This subchapter provides detailed standards for the review of proposed home businesses. The Planning Commission shall approve any application for a CUP for a proposed home business that complies with the standards of this subchapter and other requirements of this chapter. Compliance means that the proposal meets all absolute standards of this subchapter and has a cumulative score of zero or better on the relative standards. Compliance review will be conducted using the checklist that is located in § 153.401.
(A) Must the owner of a home business be in residence? Yes. The proposed home business must be owned and operated by a current resident of the dwelling in which it is proposed. The right to continue the home business ends if its owner is no longer in residence.
(B) Must home businesses comply with the dimensional requirements of § 153.119? At a minimum, yes, but the Planning Commission may reject an application for a CUP for a home business where it finds that the existing setbacks are not deep enough to mitigate potential impacts of the proposed home business.
(C) How much indoor space can be used for a home business? That depends on its location. The indoor space that can be used for a home business is limited as follows:
(1) A maximum of one thousand five hundred (1,500) square feet will be permitted in the C and GMU zoning districts.
(2) A maximum of seven hundred fifty (750) square feet will be permitted in the residential zoning districts.
Applicants must demonstrate compliance with this standard by submitting a scaled floor plan of the dwelling or accessory structure that clearly delineates the area that will be used for the home business.
(D) Can a home business have outdoor workspace or store materials outdoors? Possibly. Proposed outdoor workspaces and/or the outdoor storage of materials, supplies, equipment, vehicles, or goods for sale associated with a home business will be evaluated using the following standards.
(1) They must fall within the setbacks required by § 153.119 of this chapter, but the Planning Commission may condition approval of outdoor workspaces or storage associated with a home business on the provision of setbacks deeper than those established by § 153.119 if it finds that a greater distance from property lines or public ways is necessary to mitigate the potential impacts of the proposed home business.
(2) The effective buffering or screening of outdoor workspaces or storage associated with home businesses is encouraged. Compliance with this relative standard will be determined by the Planning Commission using the scoring range and weights adopted on the home business checklist.
Applicants must demonstrate compliance with this standard by submitting a scaled site plan that clearly delineates any outdoor space that would be used for the proposed home business. This drawing must show the required setbacks and any proposed buffers or screening. Where it is proposed to use existing vegetation as a buffer, photographs of that existing vegetation must be submitted. Where the buffer or screening will be installed, a planting plan and/or screening design must be submitted.
(E) Are there restrictions on parking or traffic generation by home businesses? Potentially. Home businesses that are reasonably expected to generate parking or traffic congestion along town roads or that have the potential to obstruct access to other properties are discouraged. The potential for congestion will be determined by the Planning Commission using the scoring range and weight adopted on the home business checklist. Among other things, the Planning Commission may consider parking and traffic generated by deliveries, the possibility that the proposed home business will offer classes or stage events, and whether the home is within the Sensitive Lands, Hillside, and Mesa Tops Overlay Protection District where access to a home business may be restricted by the terrain.
(F) Must a home business provide parking? Potentially.
(1) Off-street parking must be provided as required by § 153.120 of this chapter. Note: this rate may be zero.
(2) Where more than one additional off-street parking space is provided, effective buffering or screening of that off-street parking is encouraged. Compliance with this relative standard will be determined by the Planning Commission using the scoring range and weights adopted on the home business checklist.
(G) Are there restrictions on potential nuisances generated by home businesses? Yes.
(1) No home business shall require an NPDES permit, as required by state law.
(2) No home business shall require an air quality permit, as required by state law.
(3) The storage, use, and disposal of hazardous materials by home businesses shall be permitted only to the extent allowed for residential occupancies by NFPA 1, the 2006 Uniform Fire Code.
(4) No home business shall result in additional outdoor lighting.
(5) No home business shall result in blowing dust or smoke that adversely affects adjoining properties or public ways.
(6) No home business shall result in radiant heat or glare from welding equipment or other sources of intense heat or light that adversely affect adjoining properties.
(7) No home business shall generate sound that adversely affects adjoining properties.
(H) Must a home business make proper provision for solid waste storage and disposal? Of course. All applications for CUPs for home businesses shall show how any solid waste generated by the proposed home business will be properly stored and disposed of. The Planning Commission may reject an application for a CUP for a home business upon finding that it will generate a type and/or quantity of solid waste that is not compatible with neighboring residences.
(I) Can a home business have a sign? Yes. Home businesses may display a single sign of no more than four (4) square feet in size. This may be a freestanding, hanging, projecting, or wall sign. The application for a permit to establish a home business must be accompanied by scaled drawings that show the placement of the sign on the property and/or structure and the dimensions of the sign.
(J) Can vehicles associated with a home business be parked on residential premises?
(1) Only vehicles of ten thousand (10,000) pounds gross vehicle weight or less can be parked overnight in residential zoning districts. Overnight parking of a larger vehicle is not a permitted part of a home business.
(2) Where the home business involves the service or repair of vehicles, no more than two (2) vehicles waiting for or undergoing service or repair may be on the premises at any time.
(K) Can the operating hours of home businesses be restricted? Yes. The Planning Commission may condition the approval of a home business on limited operating hours.
(L) How will compliance with these standards be ensured? A certificate of occupancy is required for all home businesses. No such certificate shall be issued until all site improvements (landscaping, screening, parking, etc.) required for compliance with any of the standards adopted here are in place. A CUP for a home business is subject to revocation, as provided in Chapter 8 of this Ordinance.
(Ord. 2021-2, passed - -2021)