Canmore residents applying for a class one home occupation will no longer have to go through the development permit process if council changes its Land Use Bylaw later this year.
Megan Dunn with the planning and development department presented the change as part of an omnibus amendment to the bylaw on Jan. 6.
Dunn explained class one home occupations are currently permitted in most areas and by definition they do not have any effect on neighbourhoods as they are phone and desk operations.
“There are no community benefits arisen by regulating these uses,” she said. “Because they are a permitted use in most areas, applications for a permit cannot be appealed and a lot of other municipalities do not actually require permits for a class one occupation.”
The requirement becomes onerous on business owners, she added, when they don’t have stable accommodation and have to re-apply for the permit each time they move. It also requires significant staff time to process these requests and Dunn said by making the change, the planning department and bylaw services would have more time for other initiatives.
The omnibus bylaw also proposes to make class one occupations a permitted use in areas where it is currently discretionary. Enforcement to ensure the small business is not operating as a class two – in other words, increasing traffic by having people visit the home to do business – was reinforced in the bylaw with wording that a cease use order or fines can be issued.
Two other changes to the bylaw add garden centres as a discretionary use in the Southern Business District and wording to several sections to clarify that the resident owner of a suite must be the principal resident of one of the approved units on the property, but not necessarily the primary dwelling unit.
The municipality annually reviews the bylaw for changes and puts forward an omnibus bylaw to address any issues or inconsistencies found. A public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. in council chambers.
