Is Your Home Based Business A Zoning Violation?
Many home based business owners jump into their business without looking into the legal requirements of running a business from home
. It might not have even crossed their minds; why would there be legal requirements?Zoning laws are created to ensure that chunks of land are occupied by people with similar purposes: commercial zones for businesses, agricultural zones for farming, industrial zones for factories, and residential zones for homes. Most people don't want to have to live next to noisy, dirty factories, and most factory owners don't want to have to worry about stray cows wondering onto their property.
If you own a home-based business you are most likely located in a residential area that could have strict rules about what types of business can be conducted. Residential zoning is put in place to protect the value of the homes in the area as well as the sanity of the people who live there. If your business doesn't require a lot of visitors and you don't employ anyone outside of your family, chances are good that you won't run into any zoning issues. If you think your business might be in violation of some zoning regulations, read on for advice.
First of all, find out what information you can about zoning requirements in your city by searching online. If you are left with questions that only the city can answer, it might be a good idea to have a friend do it for you. Calling the city's attention to your home business before you know whether or not it is in violation could result in an investigation, which could result in fines.
Some of the things you can expect to find zoning regulations for are hours of operation, noise, odors, use of chemicals, frequent visitors, the number of employees allowed, exterior physical changes to your home, and posting signage. Regulations vary from city to city and county to county, so you may run into different rules where you live. If you find that you are in violation of certain codes, look for ways to modify your business to fit within the codes set by your area.
The ultimate trump card in the zoning game is neighbor complaints. If any of your neighbors thinks you are too loud, too smelly, or that you have too many visitors, you could be in trouble. It makes a lot of sense to talk to your neighbors, let them know what your business is, and encourage them to come to you with any problems before they go to the city. Similarly, if you are in violation of a zoning code and your neighbors don't mind, your city will be much more likely to grant you an exception.
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