Article 49 Presentation

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Article 49: Home Occupations

James Fleming, Andrew Greenspon

Home Occupations - Why?

● Prospective entrepreneurs have problems:

○ Commercial space is expensive to rent

○ Finding the “right” space is hard

○ Commercial leases are multi-year lease

Proposal: Allow larger home businesses; it allows more businesses

to succeed if the commercial real estate market doesn’t work for

them

Home Occupations - Major Changes

● Allow a home occupation to employ an additional person

(currently zero)

● Allow a home occupation to sell their wares on site

● Allow a 2 sqft sign

Home Occupations - Minor changes

● Set expectations for:

○ Operating hours

○ Vehicular traffic

○ Hazardous materials

● Organization:

○ Remove regulations from definitions and use tables

○ Combine all regulations in one section

Home Occupations - Compared To Other Towns

● Allow Employees: Belmont, Waltham, Newton

● Allow Signs: Medford, Winchester, Waltham

● Allow Sales On Premises: Newton, Brookline

Home Occupations - Example

Suppose a knitwear designer takes full advantage of this bylaw.

What could happen?

- Hire an assistant or co-designer

- Puts a small sign in the front

- Turns their living room into a showroom for their work, can sell their

work

What wouldn’t happen?

- Can’t see anything business-related from the street

- Can’t draw so much traffic that it overwhelms the neighborhood

Home Occupations - Example

Suppose a music teacher takes full advantage of the bylaw.

What could happen?

- Hire an assistant teacher

- Can teach 3 students instead of 1

- Sign for music teaching out front

What wouldn’t happen?

- Can’t create so much noise that it disturbs the neighbors