Renewal of home occupation permits due by Dec. 31

posted on: 12/15/2014

The Planning Department reminds residents with home businesses the deadline to renew a home business permit is fast approaching. Letters were recently sent to business owners to remind them of this requirement, which has been in effect since 2010. Home businesses are classified as “Customary Home Occupations” under the City of Dover Zoning Ordinance.

The Conditional Use Permit must be renewed on an annual basis by no later than Dec. 31 each year.

“Customary Home Occupations” are permitted in all residentially zoned districts in the City of Dover and refer to small, home-based businesses owned and operated by the occupant of the home. Types of businesses include teachers providing instruction to eight pupils or less, antique dealers, hairdressers/salons, and offices for lawyers, doctors, photographers, dentists, architects, engineers or similar professionals.

“All home based businesses are required to apply to the Planning Department for what is called a ‘Certificate of Use’,” said Tim Corwin, Assistant City Planner. “It’s a simple but necessary process that all home-based businesses must comply with, even if up until now they have been operating without City approval.”

Requirements for customary home occupations include the following: no more than one nonresident may be employed, no more than 25 percent of the net floor area of the home may be used for the business, no display of goods from the street, no signage other than a non-illuminated two-square-foot sign carrying the occupant’s name and occupation, two parking spaces in addition to the parking spaces required for the home, and no more than one commercial vehicle may be store on the property.

If the business exceeds any of these requirements, it is only permitted if it is specifically identified as a permitted use in the zoning district in which the property is located, and may require Planning Board approval. Likewise, some businesses are specifically excluded from the definition of “Customary Home Occupation” such as retail, landscaping, caterers/bakeries, and kennels. Instead these businesses are only permitted if specifically identified as permitted uses in the zoning district, in which the property is located.

Home businesses operating without a Customary Home Occupation permit or which do not renew the permit are considered to be in violation of the Zoning Ordinance and subject to penalties.

“When we encounter a zoning violation, our assumption is that the resident or business owner is not aware of the zoning regulation,” Corwin said. “We’re happy to work with them to bring their property or business into compliance. Bringing a code enforcement action against a property or business owner and seeking penalties is always a last resort.”

For more information on customary home occupation permits, please contact the City of Dover Department of Planning and Community Development at 516-6008.