The purpose of this section is to maintain the character and integrity of residential areas and to provide a means through the establishment of specific standards and procedures by which home occupations can be conducted in residential neighborhoods, without jeopardizing the health, safety and general welfare of the surrounding neighborhood. In addition, this section is intended to provide a mechanism enabling the distinction between permitted home occupations and special or non-conforming home occupations.
(A) Permitted Home Occupation:
1. Any permitted home occupation as defined in this section, and subject to the performance standards of this section, may be conducted solely within a residential principal or accessory structure without a permit or special approval of the City.
2. Permitted home occupations shall not create a parking demand in excess of that which can be accommodated in an existing driveway or guest parking area for multiple family dwellings, where no vehicle is parked closer than ten feet (10') from the curb line or edge of paved surface.
3. Permitted home occupations include and are limited to: art studio, tailoring, secretarial services, consulting services, professional offices and teaching with musical, dancing and other instructions which consist of no more than one pupil at a time, and similar uses.
(B) Special Home Occupation:
1. Permit Required: Any home occupation which does not meet the specific requirements for a permitted home occupation as defined in this section shall require a "special home occupation permit" which shall be applied for, reviewed and disposed of in accordance with the procedural provisions of an interim use permit pursuant to section 10-3-7 of this title.
2. Examples: Examples of special home occupations include: barber and beauty services, massage therapy, chiropractic office, photography studio, group lessons, small appliances repair, the marketing of non-over the counter brand name products, and the like.
3. Special Home Occupation: The special home occupation may involve any of the following: stock-in-trade incidental to the performance of the service, repair service or manufacturing which requires equipment other than customarily found in a home, the teaching with musical, dancing and other instruction of more than one pupil at a time.
4. Declaration Of Conditions: The Planning Commission may impose such conditions on the granting of an interim use permit as may be necessary to carry out the purpose and provisions of this section.
5. Transferability: Permits shall not run with the land and shall not be transferable.
6. Inspections: The City of Farmington hereby reserves the right upon issuing any interim use permit for a home occupation to inspect the premises in which the occupation is being conducted to insure compliance with the provisions of this section or any conditions additionally imposed.
(C) General Provisions And Performance Standards:
1. No home occupation shall produce light glare, noise, odor or vibration that will in any way have an objectionable effect upon adjacent or nearby property.
2. No equipment shall be used in the home occupation, which will create electrical interference to surrounding properties.
3. Any home occupation shall be clearly incidental and secondary to the residential use of the premises, should not change the residential character thereof, and shall result in no incompatibility or disturbance to the surrounding residential uses.
4. No home occupation shall require internal or external alterations or involve construction features not customarily found in residential dwellings except where required to comply with the local and State fire and police recommendations.
5. There shall be no exterior storage of equipment or materials used in the home occupation, except personal automobiles used in the home occupation may be parked on site.
6. All vehicle parking required for conduct of the home occupation shall be off-street. Parking/storage of all commercial or non-passenger vehicles used in the home occupation shall be in accordance with subsection 10-6-4(N) of this chapter.
7. The home occupation shall meet all applicable Fire and Building Codes.
8. No home occupation activity of a non-residential character shall be discernable from the private street with the exception of a two (2) sided, two (2) square foot, non illuminated sign may be displayed. Said sign shall be set back a minimum of ten feet (10') from all property lines.
9. Shipments and delivery of products, merchandise or supplies shall be limited to the hours of eight o'clock (8:00) A.M. and six o'clock (6:00) P.M. and shall regularly occur only in single rear axle straight trucks or smaller vehicles used to serve residential areas.
10. All home occupations shall comply with the provisions of the City nuisance ordinance.
11. No home occupation shall be conducted between the hours of six o'clock (6:00) P.M. and seven o'clock (7:00) A.M. unless said occupation is contained entirely within the principal building and/or accessory structure space and will not include any on- street parking facilities.
12. No retail sales and delivery of products or merchandise to the public shall occur on the premises except when incidental to the services provided.
13. Home occupations shall not utilize more than forty five percent (45%) of the gross floor area of any dwelling unit, inclusive of any detached accessory structure used for the home occupation.
14. Product sales associated with private social events (i.e., "Tupperware" parties) shall be exempt from this section provided they occur no more than four (4) times per year at any given residence.
15. Home occupations must be owned and operated by the owner/lessee of the residential property.
(D) Requirements For Permitted Home Occupations:
1. Only persons who reside full time in the residence shall be employed by the home occupation.
2. Customers and/or clients from the general retail public shall not come to the premises in question for purposes pertaining to the conduct of the home occupation.
3. All permitted home occupations shall be conducted entirely within the principal or accessory structures.
(E) Requirements For Special Home Occupations:
1. One employee, who does not reside on the premises may be employed. Additional non-resident employees above the one may be considered and approved on a case by case basis by the Planning Commission if it is found by the Planning Commission that circumstances exist that won't compromise the residential integrity of the surrounding neighborhood. In no case may there be more than four (4) additional non-resident employees and all parking for these employees must be accommodated on the subject property.
2. A special home occupation permit may be issued for a period of one year, after which the permit may be reissued for periods of up to three (3) years each. Each application for permit renewal shall, however, be processed in accordance with the provisions regarding interim use permits, except that no public hearing is required on the permit renewal, unless deemed necessary by the Planning Commission. However, notice of the permit renewal application must be provided to all property owners of land within three hundred fifty feet (350') of the boundary of the property in question. The notice must provide the date of consideration before the Planning Commission and indicate that parties may be heard to consider the application. Failure of a property owner to receive said notice shall not invalidate any such proceedings as set forth within the zoning ordinance.
(F) Prohibited Home Occupations:
1. Service, repair or painting of any motorized vehicle, including but not limited to motor vehicles, trailers, boats, personal watercraft, recreational vehicles and snowmobiles.
2. Dispatch centers where persons come to a site and are dispatched to other locations.
3. Medical or dental clinic.
4. Rental businesses.
5. Contracting, excavating, welding or machine shops.
6. Commercial kennels and veterinary clinics.
7. Tow truck services.
8. Sale or use of hazardous materials in excess of consumer quantities which are packaged for consumption by individual households for personal care or household use.
9. Any other use of residential property deemed to be detrimental or inconsistent with the residential character of the neighborhood. (Ord. 017-731, 8-21-2017)