With an estimated 4,000 home businesses spread throughout its neighborhoods, there’s little debate — Sammamish is unique compared to its Eastside counterparts.
“I don’t think there’s too many other cities that have the amount of home-based businesses in Washington,” said Deb Sogge, Sammamish Chamber of Commerce executive director.
But as more and more home businesses pop up around the city of 47,000, conversation continues to heat up about how to maintain a compatibility between business owners and surrounding neighborhoods.
At its May 1 meeting, the Sammamish City Council discussed an ordinance that would change the current home business code — regulations that were inherited from King County in 1999 when Sammamish became a city.
“When we go through this process we’re in a sense trying to custom taylor these a little better for us,” said Kamuron Gurol, director of community development.
Gurol highlighted a list of recommended changes from the Planning Commission to the council.
Under the current code, selling any item on-site or selling any goods produced off-site is prohibited. Products created on-site, like artwork, can be sold away from the home.
The Planning Commission recommended that all goods should be able to be sold on-site if an appointment was made between the buyer and seller. It would also allow for off-site products to be sold at the home business.
That would clear up a lot of questions for business owners like Claudia Haunreiter, who has operated a hair salon from her Sammamish home the last 26 years.
“With your situation of retail sales, if I made shampoo on the spot I could sell it, but I can’t sell (pre-made) shampoo?,” she asked.
Other recommendations included moving from what is now no limit on appointment hours to a 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week; changing a maximum 50 percent usage of a home for business to no limit and reducing a no maximum on cars parked at the business to no more than three vehicles.
“When you start restricting it back, you start affecting peoples’ incomes,” Haunreiter said. “Home businesses care about their neighbors, we’re also neighbors. We own our homes, we don’t want other people to do things that impact us negatively.”
The council, which was without mayor Tom Odell last week, was split down the middle on the Planning Commission’s suggestions.
Councilmembers Don Gerend, Romiro Valderrama and John Curley were in favor of the potential changes.
“Being on the edge of the urban growth area, we find that we have a very high percentage of people who work out of their home,” Gerend said. “I think that’s good, I think we should encourage it because the more people that work out of their homes, the less congestion there is.”
Councilmembers Tom Vance, John James and Nancy Whitten voiced their concerns for maintaining integrity within neighborhoods.
“I’m concerned that we’re wanting to be a little more liberal than we should be,” Vance said. “We should respect the fact that have home businesses, but I don’t want to drive a truck through the code to pretty much allow anything to happen.”
The Council will take its second look at the proposed ordinance at its next meeting, Monday, May 14.
