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Zoning board approves major home‑occupation bakery in detached garage at 7½ New Street
Summary
The board granted a variance and a special exception to allow Blair Wright to operate a major home‑occupation cake business in a detached garage; approvals included conditions limiting client parking to the driveway, no on‑site retail sales and no non‑resident employees.
Blair Wright, a commercial cake designer and the applicant, asked the Zoning Board for a variance from Land Use Code Sec. 190‑47 B3 (to allow a home occupation in a detached accessory structure) and a special exception permitting a major home occupation (bakery) inside the detached garage at 7½ New Street (RD Zone, Ward 7). Wright said the studio would be appointment‑only, no retail foot traffic, only the owner as an employee, and that she would invest roughly $60,000 to renovate the detached garage to meet code with input from the health, building and fire departments.
Neighbors raised concerns about precedent for other detached‑garage businesses, parking on a narrow dead‑end street and emergency vehicle access. The board emphasized that approvals are case‑specific and limited by the scope described in the application. To address neighborhood concerns the board attached conditions restricting client parking to the driveway, prohibiting retail sales on site and prohibiting nonresident employees beyond the single resident operator. The motions to grant the variance and the special exception passed unanimously. The chair reminded the applicants of required filings and the 30‑day appeal window.
