Zoning Laws Prohibit- What would you do ?

[clifftax]

I know quite a few of taxidermists work directly from their own homes. If zoning laws prohibit you from running your taxi shop at home what would you do ? Could you go out and rent ? Would you shut down for good ?  Think about it, what if you got a letter in the mail tomorrow.

[none]

just do it anyway, quitely. discretely, government regs are out of control. use good sense and good judgement. but take my word for it. just do it. the bigger businesses in your area do. they use the ol buddy system. a hand shake with a couple Ben Franklins in there!
 
 
 

[mr.T aka mr. friendly]

Find out in you township, city, village, whatever, what do they consider a home business? Baby setting and child care, insurance saleman, internet business, sewing and alterations, I bet they have nothing about taxidermy listed in their laws as being a home business. As long as you follow the rules, no signs, no skinning critters in the front yard tree, out of site, out of mind.
They wont send you a letter if they dont know you are there, so what, they cant stop a home business if it is done inside of your home in the basement. But if you have yahoo hunter friends hanging around with pickup trucks all day, the neighbors might not care for that. They could make it hard on you.

[AndyO]

Go to the city board and ask for a variance. The bigest problem cities have with home businesses is the added traffic in a residential area and noise. You shouldn't have a problem if you can prove to the board your business will not impact the neighbors.

[Jeff F.]

Go to the city board and ask for a variance. The bigest problem cities have with home businesses is the added traffic in a residential area and noise. You shouldn't have a problem if you can prove to the board your business will not impact the neighbors.

Listen to Andy! "Try it quietly" could really come back to bite you hard! I had to do it. I went to the board of zoning appealls. They sent out letters to every house within 300 yards of me and told them my intentions. At this point they had a chance to express their concerns, if any, at a city board meeting. I did it all for under $100 and wouldn't have done it any other way. There's no substitute for knowing you tried to do something right. Things may be different in your community but a quick call to city hall should have you on your way. Good luck!

[Jim Tucker]

The varience is the way to go.  However tell NONE of your neighbors...unless there are some who would come and SUPPORT you at the meeting.  Most people will not bother to even go, so supporters look good.  Make sure and know your stuff.  You will be asked about:

Chemicals that may endanger the city
How you will dispose of carcasses
Smells
Traffic Flow

Make sure and have good answers ready for all of these questions.

I have a varience for my business.  It was easy to get.  i also had a "friend" on the council who stood up for me.  I live in a small town(2000 people), it may be harder in a bigger town.   Find out who is on council...you may find someone who knows you, your father, etc, that may help you at the meeting.  Even a "hunter" on the council will help.  Find out who these "guys" are.

Keep it quiet to all but supportive neighbors
know your stuff
Get supporters to attend
Find a friend on council....

[Pirate]

If the variance doesn't work you may try partnering with a local sporting good store.  Try and find one that will let you accept animals and deliver mounts from their location.  If they accept and deliver animals for you then give them a small percentage.  This in the long run would be cheaper than renting because you are only paying money for the work you are getting.  Slow months you don't pay anything.  This will also give you an additional customer base to draw from.  Then take the animals to your work shop to complete.  Neighbors will never know you are working on things because there will be no increased traffic to your home.

[Jeff F.]

Also find out ahead of time what size shop space you are allowed to be considered a "small busines". This is measured in square footage and is another thing that you shouldn't let catch you off guard. As Jim said though, chemicals and disposal will be the big questions. They'll also want to know if there will be anything sitting around outside(masceration barrels?) or anything that will effect the "natural" landspaping of the neighborhood.

[Matt]

Andy's right, I had to go before a comittee and be approved before running a business on my property. I didn't want to take chance on it because of the money I was investing in a 40x60 building. I was approved and I'm in an area zoned residential/agricultural. I like having my studio on the property, if you forget to do something or take something out of the freezer, I just run out and do it without driving down the road to a rented place. There are loop holes in rather or not taxidermy is a real business. The township was concerned about the traffic and noise, but I proved to them there would not be anything that would disturb my neighbors. My surrounding neighbors even signed off on me running the business here.