| I am very pleased to see that a new director has been chosen for the EDC. One of the ways that the economy of Kitsap County can grow is through start up businesses many of which start as home businesses. One way to assist home business owners would be to examine the way the county and cities license home business — and make the process more user friendly. The state appears to have done just that with it’s Master Business License process. Now its time for the counties and cities to examine the process.
It is important that the rights of all communities are taken into consideration when reviewing (revamping) any licensing process. Businesses that would destroy the “flavor” of an area by creating lots of traffic, noise, or big signs are not for residential neighborhoods. I’m all for peace and quiet.
What I’m not for is any process that forces home business owners to lie. Nor am I for a process that drives honest people nuts while a majority of the home business owners go without licenses until someone files a complaint against them. In the 2 cities where I have gathered information, if that situation happens there are no penalties for businesses who have previously existed without a filing for a license.
What would be an excessive process? One that is paper excessive, costly and time consuming to the business owner. One of the first places that the process and ordinances should be reviewed and overhauled is in the city of Poulsbo.
Here is a synopsis of the problem in Poulsbo (in my opinion and based on the process I’m almost complete with) and some suggestions that might be looked at by other cities as well.
1) A business license that says you can’t have any clients or students in your home, is not a business license for home business owners. I don’t know of any home business who doesn’t have clients visit them at home — be it a dot.com like myself, a web designer or the Avon Representative. The license in Poulsbo cost $75. How about a home business license that allows us to have up to “X” people in our homes at a time — possibly by appointment only, up to “X” number of employees and up to “X” inches of a sign on our property?
2) The next thing to look at is the process. The process in Poulsbo has all home business owners wait at least 3 months for a Home Occupancy Permit. Without approval of that permit you can’t apply for a business license. Pre-existing businesses don’t get any exclusions or temporary permits while they wait for the process to take place. So currently, if you have a business and decide to move to the city of Poulsbo, you can’t do business for at least 3 months — even though you have a state business license. The Home Occupancy Permit in Poulsbo costs between $100-$150. How about cutting that process down to less than a month and include the cost of the home business license in the process?
3) Finally, when someone calls a city to find out about their process, there needs to be a complete package of information sent to the business owners. I know that I rely on the city to give me accurate and user friendly information. This information should have in it copies of forms, ordinances, information about business signs, directions on completing the forms, who to contact for more information, business hours, and other places that a business owner should contact etc. Now that would be a user friendly process!
My own process will be over soon. It has been a very big lesson for me in many ways. I am hoping that my complaints against the process in Poulsbo result in changes for other home business owners. I also hope that other cities will re-visit their processes and have them welcome home business owners to their communities; instead of hindering them.
Maria Marsala, Owner
Maria’s Place for Holistic Evolution
www.coachmaria.com
Poulsbo. | 
