21.43.300 Home occupations | Lynnwood Municipal Code

21.43.300 Home occupations.

A home occupation may be permitted by issuance of a business license, pursuant to LMC Title 5, provided the business complies with this and other applicable sections of the Lynnwood Municipal Code.

A. Area Used. A home occupation may only be conducted in the principal building and not in an accessory building. The area devoted to the home occupation may comprise no more than 25 percent of the area of the principal building. Any extension of the home occupation to the outdoors, including, but not limited to, paving of yards for parking, outdoor storage or activity, indoor storage or activity visible from outdoors (e.g., in an open garage) is prohibited.

B. Access. Access to the space devoted to the home occupation shall be from within the dwelling, not internally closed off or separated from the living areas of the dwelling, and not from a separate outside entrance.

C. Employment. No one other than members of the resident household may perform labor or personal services on the premises.

D. Stock in Trade. The processing, storing, and occasional sale of handicrafts made on the premises and other small products is allowed, subject to compliance with other conditions of this title. Such stock must be incidental to the main activity permitted by the home occupation. The display or storage of goods outside the premises or in a window is prohibited.

E. Equipment, Use, and Activities. No equipment may be used and no activities may be conducted which would result in noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat, glare, or other conditions exceeding in duration or intensity those normally produced by a residential use. Normal residential use shall be construed as including the above impacts only on an occasional weekend or evening basis (e.g., in connection with a hobby or home/yard maintenance), and not on a daily basis. Outdoor storage of equipment, materials, or more than one vehicle related to the business is prohibited. There shall be no production, generation, or storage of any hazardous waste or substance. Those individuals who are engaged in home occupations shall make available to the fire or county health departments for review the material safety data sheets which pertain to all potentially toxic and/or flammable materials associated with the use.

F. Traffic. A home occupation shall not generate traffic in excess of normal residential traffic. Normal residential traffic for the purposes of regulating home occupation traffic shall be defined as 10 trips per day and one trip per hour. There shall not be more than one client on the premises at any one time. One client constitutes those arriving in a single vehicle. Delivery services such as the Post Office, UPS, FedEx and similar, which make normal deliveries to residential neighborhoods, shall not be included in the assessment. Trips, whether personal or for business, by residents of the dwelling, shall also not be included. Home occupations that generate traffic or parking are limited to the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

G. Certain Uses Specifically Prohibited. The following uses are specifically prohibited as home occupations:

1. Automotive repairs or detailing;

2. Small engine and major appliance repair;

3. Boarding, grooming, kenneling, or medical treatment of animals;

4. Contractors’ shops (with the exception of administrative and office functions);

5. On-site sale of firewood;

6. Sheet metal fabrication;

7. Unlicensed or uncertified (by state licensing or an accrediting agency, when available) health care or other physical or personal services administered directly to the client at this location;

8. Beauty/barber shops and other similar activities having more than one station;

9. Any other use as determined by the development and business services director with a significant potential to violate one or more of the conditions of this section.

H. Signs. Any home occupation sign must meet the residential sign regulations in LMC 21.16.290. Such signs shall display only the name and address.

I. Exemptions. The following shall not be regulated under this section: garage sales, yard sales, bake sales, and similar as long as they do not occur more than three times per year per home.

1. Applications. Home occupations shall be reviewed concurrently with the business license application pursuant to LMC Title 5. Applications for home occupation related business licenses shall also include a copy of a site plan showing parking and a floor plan for the premises showing access and the square footage of the total premises and the square footage allocated to the business. All home occupation business license applications shall be acknowledged by the property owner (if other than the applicant).

2. Conditions. The director of the development and business services department may impose additional conditions to mitigate any potential adverse impacts of the home occupation to the surrounding uses.

3. Business License. A business license shall be obtained from the city clerk’s office and shall be maintained. If the license is not maintained, the home occupation approval shall become null and void and a new business license application shall be required to reestablish the use.

a. A violation of any provision of this section shall be a civil infraction. Enforcement activities will be conducted pursuant to LMC 1.40.020.

b. A home occupation may be suspended or revoked by the director of the development and business services department as an administrative decision. The director may base his action on:

i. Lack of compliance with the conditions of the permit of the business license or its approval, or with the provisions of the development code; or

ii. Upon finding that the operation of the home business creates a nuisance or hazard, or has been abandoned, or was procured by mistake, fraud or deception.

K. Inspection. The city of Lynnwood fire marshall and building official reserve the right to inspect a home occupation to ensure that related alterations and equipment are consistent with fire and building codes. (Ord. 3399 § 2 (Exh. A), 2021; Ord. 2883 § 2, 2011; Ord. 2586 § 3, 2005; Ord. 2466 § 2, 2003)