County bans certain home-based businesses

Posted March 23, 2007

Utah County enacted a ban on certain kinds of home-based businesses Tuesday in what was described as an update of land-use rules to keep them relevant now that the county is rapidly urbanizing. The change won’t affect existing businesses, and most home businesses are in a different category than the one changed. It also doesn’t solve a dispute between West Mountain neighbors that illuminated the issues at stake, although it likely will keep similar disputes from erupting in the future. County commissioners approved the change 2-1. Commissioner Larry Ellertson dissented and said the change went too far. “I just feel that we’re painting with such a broad brush that we’re eliminating everything,” he said. But the category deleted in areas zoned as residential-agricultural or mining and grazing — “premises occupation,” in which a small business is housed in a standalone building in a residential area — is less relevant these days, said Utah County community development director Jeff Mendenhall.