Lewiston board moves to allow small home food businesses, farm stands and limited metalworking as home occupations

The Lewiston Planning Board voted to recommend that the City Council adopt amendments to Appendix A Article 12 (performance standards) and Article 2 (definitions) to expand which activities may qualify as home occupations and to add a definition for potentially hazardous foods.

Under the proposed changes, state‑ and city‑licensed home food businesses limited to non‑potentially hazardous foods would be allowed as a Tier 1 home occupation; farm stands with a retail footprint of 40 square feet or less would qualify for Tier 1 while larger farm stands would be Tier 2; and metalworking (replacing a narrower “welding” listing) and woodworking would be allowable as Tier 2 activities. The board also asked staff to treat the 40‑square‑foot threshold as the retail footprint (the floor plan in use) and to mirror that language in Tier 2 provisions.

Planning staff told the board the health definition to distinguish potentially hazardous foods is placed in the definitions section. “Specifically, it’s any food that requires control for time or temperature for the safety of the food,” staff said during the meeting, and staff noted that state licensing often already limits the list of allowable home food items. The board discussed whether to identify “bakeries” specifically or use broader wording such as “home food businesses limited to non‑potentially hazardous foods”; members agreed broader language is preferable to accommodate future state changes.

Board members debated the farm‑stand square footage and footprint metric. Some members proposed a lower number (20–24 square feet) to represent a single table or a small unmanned egg dispenser; others favored 40 square feet as a practical upper limit for a Tier 1 home occupation while leaving larger or permanent structures to Tier 2 review. The board agreed to retain 40 square feet of retail footprint as the Tier 1 threshold and to clarify the meaning of footprint in the ordinance language.

The board also amended a planned wording change to expand the list of permitted Tier 2 activities by replacing “welding” with “metalworking” (to more clearly include forging and related activities). Planning staff warned that some metalworking activities may have additional safety or code implications and that applicants may face building‑ or fire‑safety review.

The board voted (6–1) to forward the Article 12 and Article 2 amendments to the City Council with the discussed clarifications. Member Michael Marcotte voted no on Article 12 changes, citing concerns about metalworking and similar activities in residential areas.