Cheyenne committee amends home-occupation rules to allow limited at-home salons, massage therapy and vehicle detailing

The Cheyenne Public Services Committee voted May 5 to amend the Unified Development Code to clarify which activities may operate as home occupations, add definitions for massage therapy and massage parlors, and create limits for at-home vehicle detailing and beauty salons.

The changes, recommended to the full City Council on second reading, add definitions and narrow a list of specifically excluded uses while carving out narrow allowances for some services when run by the resident operator. Planning staff said the intent is to reflect requests from residents and to align zoning review with existing licensing requirements.

The revision will allow a licensed massage therapist who lives at the property to offer massage therapy as a home occupation, but it removes “massage parlor” language from the exclusion list. Planning staff said municipal licensing requirements (municipal code section cited in the meeting as 5.52.0.01) still apply, and any home-based massage business must meet those licensing rules.

Staff planner Mister Ward, Planning and Development Department, told the committee the change creates separate definitions for “massage parlor” and “massage therapy” so staff can distinguish the two when reviewing home-occupation applications. “We did get a citizen request to allow massage therapy,” Ward said, explaining massage therapists previously fell under a prohibition on “massage technicians.”

The ordinance also permits automobile detailing and cleaning as a home occupation under several limits: no more than three customers per day, no more than one customer vehicle parked at the property at a time, and no vehicles being serviced parked in the street. Ward said the restriction stems from a citizen request and prior complaints about at-home detailing.

Under the amended language, beauty parlors and salons may operate as home occupations if the resident is the sole operator and no nonresident employees are used. The planning office also added language clarifying mobile services (for example, mobile groomers or mobile massage therapists) and how those are treated relative to a home base.

Council members pressed staff on the draft’s wording and potential conflicts with other rules. Doctor Remonds argued that the draft’s use of “massage parlor” and “massage technician” conflicted with municipal licensing rules and asked that references be removed to avoid legal confusion. “In order to be a massage anything in Cheyenne, you have to be trained, educated, and licensed by Cheyenne Laramie County Public Health,” Remonds said, urging deletion of nonstandard terms.

Doctor Aldridge asked that animal-grooming salons and body-piercing/tattoo services be treated similarly to beauty parlors — allowed if the resident is the sole operator — and raised concerns about permitting one business vehicle or one trailer to be stored in the public right-of-way. Aldridge said allowing a vehicle and trailer on-street could conflict with the city’s oversized-vehicle ordinance and be unpopular with neighbors.

Planning staff agreed to prepare amendments. Ward told the committee he could strike the “massage parlor” definition and align animal grooming and piercing/tattoo language with the proposed beauty-parlor language so that those uses would be allowed only when the permanent resident is the only operator. He also said he could revert the right-of-way vehicle language to staff’s original wording prohibiting motorized vehicles or trailers associated with the business from parking in the right-of-way.

Councilman Mark Moody, who attended as a member of the City Council, signaled support for the proposed clarifications and for the amendments discussed in committee during his public comment. “If you wanna take massage parlor out, I’m perfectly fine with that,” Moody said, and expressed support for allowing animal grooming and body-art services under the revised rules.

Doctor Aldridge moved the package of amendments that removed references to massage parlor, removed specified exclusions for animal grooming and body art (making them conditional on sole-operator residency), and reverted the right-of-way vehicle language to staff’s original prohibition. The motion was seconded; the committee approved the amendments by voice vote and then approved the amended ordinance and recommended it for adoption on second reading at the City Council meeting.

The committee discussed that zoning permission does not replace licensing requirements or other municipal code limits: staff emphasized the more-restrictive rule will govern and that operators must still comply with licensing, hours, health inspection and other city regulations. Doctor Emmons noted local massage-hour limits may apply.

The ordinance as amended will go to the full City Council for second-reading consideration. No numeric vote tallies were recorded in the committee transcript; the committee signified approval by voice vote and moved the item forward.