Chelan planning panel backs simpler rules for home occupations

CHELAN — The Chelan Planning Commission voted unanimously on Jan. 21 to recommend approval of a rewrite to the city’s home occupation rules, a move city staff said is aimed less at changing what is allowed and more at making the code easier for residents and staff to understand and use.

The proposal, presented by Community Development Director John Ajax, restructures the existing code into a single, consolidated section and creates three tiers of home-based business activity based on intensity and impact.

Under the new framework, the lowest tier would cover home offices that use a residence only as a mailing address and do not involve customers or visible changes to the home. Those uses would require little or no city review.

A second tier would allow limited customer visits, up to five customers per day based on “trips” by vehicles, which is set at ten — one arrival and one departure of a customer is two “trips,” so five customers would be the maximum allowed. Those would be subject to an administrative conditional use permit approved by city staff. Ajax said this category is intended for uses such as bookkeepers, attorneys, or artists who occasionally meet clients at home while still keeping the residence primarily residential in character.

The third tier, called an expanded home occupation, would continue to require a full conditional use permit and a public hearing before a hearing examiner, and would only be allowed in the city’s special use district. Ajax said this category is meant for higher-intensity uses that might involve accessory buildings, equipment storage, or other impacts not typical of a residential neighborhood.

Assistant Planner Linda Williams, who administers the current home occupation program, told commissioners the existing code is cumbersome and difficult to apply consistently. Ajax said the intent of the rewrite is to simplify the structure without fundamentally changing what is allowed.

“The code really isn’t changing,” Ajax said during the meeting. “It’s how we’re implementing the code.”

Planning commissioners spent much of the discussion testing the proposal against real-world scenarios, including music lessons, dance studios, e-commerce resellers, and contractors who store equipment at home. Several questions focused on how the city would evaluate delivery traffic, customer visits, and storage of materials, and whether enforcement would rely on complaints from neighbors.

Ajax said routine package deliveries such as UPS or Amazon would generally not be an issue, but larger volumes of traffic, freight deliveries, or storage of bulky materials would likely fall outside what is considered a typical home occupation.

Public comment brought additional practical questions.

Lynette Grandy, a regular attendee at city meetings, asked whether a dance studio or music lessons in a home could qualify under the new system. Ajax said the administrative tier would allow up to five students at a time, based on a limit of 10 vehicle trips per day.

Jacqueline McMullen asked about home health care and assisted living-type arrangements. Ajax said those fall under separate state-regulated categories such as adult family homes and are not governed by the home occupation code.

John Olson, a former Chelan City Council member, used his comment time to broaden the discussion to housing affordability and workforce shortages, arguing that the lack of housing has been a persistent problem in Chelan for more than a decade and has worsened dramatically in recent years. He cited rising home prices and rents and urged the city to move beyond incremental changes.

In response, Ajax outlined several housing-related efforts underway, including the Apple Blossom Center apartment project, a new sewer extension to support housing by the Chelan Valley Housing Trust near Anderson Road, and recent changes to the city’s accessory dwelling unit rules intended to make ADUs easier to build and rent.

He said the city has already seen interest in the updated ADU code, and expects more activity as residents become familiar with the changes.

After closing the public hearing, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the home occupation amendments to the City Council.

The commission also elected Joe Collins as chair and Vicki Heimark as vice chair for 2026.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media