PURPOSE

The purpose of this staff report is to provide the City Council with information  concerning how other cities conduct their �Home Occupation Rules and Regulations� relative to the land use of commercial music lessons from a residence.  Also, staff will provide information as to why Burbank does not currently allow commercial music lessons to be conducted from a residence.

BACKGROUND

At the May 10, 2005 City Council meeting, Council Member Ramos asked staff to survey other cities to find out how they treat the commercial business activity of music lessons being conducted from a residence.  This request was made because Burbank does not allow commercially operated music lessons to be conducted from a residence as a home occupation and it is therefore of interest to Council to determine how other cities treat this subject.  

ANALYSIS

In 1997, the City Council formed a Citizen Action Committee called the �Home Occupation Ordinance Task Force�.  It was the duty of this committee to formulate recommendations to the City Council and the Planning Board to amend the Burbank Municipal Code relative to the commercial uses of residences for home occupations.  This committee met for almost a year and in 1998 Council adopted the committee�s and the Planning Board�s recommendations to amend the Zone Text accordingly.   

One of the primary amendments the committee recommended to the Home Occupation Ordinance was to create a section at the beginning of the ordinance which stated the ordinance�s �Purpose and Intent�. The foremost concern to the committee, and to the City Council relative to home occupations, was the premise of the Home Occupation Ordinance that��No home occupation shall be conducted that constitutes or causes an objectionable use of residential property due to potential noise, glare, dust, vibration, increased pedestrian or vehicular traffic, or any other condition that interferes with the general welfare of the surrounding residential area.� (Burbank Municipal Code, Section 31-671, attached as Exhibit A).

The committee determined that any business activity from a residence that was not an �office use� would have a greater potential for increased noise, increased pedestrian, and increased vehicular traffic.  Consequently, they recommended that a new section of the BMC be added which declared the �Purpose and Intent� of the Home Occupation Ordinance. Because of past complaints concerning noise, and increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic, one of the non-office uses the committee discussed as having a strong potential for neighborhood complaints, was the commercial use of residences for any kind of lessons, including music lessons.    

The commercial business activity of music lessons is not listed specifically as a non-permitted use in a residential zone.  However, specific business activities do not have to be listed as non-permitted uses as long as restrictions in the BMC declare the general nature of how such a business is conducted, to be non-permitted.  Such is the case with commercial music lessons conducted from the residence.  The home occupation restrictions and standards, which are listed in BMC 31-671, tacitly declare certain activities, such as any commercial lessons from the residence, as non-permitted activity for a home occupation.  The specific restrictions which apply to commercial music lessons, as with all commercial business activity from the residence include the prohibition of:

• Vehicular traffic in excess of that which is normal to a residential use {BMC, Section 31-672 (i)}

• Pedestrian traffic in excess of that which is normal to a residential use {BMC, Section 31-672 (i)}

• The home occupation shall not create any�discernable noise,�or unreasonable disturbance in excess of that which is normal to a residential use of the premises�{BMC, Section 31-672 (l)}

Consequently, a music teacher can have an office in the home for the business of �mobile� music lessons and then travel to the students� homes or to a commercial location to teach music lessons.  However, according to the current code, the students may not come to the teacher�s home because of potential increased pedestrian traffic, potential increased vehicular traffic, and potential noise caused by the conduct of that business activity. 

How Do Other Cities Regulate Music Lessons From A Residence?

Pursuant to the request by Council Member Ramos to provide additional information to the City Council, staff recently conducted a brief state-wide electronic survey which asked specifically if cities allowed, or regulated commercial music lessons from a residence.   Attached as Exhibit B, are the results of this survey.  Of the twenty-four (24) cities that responded, ten (10) cities were the same as Burbank and didn�t allow commercial music lessons as home occupations.  These cities responded that �music lessons would create extra pedestrian or vehicular traffic not normal to a residence, in addition to the potential of creating sound that would travel beyond the residence, thereby disturbing neighbors�. 

The fourteen (14) remaining cities in the survey did allow commercial music lessons from a residence.  Ten (10) of the fourteen (14) cities which allow music lessons from the residence, tightly regulate this commercial business activity.  The techniques by which they regulate commercial music lessons from a residence are:

• Requiring a CUP.

• Limiting the number of individual lessons in a day.

• Limiting days of the week the lessons may be given.

• Limiting the hours of the day that lessons may be given.

• Not allowing music lessons in an apartment or condominium.

• Restricting the type of musical instruments to be taught (some cities  only allowed commercial piano lessons from a residence and would not allow drum lessons, electric guitar lessons, wind instruments, etc.)  Note, this regulation has potential Constitutional issues.

• One city did not allow voice lessons.

Most of cities which allow commercial music lessons from the residence stated they are not proactive in determining whether or not a home occupation involving music lessons is disturbing to a neighbor.  Consequently, they rely on complaints from neighbors as the mechanism to trigger the possibility of home occupation permit, business permit, or CUP revocation.

CONCLUSION

Twenty (20) of the twenty-four (24) cities that responded to the survey either prohibit, or tightly regulate commercial music lessons from residences due to the potential noise, and increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic.   Staff seeks direction regarding whether to draft an amendment to the Burbank Home Occupation Ordinance allowing commercial music lessons in a residential neighborhood.   

EXHIBITS

A      Home Occupation Rules and Regulations

B       Music Lesson Home Occupation Survey, May, 2005

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