What Should the Law Be on...

This ordinance simply deals with what’s already in place. We have home-based occupations. What we need to do is regulate and control them.

In the long run, there are many benefits. First, it legalizes what is already being done. It generates money for the city that will help with the tax base. It provides for better licensing control and regulation because we will now have a clear definition of who can and who cannot operate in residences. And, of course, it allows people to operate legally the kind of businesses that should be conducted from home, which by the way are often constitutionally protected--a writer for example.

A person engaged in a home-based occupation cannot change the external character or appearance of a dwelling. The ordinance deals with parking and also with signage. It [will] provide some enforcement, [but] if the problem is concern about enforcement, then we need to focus on enforcement, not throw the baby out with the bath water and say this isn’t doable.

I think it’s a useful and important tool as long as the restrictions that Councilwoman Chick has put in go into the final ordinance.