Mayor Travis Schaunaman suffered a serious defeat to his business-über-alles agenda Tuesday when the City Council voted 7–2 to accept Councilman David Bunsness’s total gutting of Schaunaman’s proposal to allow businesses to expand throughout residential areas.
Aberdeen zoning ordinances currently prohibit running a business out of one’s garage or other accessory structure in a residential area and prohibit operating any machinery in a home business that would not “normally be utilized within a dwelling unit for household or hobby use.” City ordinance also limits home businesses to employing family members who live on the premises. Mayor Schuanaman would lift all three of those restrictions, allowing a home business to have one employee who lives off-site.
Councilman Busness moved amend the proposed ordinance to leave city ordinance as is, except for allowing the one off-site employee.
“So from your perspective, Dave,” asked Mayor Schaunaman, “there should be no business conducted in a garage?”
“Correct,” replied Councilman Bunsness. “I am going to continue this argument that these are residential areas, and I am wanting to protect as much as possible these residential areas.” Councilman Bunsness also referred to an August debate over parking restrictions that Mayor Schaunaman opposed because they were being done for just one or two people. “I’m not sure that we’re doing this,” said Bunsness, referring to the Mayor’s home-business deregulation, “for any more than one or two people, so is there any consistency with people’s argument with that?”
Mayor Schuanaman spluttered something about “many great American businesses, like Amazon, Disney, and Mattel” starting in garages, but the only councilman sticking with Schaunaman in voting against the Bunsness amendment was his little conservative buddy and rookie councilman Josh Rife. On the vote on the ordinance itself, Dave Lunzman joined the nays.
Given the scope of the amendment, the pared-down proposal goes to second reading at next week’s council meeting.
Worth noting: Mayor Schaunaman said from the dais that his broader ordinance would have made legal many home businesses that are already operating. Hmmm… so the mayor knows of illegal activity in the city, and he’s not enforcing city ordinance on those lawbreakers? I guess with or without his ordinance, I don’t have to worry about getting a ticket for blogging in my garage….
Cory, that is why I only blog in undisclosed places. LOL.
Schaunaman sounds like he could use some ego shrinking. He’s supposed to serve the city. The city is not there to serve him.
There’s an interesting tussle going on here, and it’s not clearly partisan. The majority of the Aberdeen City Council are not flaming liberals. Johnson, Bunsness, Olson, and Rux are all registered Republicans. The split here may be between the ideological Schaunaman and the practical council majority, who care far less about an abstract anti-government agenda and far more about using community power to maintain quality of life.