Good feedback on the public safety levy. I think that I’m convinced to leave that alone unless it is for capital projects (buildings, fire trucks, etc). The Land-Use committee will, this very evening, again take up the issue of Home-Based businesses. Postings after tonight aren’t too late. No final vote will be taken until the committee refers this out for council action. Allow me to begin with some clarification:
1: Businesses that have customers (suppliers, employees, etc) coming into the home are called a “Home-Based Business” and require a special use permit that is currently approved by City Council vote.
2: Businesses that do not have customers or other visitors coming to the house do *not* need a special use permit and only require an occupancy permit. This type of business is **NOT** affected by the legislation under consideration. I started my computer consulting business in this way and since nobody additional comes to the home, it isn’t a big deal.
The changes currently under consideration do two things. The first is to restrict the kind of Home-Based businesses allowed under city code to those that deal with education: tutoring, music teachers and the like. The second change would make the issuance (is that a word?) of a special use permit strictly an administrative affair – there would be no vote by the City Council.
Other jurisdictions handle this in several different ways but most of them use variations on the “Allowed Use” theme that we are proposing. Some only have a prohibited use list and allow everything else (interestingly, Fairfax specifically prohibits “Large Animal Veterinarians”). Several treat this as an administrative affair as we are proposing to do. Additions to the allowed use list are possible by something called a Zoning Text Amendment and I believe that such an amendment does require a council vote.
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I have mixed views on this but this blog ain’t about what I think, it’s about what you think so let’s hear it.