Minutes - Council - 01/22/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, Councilmembers Elvig, Strommen, Dehen, Jeffrey, and Look. Voting No: None. Absent: Councilmember Olson. Case #2: Request for an Interim Use Permit to Continue an Existing Home Occupation; Case of Carefree Home Services, Inc. Interim Community Development Director Frolik stated the Beach family has been operating Carefree Home Services out of their home since 1990. They currently have two full-time office employees, and an average of 10 home health care aides that stop by the home office weekly to collect pay checks or complete other paperwork. In the early 1990's when the Beach's approached the City they were told they did not need to obtain any kind of special permit. However, over the years the business has grown to include 12 outside employees. Ms. Frolik advised City Code restricts home occupations to 20% of the gross floor area of the home. The original garage was converted to office space about 10 years ago, and a new garage was constructed. The total area of the home is 2,228 square feet, and the space used for the business is 900 square feet for a total of 39%. Ms. Frolik advised City Code also requires 3 acres to employ outside persons that do not reside in the home. Ms. Frolik stated given the number of employees and the floor space occupied by the business, the Beaches are technically not eligible to receive a Home Occupation Permit under City Code. Ms. Frolik noted that the Beach's have been operating this business for 17 years, and it seems fair to give them time to adjust as is necessary. The recommendation of the Planning Commission was that the City Council grant a 3-year Interim Use Permit. Councilmember Look requested staffs position regarding a 3-year Interim Use Permit and the 3- acre / 20% home business requirements. Ms. Frolik explained the applicant can apply for another Interim Use Permit which would go through the public hearing process again. The other option would be that the applicant would have the three year window to make adjustments to conduct the business without having outside employees come to the home. She explained the 20% floor area requirement has been in City Code since the home occupation regulations were first adopted in the mid 1970's / early 1980's. This was considered to be a reasonable amount of area without crossing over the threshold from more business to residential. Ms. Frolik explained the 3-acre requirement is a recent addition to City Code. Previously, home occupations were not allowed to be operated out of a garage or detached accessory buildings. About three years ago City Code was amended to allow for that provided the property is at least 3 acres in size. The intent of the 3-acre threshold was to attempt to keep the larger home businesses out of the 2.5 acre neighborhoods. Councilmember Look stated it was his intent to discuss this topic in a worksession. He has, and always will be, an advocate for small businesses. With the tough economic times now people are getting creative in terms of how they will pay their bills, etc. He is interested in discussing at a future worksession the relevance of the 3 -acre requirement and if it still applies today, and if they are not disallowing some businesses that could be operating without impacting neighborhoods. He asked if the three year timeframe to revisit this is workable for the applicant. City Council / January 22, 2008 Page 8 of 22