The Johns Creek City Council considered a proposed ordinance on Monday, July 13, that would ban firearms dealers, automotive repair operations, hazardous-materials businesses, and more than a dozen other commercial activities from operating out of residential homes.
The draft ordinance, reviewed by the Johns Creek Bulletin, would close what a city staff report described as a gap in the current home occupation code that has created "ambiguity and inconsistencies" in enforcement. The update responds to what the ordinance's preamble calls evolving business trends that have outpaced the existing rules.
The vote outcome from the July 13 meeting has not been confirmed.
What would be banned
The proposed prohibited list is extensive. Firearms dealers, gunsmiths, and any business involving the manufacture, sale, repair, or storage of firearms or ammunition regulated under a Federal Firearms License would be barred from residential properties.
Two narrow exceptions would remain: federally licensed collectors (Type 03 FFL) who do not conduct commercial sales or receive customers at home, and Type 01 FFL holders who sell exclusively through online or remote transactions with written, notarized approval from the property owner and any applicable HOA.
Other proposed bans include animal boarding and breeding operations, automotive repair and painting, bed and breakfasts, funeral homes, pest control services storing commercial-grade pesticides, food trucks dispatched from a residence, towing services, and taxidermy operations.
The ordinance would also prohibit any home business using equipment that produces sound detectable beyond the home.
New operating limits
Beyond the prohibited-use list, the draft ordinance would cap home business space at 25% of a dwelling's floor area or 750 square feet, whichever is smaller. Internal storage would be limited to 150 square feet.
No more than two clients could be on the premises at one time. Hours would be restricted to Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Only residents of the home could work in the business, and no signage or outdoor activity related to the business would be permitted.
Each home could hold a maximum of two home occupation licenses, and those licenses would not transfer if the resident moves.
The draft also grants the Community Development Director authority to prohibit unlisted uses deemed incompatible with a neighborhood's residential character.
What's still allowed
Family day care homes serving up to six children would remain permitted under the proposal, with specific requirements including a 1,000-foot separation from any other such operation. Cottage food operators selling non-hazardous homemade goods at nonprofit events would also remain allowed under state law.
The council met at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 11360 Lakefield Drive. The Johns Creek Bulletin will update this story when the vote outcome is confirmed.
