Soon home-based businesses and secondary suites may be allowed to co-exist in Squamish homes.
The district’s community development standing committee on March 3 recommended that both home-based businesses and rental suites be permitted in single-family dwellings. As it stands, home-based businesses such as salons and IT businesses – a category officially known as Home Occupation Residential – cannot exist in homes where there is a secondary suite.
Home offices such as bookkeepers where there are no outside clients (known as Home Occupation Residential Office) and secondary suites, however, have been allowed together in the same dwelling.
The inconsistency likely came from a wish of past councils to reduce parking issues, according to district staff.
According to a report presented to council on the issue, five bed and breakfast business license renewals were flagged and reviewed in 2014 because a secondary suite was also at the home.
Reconciling the home-based businesses and secondary suites will help with Squamish’s rental stock and housing affordability, as well as support local economic development, according to the report.
“If you think about the bigger picture, the climate action piece, home based businesses also create a smaller climate footprint compared to people that are commuting all over the place, so there are lots of good reasons to look at regulatory amendments that will allow us to create a peaceful co-existence of suites and home-based businesses in residential areas,” said district planner Sarah McJannet.
She also pointed out that according to Statistics Canada Census information the number of people working from home increased from five per cent in 1996 to eight per cent in 2011. The number of work-at-home Squamish residents is predicted to increase, following the global trend toward online businesses that can be managed from home.
As part of the report to council on the inconsistencies in licensing, McJannet presented to council a snapshot of the current home-based business environment in Squamish. In 2014, the district licensed approximately 440 home-based businesses in residential zones out of a total of 1,414 business licenses processed. The majority of home-based businesses were classified as service providers such as accountants, animal trainers and contractors. According to the district, this number is likely low as it is assumed some business owners didn’t seek a license.
The district is not considering allowing multiple home-based businesses in a single residence at this time.
The change to allow the both home occupation residential and secondary suites will be put forward as part of an overall business license review and zoning updates that will be completed later this year, but in the meantime business licenses for home occupation residential businesses where there is a suite will be processed and allowed.
The recommendation still has to be ratified at the March 17 council meeting.
