Mountain Brook council passes new home occupation ordinance

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Chrissie Goldman couldn’t leave Monday’s Mountain Brook City Council meeting without expressing gratitude to the men and women on the dais.

After four years of study, discussion and debate, the council on Monday night amended the city ordinance that sets a framework for home-based businesses in the city.

Goldman’s parents, who live at 205 Nash Circle, have been beset with frequent knocks at their door by people looking for a neighboring residence that was operating as a health clinic. 

“You should have an expectation that when you come home, your home is your home, and that a business is a business,” Goldman said. “If it (that business) is going to impact your life in your home, then perhaps (there should be) a better place for that business to operate.”

City Manager Steve Boone said that applications for home-based business licenses previously were reviewed administratively by city staff.

The new ordinance still allows for some home-based businesses to be approved administratively, but “if you don't qualify for an administrative approval, you have to go before the Planning Commission for an application process and approval,” he said.

Applicants going before the Planning Commission must provide a certified list of adjoining neighbors so that those neighbors can be notified of the hearing and have an opportunity to participate in the hearing, Boone said.

Instructors with no more than two clients at a time or businesses who don’t have in-home clients can be approved administratively. Medical, retail and animal boarding businesses are prohibited.

Businesses approved by the Planning Commission must return for a follow-up hearing a year later to be able to continue to operate, and complaints can prompt an interim review that could yield the license being revoked.

Goldman said she feels better about the changes the City Council made.

“I want to thank y'all because it was such a big thing in my life last year,” she said. “I really appreciate the hard work that all of y'all have done to evaluate and revise it. I just wanted to say thank you. It really was a hard thing for us, and I just appreciate all your hard work.”

Four council members voted for the amended ordinance; Lloyd Shelton, an accountant, abstained to avoid a possible conflict of interest.

The new ordinance takes effect Aug. 20, but residents operating home businesses have a one-year grace period to make required changes to their operations.

In other action, the council:

  • Passed an ordinance regulating parking on Park Brook Road
  • Approved a crosswalk at Montevallo Road and Cherry Street
  • Appointed Winn Crockard to the Board of Landscape Design
  • Agreed to endorse a grant application with the city of Homewood to the EBSCO Fund for beautification of Shades Creek
  • Agreed to allow Cala Coffee to have curbside dining, with sidewalk tables limited to two
  • Approved an agreement for a freestanding clock in the right of way in front of the Arlington Building at 2701 Cahaba Road in Mountain Brook Village, where Barton-Clay’s clock once stood
  • Agreed to apply for a grant to install flashing beacons at Mountain Brook Junior High and a raised crosswalk on Stone River Road
  • Accepted a proposal from Bhate for subsurface exploration and geotechnical evaluation for the proposed fire station at 4274 Old Leeds Road
  • Agreed to hire the Lee Law Firm to assist with title issues associated with right of way acquisition for a sidewalk project on Pine Ridge Road
  • Hired Allen Consulting to do an actuarial loss reserve analysis related to workers' compensation
  • Agreed to ratify an application from the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce for design arts grant from the Philip A. Morris Fund
  • Amended and restated the city’s financial governance and  management policy
  • Authorized the sale or disposal of certain surplus property