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<br />A Win for <br />the Home Team <br /> <br />MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL APPROVES <br />NEW HO.ME.BASED BUSINESS ORDINANCES. <br /> <br />'" <br /> <br />Back in our October issue, we <br />. told you about the Minneapo- <br />lis City. Council's new restrictions <br />that were upsetting. some home- <br />based business people in the city. <br />It seems the council had rejected <br />the recommendations of its own <br />Planning Commission and had <br />placed tight restrictions on people <br />running businesses out of their <br />homes. <br />But after several months of lob- <br />bying, home-based business <br />owners finally got what they want- <br />ed. Late last year, the City Council <br />approved a new home-based <br />business ordinance that reversed <br />..... many of its previous restrictions <br />. and was supported by many local <br />home-based businesses. <br />The new ordinance, which goes <br />into effect in April, allows home- <br />based businesses to be open be- <br />tween 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., seven <br />days a week, and allows one non- <br />resident employee. The previous <br />law allowed businesses ~o be <br />open only between 9 a.m, and 6 <br />p.m. and did not permit any non- <br />residents to be employed by the <br />home businesses. In addition, the <br />new ordinance does not restrict <br /> <br />! the number of clients allowed to <br />1 visit a home-based business each <br />I day but. allows the city to clamp <br />I down if traffic overwhelms a <br />I neighborhood. <br />! "Overall, this is a very, very <br />oil good ordinance,. says Michelle <br />I Bloom, owner of Minneapolis- and <br />1 home-based Creative Business <br />I Consulting, which helps counsel <br />I home-based business owners. <br />II "It's a good, balanced way to reg- <br />I ulate home-based businesses." <br />lOne provision the home-based <br />I business advocates did not get: <br />I the ability to sell retail products. <br />: The ordinance, though, does ai- <br />I low the sale of peripheral prod- <br />i ucts, such as hair-care products <br />I at a home-based hairdresser. 0 <br />I Bloom, who has worked for <br />I <br />I three years to encourage more <br />: modern regulation of home- <br />I based businesses, helped form <br />! the Minneapolis Home Based <br />I Business Task Force last spring <br />! after the City Council pas~ed its <br />I <br />I tougher regulations. She now <br />I looks 0 forward to disbanding the <br />I <br />I task force and spending her time <br />: at home-working on her home- <br />I based business. . <br /> <br /> <br />a: <br />w <br />% <br />~ <br />:I: <br />o <br />'" <br />:I: <br />g <br />CD <br />6 <br />1A <br />