standards set forth in Cal. Health and Safety Code §§ 114365 et seq.
(2) Sales. Sales directly from a cottage food operation are limited to the sale of cottage food products. A cottage food operation shall not have more than $50,000 in gross annual sales in each calendar year.
(3) Operator and employee allowed. Only the cottage food operator and members of his or her household living in the unit, as well as one full-time equivalent cottage food employee, may participate in a cottage food operation.
(4) Equipment. Cottage food operations may employ kitchen equipment as needed to produce products for which the operation has received registration, provided that equipment would not change the residential character of the unit, result in safety hazards, or create smoke or steam noticeable at the lot line of an adjoining residential property. Venting of kitchen equipment shall not be directed toward neighboring residential uses.
(F) Prohibited home occupations. The following specific uses, either by operation or nature, are not incidental to or compatible with residential activities and shall therefore not be permitted as home occupations:
(1) Automobile/vehicle sales and services;
(2) Eating and drinking establishments;
(3) Hotels and motels;
(4) Hospitals and clinics; and
(5) Personal services, not including photographers; shoe and luggage repair; repair and fitting of clothes; and similar repair services.
(Ord. 4823, passed 1-22-24)