Q&A: My zoning office says I can't run a home-based bookstore
QUESTION: How do you get around the issue of zoning when you sell books from your home? I just got off the phone with our local zoning office in North Carolina, which claims I can't do what I'm doing.She asked me specifically how many packages I would be mailing daily and then proceeded to tell me I could not have that many books in my home for sale. I replied, "You should see my personal library." And she said, "But you aren't selling those."
I looked up our zoning code and the only possible issue I could see was something stating "No display of products can be visible from the street and only articles made on the premises may be sold on the premises."
When I started selling books my husband and I formed a partnership and since we were considering having a brick-and-mortar store, we got our "Doing Business As" name in the county where we would have opened shop. We got a Post Office box in that town, and they didn't require a business permit. But then we decided selling online was the way we wanted to go, so I had all our business mail and accounts switched to our home address. I thought I'd go ahead and do a DBA in our county get my permit, etc.
Now I'm left scratching my head if I should just leave things the way they are in the other county and get another PO box again!
ANSWER: Perhaps your local zoning officials haven't heard about this wonderful new invention called "The Internet," which enables people all over the world to conduct business in their underwear.
I have a hard time believing that is really the local policy. I suspect the lady on the phone had a misunderstanding, either of what the zoning rules are, or what you're doing. Perhaps she thinks you need a "professional" home office, something like a dentist or a lawyer might have in a home. But you're running a mail-order company, and millions of people have been doing that in their homes all across this country, long before the Internet!
For a business like this, where you're not having people coming in and out of your home, it's absurd to suggest it violates any zoning regs. Especially in this day and age, when so many people are self-employed and working at home. I'll bet about 99 percent of all the millions of eBayers have never even thought of asking for a permit. Not to mention paying state sales tax! But I digress.
When I got my permit from my county, I had to sign a form affirming three things:
1. I would not have employees working in my home.
2. I would not have customers coming into my home.
3. I would not have heavy delivery traffic coming in or out of my home.
My understanding is that those three guidelines are pretty consistent nationwide. In my case, agreeing to those three things allowed me to obtain a "zoning variance" allowing my home business in a residential area. Every jurisdiction probably does it differently or has different language. Some call your home-business license a "home occupation permit."
It's just common sense, if the business isn't noticeable to your neighbors and has no negative impact on them, then they're nothing wrong with it -- unless of course there are regulations in your area prohibiting home businesses. What the lady said on the phone to you sounds completely ludicrous. "You can't have that many books in your home"? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life.
I've heard of some local covenants in very exclusive neighborhoods that prohibit home offices, but that doesn't sound like it's the case here.
I was able to pull up my county zoning regs by doing a Google search like this:
"Fairfax County" "home office." And here's some good information about home offices and zoning.
So you might try searching for your locality and see what the regs really say. I'd demand they show you something in writing that prohibits your business. I'd write a letter to your county government too.
It's so pathetic when people try to be honest with the government and end up getting penalized for it. I'll bet there's 10,000 people in your county selling on eBay with no paperwork whatsoever.
One other thing I've heard: If you want to inquire about a home business and potential zoning issues with your local government, it's best to ask a neighbor (who doesn't plan to have a home business) make the inquiry for you.
I'm curious if anyone else has run into this?
posted by Steve Weber at 11/06/2006
5 Comments:
After an extended feud with the city over the zoning for a law office run out of my living room, we decided that we could avoided the whole problem by having our mail go to the UPS Store and by not telling the city what we were up to.
We use the UPS Store address on all of our bank accounts, licenses, answers to hate mail from the Secretary of State's office, whatever. Since we live in a bad neighborhood, we've also put a stop to our mail being swiped out of our mailbox.
We have a cell phone for the business, we don't have a sign on the outside of our house, and we don't have any employees. At some point, we will run out of space, and we hope the operation will expand to where the house is too small to contain it. However, when that happens, I'll move to a commercial building in the neighborhood. In the meantime, just shift everything back to your post office box and tell them you're in compliance.
Call me a cynic but how many people do know in the local government offices who actually know what they are talking about? I find that I have to make multiple calls to the same government office until I can find at least two people who tell me the same story or at least close to the same story. I had someone at my sales tax office tell meI couldn't change my reporting period (fiscal to calendar). When I made my way to the top of the bureaucracy I found out she was a problem employee and was under probation and that what she told me was incorrect both times and immediately on the phone had my reporting period changed. Ironically at the same time I also found out I was put on the wrong reporting period in the first place.
Just like most other "customer service" numbers you call, when people are not trained properly they give out bad information.
The argument you got has so many holes in it you could mistake it for a piece of swiss cheese.
I'd call back and ask a few other folks to get a real answer. Work your way to the top and make them aware of it if you are getting the wrong information. When I called my local city govt for a business license after three days of probing I found that I did not have to pay $250 a year for a license but actually only $25.
Never take the first answer you get from the government as fact. Always question again. I had a boss that taught me - always ask three different people the same question before you decide which course of action to take.
Hope this doesn't sound to grumpy.
I have found the best policy is: don't ask. If you do, they will surely find a way always to say "no" instead of trying to help. The worker is totally off base and doesn't know what she's talking about.
Unless you've got cars in and out and/or neighbor complaining, I'd go about my business.
The key words are "sold onthe premises" As long as you mail the books form your local post ofice and customers do not physically enter your home, your books are not being "sold on the premises" What the local zoning office is worried about is that your customers will be parking on the street or that you will be overloading the local mail caarier with packages of books. Assure them that you are taking the books to the post office or UPS to mail and that no customers will be parking on your residential street and things should be OK.
Dick Thurston
Jeesus people, are you really begging to be taxed more with permits and whatnot? Do you think they do illegal home business spot checks or something?
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