GOVERNMENT
Lakeway’s home occupation ordinance does not permit the following occupations in city limits: Home occupations NOT PERMITTED
BREAKDOWN of events Day care owner Bianca King underwent a monthslong process with the city in an attempt to gain a home occupation permit.
March King granted right to operate during lawsuit, other remedies considered
May Home ordinance
Exact date unknown
revisited by commission
King appeals to board of adjustment decision
Complaint received
animal breeding, animal hospitals, pet grooming, commercial kennels or stables, veterinary offices lodging houses, “bed and breakfast” lodges, rental outlets clinics, hospitals, massage parlors/therapy clinics
2022
2021
January King opens day care business
August King is notified she needs an additional permit
September King files for city permit
November Zoning and planning commission
February • 9: board of adjustment denies appeal
April Revised preliminary home ordinance presented to commission
SOURCES: INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE, CITY OF LAKEWAY/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
• 10: city issues official ruling • 15: King files lawsuit against the city
denies permit
barber shops, beauty parlors
Lawsuit prompts change to home occupation laws The city of Lakeway is considering updating its home occupation ordi- nance governing at-home businesses following a monthslong administra- tive and legal battle with local day care owner Bianca King. King sued the city after she was the homes have someone working from home and operating some kind of business at times. We need to not take that away.” The revised ordinance was revisited BY GRACE DICKENS denied her permit for the first time. After appealing the decision to the board of adjustment, King was denied again in February, shortly after which she filed a lawsuit against the city to keep her business open.
restaurants, cocktail lounges
dancing schools or studios
contractor’s yards, junkyards
adult-oriented businesses
at the May 4 zoning and planning commission meeting with further revisions suggested by the commis- sion, which Molis said he and the city attorneys will work to address in coming weeks. An exact date for approval by the commission has not been determined as of the publication of this story. King operates a state-registered at-home day care out of her Lakeway home. She can care for up to four preschool children in addition to two of her own, ages 2 and 4, according
vehicle repair shops
“The city has an extremely strict ordinance governing home busi- nesses,” text from the lawsuit said. “It is one of the most oppressive home occupation ordinances in the state and even the country. These provisions ban virtually all home businesses, including many traditional home businesses that are common in most other towns, and which the [c]ity has no legitimate interest in prohibiting.” A home occupation is defined by
SOURCE: CITY OF LAKEWAY/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
denied a necessary permit for oper- ation and ordered to shut down her day care operation in February. The permit was denied on the grounds that it violated two of the 19 at-home business rules listed in the city’s home occupation ordinance, which outlines rules a business must follow in order to receive a permit for operation. “There’s a long history of home occupations in general, as long as humans have had homes,” Lakeway Assistant City Manager Joseph Molis said. “Specifically in Texas, there is a long history of allowing things to be home occupations, and when you look at the strict interpretation of this code the way it’s written now, it can be considered overbearing.” The lawsuit with King prompted the city to review its existing ordinances. On April 6, zoning and planning commission members viewed a preliminary version of the updated ordinance, which corrected many of the major flaws of the original code and removed some rules entirely. Of the 19 rules, nine were removed; three were altered substantially; four were clarified; and three were not altered. “Part of this is also trying to acknowledge the reality that a lot of people are working from home now,” Lakeway City Attorney Cobby Caputo said. “On a given street, probably half
to control with a special-use permit is the abuse of property rights by property owners and by neighbors,” Molis said. “You’re trying to pre- vent noxious things that happen in residential areas or that impact residential areas.” Various home occupations have been outlined by the city in its code as unacceptable, such as animal breed- ing, junkyards and dance studios. One traditional home-based business that has been accepted by courts is someone who cuts hair or operates a beauty salon. Both in the original code and updated code, however, that occupation is not permitted within Lakeway’s city ordinances, Caputo said. “It’s within the power of the city to change the common law of traditional home-based businesses to better fit the community itself,” Caputo said. The city and law firm reached an agreement in early March, allowing King to operate her business while the lawsuit proceeds, Lakeway Director of Communications Jarrod Wise said. King will have the opportunity to reapply for a home occupation permit
the city as an occu- pation carried out in a home or a building connected to a home. In these instances, the use of the home for an occupation is second- ary to the use of the home for residential purposes. Some occupations specifically outlined in the original ordinance as acceptable include a computer program- mer, tutor, consultant, artist or dressmaker.
to the court document. She opened
"THERE’S A LONG HISTORYOF HOME OCCUPATIONS IN GENERAL ... WHENYOU LOOKAT THE STRICT INTERPRETATIONOF THIS CODE THEWAY IT’SWRITTENNOW, IT CANBE CONSIDERED
her business in January 2021 to support herself after she was laid off during the pandemic. Directly behind her home is the eighth hole of the Live Oak
OVERBEARING.” JOSEPH MOLIS, LAKEWAY ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
golf course at the Hills of Lakeway
Coincidentally, some of these violate the strict rules set forth in the home occupation ordinance, such as the inability to sell merchan- dise or services on the property as would be necessary in the case of a dressmaker or tutor, Molis said. “In general, what you are trying
Country Club. After the city received a complaint about King’s business, she was contacted by the city in August and informed she needed an addi- tional permit to continue its opera- tion, according to the court document. King went through a commission hearing in November where she was
once the city adopts the revised ordinance, according to the city. COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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