North Carolina lawmakers are trying to draw a bright line around the spare-room businesses people run from home. Under the Home-Based Business Fairness Act, cities could not ban no-impact home-based businesses inside their limits, and they could not force owners to apply for a permit, license, variance or other approval just to operate one.
A business that still has to look like part of the house
The protection is aimed at businesses that stay secondary to the dwelling and remain compatible with residential use. The bill says they still have to follow state and federal law, including taxes, and local governments could keep reasonable rules that are narrowly tailored to public health and safety and to preserving the residential character of the property and surrounding homes.
The line cities could still draw
The proposal does not give every home-based operation the same shelter. Cities could still prohibit or limit businesses tied to illegal drugs, liquor, structured sober living homes, pornography, obscenity, nude or topless dancing and other adult-oriented uses. And they could not make fire sprinklers a condition for a no-impact business in a single-family detached home, which keeps the bill focused on low-impact work rather than a wholesale rewrite of zoning.
Sources
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