The City Council tilted a set of regulations on home businesses to favor the neighbors of those businesses. The council, at its May 14 meeting, cited concerns about the traffic, noise and other impacts on residential neighborhoods.

The updated regulations passed 6-1 after extensive last-minute amendments. Councilwoman Nancy Whitten, the dissenting vote, led the charge on the neighbor-friendly tweaks, worrying that the Planning Commission-crafted law would lead to a proliferation of people running disruptive businesses out of their homes. She said that the changes still did not go far enough to protect the neighbors.

“The presumption needs to be in favor of residents and neighborhoods rather than in favor of people that want to have a business that is apt to be intrusive,” Whitten said.

According to U.S. Census figures, there are about 1,639 home businesses in the city. A majority of the people who work from home would likely not be affected by the new regulations, since current home businesses are grandfathered in under the old law. But a homeowner hoping to start a new business might face a few more restrictions, particularly if they plan to have customers coming and going or do anything that could draw the attention of a neighbor. Current businesses could also be affected if they make significant changes to their business model and have to reapply for a home business license.

The council retained bans on several types of businesses that the commission had suggested doing away with, including automobile, truck and heavy equipment repair, vehicle painting and veterinary clinics.

Commission members pointed out that Sammamish still has hundreds of multi-acre properties that could host such a business without imposing on the neighbors. The home business code contains multiple other requirements that such a business would have to meet, such as keeping business activity more than 20 feet from property lines. Any potentially disruptive business would also have to obtain a conditional use permit. The permitting process would give neighbors the opportunity to weigh in and the city the opportunity to place specific regulations on the business –such as when it can be open and how many clients can visit in a given day, for example.

But leaving the matter up to the judgment of city staff was not enough for several councilmembers, who recounted their own horror stories of living next to carpentry and automobile restoration businesses and conjured up theoretical problem businesses that could pop up in local neighborhoods.

Deputy Mayor John James said liberalizing the rules would “nullify” the concept of zoning in the city.

“It’s a slippery slope to go down this path and allow these types of uses in residential zones,” he said. “This is the quickest way to get us off the (CNN/Money Magazine Top Cities list).”

The council also retained a requirement that a maximum of 50 percent of the floor area of a home be dedicated to business and required that Type 1 businesses – generally low impact businesses like lawyers and consultants – have no more than three non-resident employees and no more than three cars on site related to the business.

Whitten also insisted on adding language prohibiting businesses from creating vibrations that affect neighbors. Whitten recalled being bothered by a neighbor who did lots of carpentry work.

“In the summer time the garage doors open and the saws come outside,” she said. “It made my whole deck wobble.”

During deliberations, Whitten attempted to delay the passage of the ordinance, suggesting that the council form a committee to do more outreach and get more information from neighborhoods. Much of the testimony heard by the commission came from home business owners and the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce.

“We need a public dialogue – not just with the business owners, but with homeowners to see what their input is,” she said.

Whitten was overruled after City Manager Ben Yazici noted that the commission had held six public hearings on the matter, in addition to the two times it had been discussed at council meetings.

Councilman John Curley said tighter regulations likely wouldn’t stop residents from running businesses out of their homes, just make people less likely to apply for a permit with the city, giving the city and neighbors a chance to weigh in. He noted that the city had received only two complaints about a home business’s impact in the last four years.

“When you outlaw auto body painting, only outlaws will auto body paint,” he said.

Councilman Don Gerend agreed, saying that intermixing businesses amongst residential zones was part of the new “paradigm” in urban design that the city is trying to model its Town Center after.

“I think we’re making a mountain out of a molehill here,” he said.

Though much of the concern from the council centered around the amount of cars coming and going from a home business, Claudia Haunreiter, a retired hairdresser who ran a salon out of her Sammamish home for 26 years, noted there may be some positives to added activity in a neighborhood.

“Our neighborhood can feel assured that we do watch the coming and going of cars while most of the neighbors are gone to work, leaving their home empty and ready for intruders,” she wrote in an email to the council. “An empty neighborhood is an open invitation for intruders.”

Jason Schaefer, owner of Golf USA, takes a swing in his business’ indoor driving range. Photo by J.B. Wogan

Recession or no, Ray McCorkle decided to open A-Game Sports in Inglewood Plaza in August. He said he believed the presence of three high schools in Sammamish would create a steady demand for sports apparel.

So far, it’s been a struggle.

“We’re breathing. It’s short breaths, but we’re breathing. We need more business,” McCorkle said.

It might seem crazy to open a new business in today’s retail market. People aren’t buying like they did a couple of years ago. The state Department of Revenue released figures in July that said taxable retail sales in King County were down 14.4 percent from last year — about $3.5 billion.

But at least three local entrepreneurs are braving the market anyway and opening new businesses in Sammamish.

McCorkle, who calls himself a “gym rat,” said he has bought advertising in local newspapers and in high school football booster programs, but he still needs to find ways to get the word out that his store exists.

Deb Sogge, executive director of the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce, said McCorkle’s problem wasn’t unusual.

“I think the number one challenge is getting the word out that they’ve opened,” Sogge said. Sogge said new business owners often approach her about marketing strategies.“They want to know, specifically, this is my demographic that I’m attracting. How do I attract that?” she said

McCorkle’s 2,000-square-foot store, run by a three-person staff, provides general sports equipment and clothing, he said. He said he hopes to position his business to provide the team apparel for local recreational sports teams, as well as the school-sponsored programs.

While McCorkle’s store is the only new general sports store in Sammamish, all three of the plateau’s new businesses this year have fitness in common.

Amy Frank-Lewallen opened Fitness Together in February in the Pine Lake Shopping Center, in a 966-square-foot space that used to be a Blockbuster Video.

In Frank-Lewallen’s case, she said she had been waiting to open the business for two years but for permitting reasons, had to open now.

“I would never have opened at this time otherwise,” she said.

Fitness Together provides one-on-one personal training with two exercise rooms. The front lobby has three machines for a cardio-vascular workout, though the back rooms also have two functional trainer machines, dumbbells, exercise balls and latex bands. Frank-Lewallen has owned two Fitness Together businesses in the past, one in Woodinville and one in Issaquah. (She still owns half of the Woodinville business.)

“I was just worried that people were cutting back on expenses and wouldn’t see the value in fitness,” Frank-Lewallen said.

But business has been good to her; surprisingly so, she said. The Sammamish Fitness Together receives has about 50 clients a month, she said.

Jason Schaefer, manager of Golf USA, opened up his 4,000-square-foot storefront May 15. The golf-specific sports store replaced Sleep 101.

Golf USA, run by a three-person staff, has a synthetic putting green and an indoor driving range, plus golf equipment and apparel.

Schaefer said the current economy didn’t worry him.

“With good quality and good service, people will still spend money on golf equipment,” he said.

Schaefer, a Sammamish resident who lives behind Skyline High School, said he thought there was a latent demand for a golf store on the plateau. There are two golf courses in Sammamish and all three high schools field both girls and boys golf teams.

Schaefer also pointed out that the Men’s Senior U.S. Open is scheduled to take place at the Sahalee Country Club in 2010. That, too, should drum up interest in his store, he said.

Before summer ends, one more new business could grace the plateau: Galliano’s Cucina.

The Italian restaurant is scheduled to open in September according to Sogge. It would replace DC’s Grill in the Saffron shopping center, which closed this summer.

Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com. To comment on this story, visit www.SammamishReview.com.