Agenda - Planning Commission - 11/02/2006

Home

clientele; odor, noise, or smoke nuisances; and restricting changes to the building struc- ture or neighborhood appearance. According to Cates, however, munkipali. ties must consider both the level and the quality of the negative effect to clarify the pur. pose of zoning regulations. Quality indicates the effect's inherent noxiousness whereas level considers the amount of excess traffic or noise a neighborhood can tolerate without changing its basic nature. REGUU\TING THE SIZE Of TliE HOME OCCUPATION Zoning ordinances may provide for the maxi- mum allowable floor area in a home used for a home occupation to ensure that theresi. ctence remains primarily a dwelling~ For exam- ple, the ordinance in the Boroughof Kane, in Pennsylvania. provides that a home occupa- tion shall not use more than 25 percent of the gross floor area ofthe dwelling unit. The City of Papillion, Nebraska. provides that "for all residential and agricultural zoning districts. a maximum floor area of 30 percent of the dwelling may be devoted to the home occupa- tion. inclusive of any detached accessory buildings used for the home occupation." Albany restricts the size of the use to a maxi- mum of 500 square feet regardless of the size of the dwelling, and the Old Saybrook ordi- nance restricts the home occupation to one floor of the dwelling unit and provides that "therein. not more than 25 percent of such floor may be used for this purpose." REGULu,TiNG r;<E I~U~Aa~R Of HOME DCGJP.~TIONS PER C';NW.;i'iG UNIT Since more than one working.age person may occupy a dwelling, multiple businesses uses can occur within the building. Some munici- palities proactively approach this situation by restricting the number of home occupations per dwelling unit. For example, Albany limits the number of home occupations per dwelling unit to one. x:5~:H~(T1t.~.: ";-:'~E ;~U~'itL-i~i-,~ ':.:f ::.fiPLD"-:':::S GNSiT:: Traffic and parking remain two major neigh- borhood concerns with home occupations. To reduce traffic, municipalities restrict the number of on.site employees that may work in one home-based business. Municipalities should carefully determine whether the maxc imum number of employees includes all resi. Somp mun;r'p;.1[:tips I . _ i , d _I {... L._ re!~ulate zoning bv ..... - / U m iti n 2 n e12"aTi\/::: ....,J '_' eff2cts C::-I~gn/3g~, traffic.; cl~ent.e~e r';{)~~:.;=~ 00 i i !J ~~ 1 C r:'} .:;. L ~=: t.::'::) j~ri C1:: (:. ':5 :~ h.3 ;'-i ,~5":: S T C, ',-. "',-; c_' 0,'.' ': ~ ;.. ;.' '. -._' ,: ~. oJ' , ~ . _... <; ~ :~: .. .. :.~ .~~:",I r,~ () r r.e i >sr ._'~}: r~~, . _ .~; I-~. .J ..-:": \~ r- dents. only nonresident employees, or some combination thereof. For example, the Borough of Kane provides that no more than three nonresidents shall be employed at a home-based business. Papillion addresses full-time and part-time employees by requir- ing employers to provide parking for em- ployees. The ordinance provides. in part. that "the home occupation shall employ no more than one full.time or part-time employee on site other than the residents of the dwelling unit. provided that one off. street parking space is made available and IJsed by that nonresident employee." PARKING Zoning ordinances may require home occupa. tions to provide a specified number of off-street parking spaces for employees or patrons. The number varies depending on the business and the surrounding neighborhood's residential needs. The Borough of Kane ordinance requires that "a sufficient number of paved off. street parking spaces shall be provided as deemed necessary by the zoning hearing board." Alfred requires sufficient off. street parking within 100 feet of the premises for customer use without creating any traffic or safety hazards. TRAff,,: ;;~j~ERATION The amount of traffic generated in a residential neighborhood as a direct result of the business use remains a primary concern. Some zoning ordinances address the issue of traffic by pro. viding a maximum number of vehicles that may visitduring the course of an average business day. specifying, for example. that no more than five or 10 cars of employees or clients can drive to the home. Papillion provides specific criteria tied to trip generation. Its ordinance states that home-based businesses may generate no more than the greater of 30 vehicle trips per day or five percent of the average daily traffic volume of the adjacent street. Peak.hour traffic genera- tion may not exceed 16 vehicle trips, and deliv- eries or service by commercial vehicles or trucks over 10 tons gross empty weight cannot ZONINGE''1['.C::C: 9.06 AMERICAN PlANNING ASSOCIATION I pagfj9