The City of Merritt is back where it started on its rules for home-based businesses.
At the regular council meeting on Tuesday, city council rejected the recently proposed bylaw to amend Merritt’s home-based business bylaw.
That bylaw, number 2177, would have increased the allotted floor space a home-based business could use, allowed home-based businesses to operate out of basement suites, increased the number of non-resident employees from one to two, and allowed delivery of materials to or from a residence by commercial vehicles that do not exceed the 16,000-pound gross vehicle weight — essentially allowing small delivery trucks, which already make deliveries in town, to visit home-based businesses.
Council took its vote after a public hearing on the proposed changes.
At the hearing, council members heard speeches from seven members of the public, most of whom spoke in opposition to the changes bylaw 2177 would enact.
Parker Drive resident Peter Vogt said he believes home-based businesses need to be able to integrate seamlessly within the makeup of a residential neighbourhood.
“For me, I don’t care what the bylaws say, if they can’t do that, they’re not going to work,” he said.
Vogt said he wasn’t against home-based businesses.
“They do form a very important part of the economy, but they’re not the end-all and be-all,” Vogt said.
Nadine Jolly, owner of A&M Tandem Massage — the home-based business on Parker Drive which sparked council’s interest in directing staff to revise the bylaw after complaints about parking related to the business — also spoke at the hearing.
She mentioned that home-based businesses have been around for years.
“It is part of every town, and it is part of every city — that isn’t going anywhere,” Jolly said. “So then it comes down to, how do we make
this a win-win for everybody?”
Jolly rejected the idea that home-based businesses should act as an incubator to grow a business, saying not all businesses were made to grow to the point that they could occupy a downtown storefront.
Once brought forward at the subsequent council meeting, council was tasked with either defeating the bylaw or approving it for third reading and referral to the Ministry of Transportation for approval. Under the Local Government Act, changes to zoning bylaws that could affect the ministry’s infrastructure must be submitted to the ministry.
Council voted 4-2 to defeat the proposed bylaw.
Planning and development manager Sean O’Flaherty told council that changing the allowed floor area for a home-based business doesn’t necessarily impact parking issues or traffic, which can be a problem with home-based businesses, he said.
Bylaw 2177 did not change parking restrictions related to home-based businesses.
Coun. Mike Goetz sat on the city’s task force which gave administrators some ideas about possible updates to the bylaw.
Goetz said the reason for looking into changing the home-based business bylaw was to see if an update was needed or not.
Coun. Dave Baker said bylaws need to be looked at to see if they are still relevant.
Baker, along with councillors Harry Kroeker, Neil Menard and Kurt Christopherson voted in opposition of the bylaw.
Coun. Clara Norgaard declared a conflict of interest and was absent from the vote.
