18.40.025 Home occupations | Electric City Municipal Code

18.40.025 Home occupations.

(1) It is the purpose of this section to protect residential areas from potential adverse impacts as a result of activities which may be deemed commercial in nature. It is the intent of this section to recognize the needs of citizens who are engaged in small-scale business ventures which could not be sustained if it were necessary to rent or lease commercial space, or which, in the nature of the home occupation, cannot be expanded to full-scale enterprises. It is also the purpose of this section to permit residents of the community a reasonable use of their residence as a place of livelihood and/or for the supplementing of personal/family income. Home occupations shall be allowed as established by Table 1 – District Use Chart, in ECMC 18.40.070, provided the following standards are met:

(a) It is unlawful for a person or individual, company, corporation or association or any other entity to engage in a home occupation as defined herein within the city limits without first having obtained a business license in compliance with the provisions of this section and Chapter 5.05 ECMC. The license shall not be transferred, nor shall it be valid at any address other than the one appearing on the license.

(b) The use of the dwelling unit for the home occupation shall be clearly incidental and subordinate to its use for residential purposes with not more than 25 percent of the gross floor area of the entire structure being used for conducting the home occupation.

(d) No persons other than current residents of the structure and two nonresident employees at any one time may be employed in the home occupation.

(e) There shall be no exterior window displays, storage of materials, or sample commodities displayed outside of the primary or accessory buildings.

(f) No equipment or process shall be used in such home occupation which creates noise, vibration, glare, smoke, dust, fumes, odors, heat or electrical interference with any radio or television receivers, or causes fluctuation in line voltage off the premises which would exceed that normally produced by a single-family residence.

(g) No materials or commodities shall be delivered to or from the home occupation which are of such bulk or quantity as to require delivery by a commercial vehicle or trailer having more than a single axle. Materials or commodities delivered to or from the residence which are of such bulk or quantity as to require delivery by a commercial vehicle or a trailer, or the parking of customers’ automobiles in a manner or frequency causing disturbance or inconvenience to nearby residences or so as to necessitate a public parking lot shall be prima facie evidence that the occupation is a primary business, and not a home occupation.

(h) No parking shall be allowed beyond that normal to a residential area and no excessive vehicular or pedestrian traffic shall be present as a result of the home occupation.

(i) Home occupation signs are subject to the regulations in Chapter 18.60 ECMC.

(j) Home occupations may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

(i) Dressmaking, seamstresses, tailors;

(ii) Bed and breakfast;

(iii) Artists and sculptors;

(iv) Authors and composers;

(v) Resident owned and operated beauty and/or barbershop with two or fewer chairs;

(vi) Home crafts, such as model-making, rug weaving, lapidary work and cabinet making;

(vii) Office facility for professional service providers including but not limited to salesperson, sales representative, manufacturer’s representative, licensed massage therapist, accountant, tax preparer or investment counselor and similar uses;

(viii) Repair shop for household items;

(ix) Telephone answering or soliciting;

(x) Computer programming and small scale repair;

(xi) Home cooking and preserving;

(xii) Musical instruction;

(xiii) Small engine repair;

(xiv) Child care.

(k) The following uses are deemed to be prohibited home occupation uses:

(i) Clinics and hospitals;

(ii) Group (more than four students at one time) dancing and music schools;

(iii) Mortuaries or funeral homes;

(iv) Massage parlors;

(v) Commercial print shops;

(vi) Rental of trailers;

(vii) Restaurants and cafes;

(viii) Stables and kennels;

(ix) Resident owned and operated beauty and/or barbershop with three or more chairs;

(x) Vehicle (RVs, ORVs, cars, trucks and farm equipment) repair, painting or detailing shops;

(xi) Outdoor storage of building or construction materials not intended for immediate use in or on the premises; and

(xii) All other uses which do not comply with the intent of this section or the definition of a home occupation set forth in ECMC 18.05.010;

(xiii) Uses involving the handling, treatment or storage of hazardous waste, as defined in RCW 70.105.010.

(2) For the purposes of this section, garage and yard sales shall not be considered home occupations, so long as the sale involves only the sale of household goods, none of which were purchased for the purpose of resale and the sale does conform with ECMC 5.05.010.

(3) Application. An application for a home occupation use, a Type I permit under ECMC 19.09.030, shall be submitted to the city clerk for consideration. The application shall be reviewed by the city clerk or other similar position or a designee. Such uses may be permitted by the city clerk or the individual designated to review the applications subject to the provisions of this chapter. Any party aggrieved by a decision rendered by the city clerk or other individual reviewing the application may appeal the decision to the hearing examiner, subject to the provisions of Chapter 19.11 ECMC.

(4) Notification. Application for a home occupation use shall require notification to adjacent property owners of the proposed use. Notification shall be provided at least 10 days before a decision is to be made on the application. Written or oral comments should be provided to the city clerk or other individual reviewing an application before the decision is to be made on the application. Adjacent property owners shall also be notified of any appeal scheduled before the hearing examiner. A notice of the action before the hearing examiner shall be mailed to adjacent property owners at least 10 days prior to the scheduled appeal. (Ord. 495 § 1, 2015)