§ 72-283. Home occupations.

The following regulations shall apply to home occupations:

(1)

Home occupations shall be categorized as follows:

Class A: Class A home occupations shall be limited to office use or arts and handicrafts only on the premises of the home occupation where there are no supplier or client business visits to the premises permitted. Class A home occupations shall include music lessons that involve no more than two client business visits at any one time. The only supplies and equipment accessory to the home occupation that are permitted on the premise are those common to a small business office or those directly and commonly related to home occupations authorized by this section. No stock-in-trade, or commodities shall be delivered or sold upon the premises. No business activities, other than office use, art activities, handicraft activities or music lessons by the occupants of the premises, shall take place on the premises. The home occupation shall not adversely affect nearby dwellings or properties through noise, vibrations, odors, fumes, fire hazards, light glare, electrical or radio wave interference, or the like. Class A home occupations shall be allowed as permitted uses in all forestry, resource corridor, residential, mobile home and agricultural classifications if proper application is made on forms provided by the zoning enforcement official.

Class B: Home occupations not included in class A. Class B home occupations shall be allowed in forestry, agricultural and MH-3 classifications, when approved as a special exception. Some examples of class B home occupations are beauty shops, music lessons involving more than two client business visits at any one time, art, handicraft, ceramics classes, lawn mower repair services and dog grooming.

(2)

Only persons who reside in the dwelling unit shall be employed or act as an independent contractor in said dwelling unit permitted as a class A home occupation. Other employees or independent contractors of the class A home occupation may be permitted provided that said persons do not assemble upon the premises for any purpose relating to the business. For class B home occupations, the county council may allow, as a condition of the requisite special exception, one or more employees or independent contractors who are not residents of the dwelling unit.

For class B home occupations, the commission may allow, as a condition of the requisite special exception, one or more employees or independent contractors who are not residents of the dwelling unit.

(3)

The home occupation shall be clearly incidental and subordinate to the residential use and shall under no circumstances change the residential character of the dwelling.

(4)

The floor area devoted to the home occupation shall not exceed 25 percent of the floor area of the dwelling.

For class B home occupations, not more than 500 square feet in an attached or detached garage of a dwelling, or not more than 500 square feet in any accessory building in a forestry or agricultural classification, may be used for a home occupation in lieu of floor space within the dwelling.

(5)

There shall be no change in the outside appearance of the premises. No on-premises signs identifying the home occupation are permitted in conjunction with a class A home occupation.

Class B home occupations may have one nonilluminated, on-premises sign, not to exceed one and one-half square feet in area. Any sign shall be mounted flat against the wall of the building.

(6)

All office equipment used in the home occupation on the premises shall be inside the dwelling or in enclosed structures and within the space limitations in subsection (4), below. No products shall be displayed on the premises.

(7)

No equipment shall be used in the home occupation which creates fire hazards, electrical interference, noise, vibration, glare, fumes or odors detectable to the normal senses off the premises. In the case of electrical interference, no equipment or process shall be used which creates visual or audible interference in any radio or television receivers off the premises, or causes fluctuations in line voltage off the premises.

(8)

No vehicular traffic shall be generated by the home occupation in greater volumes than would normally be generated by the dwelling unit. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 72-287(a), no more than two vehicles associated with the home occupation may be kept on the premises. Any need for parking generated by the conduct of the home occupation shall be met off the street and on the premises but other than in the front yard.

(9)

The home occupation shall not adversely affect the habitability or value of the surrounding properties, nor alter the essentially residential character of the neighborhood.

(10)

Any violation of these regulations may result in the revocation of any home occupation permit by the zoning enforcement official, in addition to any other remedy for such violation provided in this article or by law.

(11)

The issuance of a permit to engage in a home occupation in accordance with this section shall not be deemed to be a change of zoning, nor an official expression of opinion as to the proper zoning for the particular property.

(12)

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, home occupations licensed prior to the effective date of this amendment may continue operating in conformance with the previous provisions of this section, until no later than the second renewal of the home occupational license after December 17, 1998. Thereafter, all home occupations licensed or renewed after the above described date, must conform to all requirements of this section relating to home occupations.

(Ord. No. 81-39, § XXXIX, 11-19-81; Ord. No. 84-1, §§ XLVI—XLIX, 3-8-84; Ord. No. 89-20, §§ XXI—XXV, 6-20-89; Ord. No. 90-34, § 53, 9-27-90; Ord. No. 95-17, § III, 6-15-95; Ord. No. 98-25, §§ XI—XVIII, 12-17-98; Ord. No. 02-10, § II, 4-18-02; Ord. No. 2007-13, § I, 4-19-07; Ord. No. 2008-25, § II, 12-4-08)