The city’s Planning & Zoning commission continued to discuss new regulations for home businesses at its April 18 meeting. Two residents spoke at the beginning of the meeting and objected to certain provisions in the draft, such as city inspections of home businesses without any mention of reasonable notice. 

 

Commissioners responded to residents’ concerns and suggested several changes for the next draft. They emphasized a key concern was regulating excessive noise and traffic disturbances for those living near a home business. P&Z members acknowledged that the issue in many cases should not be about regulating the number of tools (such as a table saw) at a home business, but rather about the use of such tools, i.e. personal versus commercial purposes.

 

Another significant development was that a majority of members seemed to support two sets of regulations, one for retail businesses and another for professionals, such as consultants, whose work would not typically involve any traffic or excessive noise.

 

The commissioners discussed who in city government should be part of the approval process and the duration of home business permits. Further consideration of these and other issues will be the subject of future meetings.

 

According to Google Maps, there are a wide range of home businesses within city limits. They include web design, renovations and child care.

 

The next P&Z meeting will be on May 16, 6 pm at city hall, and the agenda will be published in advance here: https://www.shenandoahtx.us/AgendaCenter