SANTA PAULA : Ban on Home-Based Realty Brokers Lifted
Real estate brokers in Santa Paula may again apply to work at home following the suspension of a 12-year-old ban against home-based brokers.
The Santa Paula City Council agreed Tuesday to a one-year suspension of the ban after a broker appealed a city decision denying her a permit to operate her business from home.
In a survey of other cities in Ventura County, city planner Joan Kus found that Fillmore was the only other city to forbid real estate brokers from working at home.
Councilman Alfonso Urias voted against the proposal.
Urias, a part-time real estate agent, said his family had paid $75,000 in rent for a real estate office since 1981.
Before voting for the trial program, Councilman Wayne Johnson said brokers were the only class of real estate professionals who could work from home without having clients visit regularly.
Santa Paula issues permits for home-based businesses where the work is an incidental use of the residence and does not affect traffic or parking in the neighborhood.
Suspending the ban against brokers “is a business-friendly gesture that might help the economy,” Mayor Margaret Ely said.
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