HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Special Home Occupation Permit to allow online purchase of merchandise, merchandise storage, and online merchandise resale at 1648 Reagan DriveCITY OF AMES, IOWA ��L 202
ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMEN°'
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION I ' �AMEN,
„
OF NIANHAI SHEN AND LIXIA ZHU OF CITY OF i_
META ELECTRONICS, FOR A SPECIAL CASE NO.20-30
HOME OCCUPATION PERMIT, SECTION
29.1304 OF THE AMES MUNICIPAL GEOCODE NO.05-27-380-090
CODE, TO ALLOW ONLINE PURCHASE
OF MERCHANDISE, MERCHANDISE DECISION & ORDER
STORAGE AND ONLINE MERCHANDISE
RESALE FOR THE PROPERTY
LOCATED AT 1648 REAGAN DRIVE
FACTS
Applicant is requesting a Special Home Occupation Permit to allow Meta Electronics to operate
as a home business from the residential property located at 1648 Reagan Drive in the RL Zoning
district.
City Planner Benjamin Campbell introduced the request and provided an overview of the
proposed home occupation, applicable law, and staff s Findings of Fact and Conclusions.
The business purchases merchandise online, has the merchandise shipped to the home and then
re -sells the merchandise online. The merchandise includes small office electronics and home
printers. This business does not fall under "mail order businesses where products are shipped
directly from the supplier to the customer," a permitted home occupation under Sec.
29.1304(1)(a), as the products are shipped to and from the subject property. Applicant applied
for the Special Home Occupation after being contact by Staff, who had received a complaint
concerning the business for frequent deliveries to the property.
The subject property contains a one-story single-family home with a basement and has
approximately 1,354 square feet of floor area. The house has a two -car garage, recorded as 508
square feet by the Assessor. No modifications to the home are proposed for use by the business.
Merchandise storage will take place in the garage. Office space inside the residence will be used
for the business.
The proposed business will not exceed the allowed 10 visits per day based upon Applicant's
statements. The space used for the business will occupy less than the maximum allowed 25
percent of the total floor area of the residence. Delivery vehicles do park on the street. Large
delivery trucks are not proposed; standard delivery trucks used by companies such as FedEx and
UPS are the types of vehicles that would deliver merchandise and pick-up merchandise from the
home.
Planner Campbell stated that due to the nature of the business as described in the application, it
can be concluded that the proposed use will not alter the normal residential character of the area
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and therefore based on the application as described, the Board can conclude that the application
does meet all of the applicable criteria in the code.
Applicant Nianhai Shen, 1648 Reagan Drive, Ames, Iowa, was sworn in and testified under oath.
Regarding the use, Applicant stated that there are no employees outside of the household, no
customers will visit the site, an office space inside the dwelling occupies approximately 35
square feet and a space in the garage of less than 100 square feet will be used for storing
merchandise. The space set aside for the business in the garage will not replace a car stall. There
will be regular package deliveries, estimated at up to 5 per weekday. The packages will be small,
less than 28 inches for any side, and will weigh less than 28 pounds. No special equipment is
required to move the packages; they can be lifted or moved with a dolly.
Notification was made to all owners of property within 200 feet. A notice of public hearing was
also placed in the front yard of the property. Several neighbors appeared the hearing to voice
their concerns regarding increased traffic and the speed of the delivery trucks. Judy and Bruce
Vance, 1636 Reagan Drive, William Nutty, 1629 Reagan Drive, Vicki Gross, 1520 Reagan Drive
and Craig Forney, 1618 Reagan Drive all testified regarding their opposition to the granting of
the Special Home Occupation permit due to the increased traffic.
Discussion was held regarding the possibility of granting the application with a condition of no
semi -truck deliveries.
DECISION The Board considered the facts as detailed above and provided in the Staff Report
and found that all of the relevant standards in Section 29.1304 were met and established by the
Applicant.
ORDER
WHEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the Applicant is GRANTED, pursuant to Ames
Municipal Code Section 29.1304, a Special Home Occupation Permit to allow online purchase of
merchandise, merchandise storage and online merchandise resale for the property located at 1648
Reagan Drive with the following condition:
1) Semi -trucks shall not deliver merchandise to Meta Electronics at this location.
Any person desiring to appeal this decision to a court of record may do so within 30 days after
the filing of this decision.
Dated this 24t" day of June 2020.
Diane Voss Amelia Schoeneman
City Clerk Chair