Chapter 20.20
HOME OCCUPATIONS
Sections:
20.20.000 Purpose.
20.20.010 Home occupation.
20.20.015 Prohibited home occupations.
20.20.020 General regulation.
20.20.030 Permit.
20.20.000 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to allow residents to carry on home occupations on their property while guaranteeing neighboring residents freedom from excessive noise, excessive traffic, nuisance, fire hazard and other possible potential negative impacts from the maintenance of a commercial use within a residential neighborhood. The purpose of this chapter is to permit two types of home use occupations while prohibiting other commercial uses in residential neighborhoods. Commercial enterprises employing only the residents of a structure which are operated entirely within the structure and which require no deliveries or other traffic are intended to be permitted activities. Other occupations such as music teachers, newspaper delivery and other commercial activity which are intended to serve the neighborhood and which promote traffic only within the neighborhood as opposed to attracting traffic to the neighborhood from outside, are also intended to be permitted uses. A home occupation is generally an economic enterprise operated within a dwelling unit, or buildings accessory to the dwelling unit which are incidental and secondary to the residential use of the dwelling unit, including the use of the dwelling unit as a business address in the phone directory or as a post office mailing address.
20.20.010 Home occupation.
A home occupation may be conducted as a permitted use in any residential zone of the city subject to the following regulations:
A. Home occupation shall be a permitted use if it:
1. Is carried on exclusively by a family member residing in the dwelling unit; and
2. Is conducted entirely within the structures on the site, without any significant outside activity; and
3. Uses no heavy equipment, power tools or power sources not common to a residence; and
4. Has no pickup or delivery by business related commercial vehicles (except for the U.S. Mail) which exceeds 20,000 pounds gross vehicle weight; and
5. Creates no noise, dust, glare, vibration, odor, smoke or other impact adverse to a residential area beyond that normally associated with residential use; and
6. Does not include any employees outside of the family members residing at the residence, including but not limited to persons working at or visiting the subject property; and
7. All performance criteria established pursuant to ECDC 17.60.010.
Any permit granted to such an occupational use shall be immediately voidable upon proof of any visit to the site in excess of the standards provided in paragraphs A(4) and A(6) of this section or any visits by a customer, client or other persons purchasing goods or services from the home occupation. Proof of one such occurrence shall be sufficient to void the permitted use provided under this section and thereby requiring the home occupation to meet the permitting provisions hereinafter contained in this chapter. An example of an out right permitted home occupation is a writer or artist who develops a book or art work and does not show the work from the home.
B. A home occupation which does not meet one or more of the requirements of subsection A of this section may be approved as a conditional use permit pursuant to Chapter 20.05 ECDC and the procedures set forth in ECDC 20.100.010, if the home occupation:
1. Will not harm the character of the surrounding neighborhood;
2. The temporary and permanent keeping of animals associated with home occupation must comply with all provisions of Chapter 5.05 ECC (Animal Control) and ECDC Title 16;
3. Will not include storage, display of goods, building materials and/or the operation of building machinery, commercial vehicles or other tools, unless it meets the following criteria:
a. Is wholly enclosed within a structure or building,
b. Does not emit noise, odor or heat, and
c. Does not create glare or emit light from the site in violation of the city's performance criteria;
4. Does not create a condition which injures or endangers the comfort, or pose health or safety threats of persons on abutting properties or streets; and
5. Will not generate traffic from outside of the neighborhood nor excessive intra-neighborhood traffic or necessitate excessive parking beyond that normally associated with a residential use; and all performance criteria established by ECDC 17.60.010 are met. Any permit granted to such a home occupation shall be immediately voidable upon proof of any visit to the site by any client, patient or customer in excess of the standard established through the conditional use permit process, and proof of one such occurrence shall be sufficient to void such permit in any proceeding under ECDC 20.100.040 relating to review of approved permits.
20.20.015 Prohibited home occupations.
Certain home occupations depend for their economic viability upon the sale or provision of services to persons throughout the city or the regional community rather than the neighborhood in which they reside thereby attracting to a neighborhood traffic beyond that generally associated with the neighborhood or intra-neighborhood traffic. Such home occupations which depend upon travel to the site by customers, clients or patients are specifically prohibited.
A. The following occupational uses shall be presumed to generate such traffic:
1. The offices of any doctor of medicine, dentist, orthodontist, chiropractor or other health care professional licensed under the state of Washington (excluding licensed massage therapists);
2. The offices of any person engaged in the practice of law;
3. The offices of any veterinarian; and/or
4. Any structure used for the retail sale of goods, except as expressly permitted by ECDC 20.20.020(E) as an adjunct to a permitted use.
B. The presumption established by subsection A of this section shall be rebuttable, but the applicant shall have the burden of proving that no commercial traffic will be generated by clients, patients or customers. Any permit granted to such an occupational use shall be voidable upon proof of any visit to the site by a client, patient or customer, and proof of one such visit shall be sufficient to void such permit and any proceeding under ECDC 20.100.040 relating to the review of approved permits.
C. The limited sale of services on site by occupations other than those listed in subsection A of this section shall be permitted so long as:
1. All performance criteria established by ECDC 17.60.010 are met and the conditional use permit issued pursuant to ECDC 20.20.010(B) and Chapter 20.05 ECDC are met; and
2. The home occupation is advertised, intended and/or in fact attracts traffic only from the residential neighborhood in which it is located, does not create traffic in excess of normal residential levels, and is not intended or designed to create additional traffic into the neighborhood by attracting clients or customers from beyond the neighborhood.
Examples of home occupations which might qualify for a permit include the musical instruction of pupils in clearly defined and limited numbers which does not generate traffic from outside of the residential neighborhood in which it is located nor in excess of normal residential levels or operating as a news carrier from a residential home in which the only outside traffic is delivery of papers to the site by the news agency.
D. Home occupations which employ any individual outside of resident family where the employee(s) work at or visit the subject property shall be prohibited in any planned residential development or individual lot thereof. [Ord. 3465 § 4, 2003].
20.20.020 General regulation.
A. Sale or Display of Goods. No goods shall be sold or rendered on the premises except instructional materials pertinent to the home occupation (e.g., music books). Display or storage of goods outside the premises or in the window thereof is prohibited.
B. Signs. A sign is permitted in conjunction with conditional use permit approval and does not exceed three square feet in size and shall contain only the name and address of the residence.
C. Reasons for Denial. A home occupation conditional use permit is a special exception to the zoning ordinance and the applicant has the burden of persuasion that he/she comes within the stated purposes and criteria of this chapter. The following are among common reasons for denial but are not intended to be exclusive:
1. The on-street or on-site parking of trucks or other types of equipment associated with the home occupation;
2. The littered, unkempt and otherwise poorly maintained condition of the dwelling site;
3. Noncompliance with the criteria of this chapter or conditions of approval or other provisions of city ordinance; and/or
4. The proposal cannot be conditioned in order to meet the criteria and findings of the chapter.
20.20.030 Permit.
All permits for home occupations are personal to the applicant and shall not be transferred or otherwise assigned to any other person. The permit will automatically expire when the applicant named on the permit application moves from the site. The home use occupation shall also automatically expire if the permittee fails to maintain a valid business license or the business license is suspended or revoked. The home occupation shall not be transferred to any site other than that described on the application form. [Ord. 2951 § 1, 1993].