My zoning battles - case study in obtaining zoning for a home-based business - Watchdog - Column

Home Office Computing, March, 1994 by Barbie Dallmann

IT WAS A WARM AFTERNOON IN SEPTEMBER OF LAST year, and mine was the seventh case before the monthly meeting of the Charleston, West Virginia, Planning Commission. The air in the room was stale, the seats were uncomfortably hard. I hadn't anticipated a three-hour wait for my presentation. Two of the cases ahead of mine also concerned zoning permits for home-based businesses. Such permits are part of a fast-growing trend. This was my second time before this governing body; the first was in 1983, when I started my home- based secretarial service. Now my family wanted to move to a newer, bigger home in a different neighborhood. The purchase agreement on the prospective property was contingent upon zoning approval for my now-thriving business. A lot more than the September heat was making me sweat.

Deal With Appeals Thousands of operators of home-based enterprises across the country have experienced similar discomfort, many times at the hands of uninformed, arbitrary decisionmakers. The appeals process can be an expensive, frustrating endeavor. It's no wonder that many thousands more choose a wait-and-see-what happens route, opting to operate without the proper zoning approvals.

The commission called the two other applicants, choosing to handle them together because they were located in the same neighborhood, although not on the same street. One was a landscape architect, and the other simply wanted a home office from which to do administrative tasks for his wholesale business. Neither anticipated meeting clients at home. Theirs seemed like easy cases, and I admired their integrity for going through the red tape in a situation where few would have even noticed what they were doing.

I was dumbstruck as I listened to the protesters in the cases, each with signed petitions and stories of outrage at how their neighborhood would be ruined by this kind of activity. They detailed the area's parking conditions, traffic patterns, and history of opposition to such a vile intrusion into traditional American residential life. I quickly scanned the room, wondering if there were similar vigilantes from my new neighborhood.

I shouldn't have been so surprised. A similar situation unfolded during my 1983 hearing. Several neighbors appeared, petitions in hand, outraged at my proposal to turn our nice quiet neighborhood into a crowded commercial district, complete with highrises and bumper-to-bumper traffic. At one point during that hearing, as a neighbor droned on gravely, one of the commissioners stopped her with a memorable, "My god, lady, she just wants to type. What's your problem?" I could have kissed that commissioner ! In spite of the opposition, my 1983 application was ultimately approved, and memories of the struggle faded. A decade later, I carried letters of reference from some of those same neighbors, attesting to how much they've enjoyed having my business close by and how much they're going to miss me when I move. One letter was from a sitting city councilman, who lives one block away. How times have changed.

When my case was finally called, I made a twominute presentation and awaited opposition. There was none, and my waiver was approved without incident. Later I learned that our enlightened Planning Commission also approved the other two home-occupation applicants. I sent the business owners letters of congratulations. I knew just how they felt.

Reduce Neighborly Conflict Evaluating my two zoning hearing experiences has taught me quite a lot about how the process works and how to reduce the chances for conflict. During my first case, I made a lot of faulty assumptions. I assumed that people would look at the matter logically. I assumed that everyone would know what a secretarial service was. And I assumed that no one would care if I opened a home-based business.

The city of Charleston, West Virginia, requires that all property owners within 250 feet of the subject property be notified by certified mail of a zoning application. A public hearing is scheduled for all cases. My first time, there were 50 affected parties. I assumed they would get their notices and then come to me if they had any questions. When I didn't hear anything, I assumed everyone was happy. It wasn't until the day before the hearing that rumors of discontent surfaced. Maybe the foreboding certified letters had frightened them; perhaps they had nothing better to do. The fact was, protest petitions were quietly circulating, and many neighbors were making plans to appear in opposition to my application.

Panicked, I hired an attorney to stand by me through the hearing. I choked out my presentation, and he helped me with the opposition. Ultimately, my zoning waiver was granted, but there were antagonistic feelings around the neighborhood for years afterward. I hadn't made any friends. Assume Nothing I was wiser the second time around. If I were to offer any advice for others, it would be this: Assume nothing positive---or even neutral--about your neighbors' attitudes. And that was the point from which I began my second zoning odyssey.