Board allows mobile pet‑grooming trailer as a home occupation, limits approval to current owners

The Calvert County Board of Appeals voted Jan. 20 to grant a Class B special exception permitting a mobile pet‑grooming trailer to operate as a home occupation at 8821 Limerick Lane.

Applicant Bethany Baumgartner told the board the trailer would be parked on the owner’s driveway, used for single‑client, appointment‑only grooming with no employees, and would store gray water in a holding tank that the owner would periodically empty at the Lusby landfill. She said services would be one‑on‑one to minimize kennel time and barking.

Planning staff and counsel clarified that the board was deciding whether the proposed use fits the home‑occupation special‑exception standards in the zoning ordinance, not whether the applicant should buy a specific trailer. Planner Libby Mills explained that home occupations are limited to personal services and that other mobile commercial uses such as food trucks are regulated under different temporary‑use rules.

Board members expressed concern about precedent for mobile units on private property but were persuaded by staff that the ordinance’s home‑occupation criteria, which limit sales and public display and set client/employee limits, distinguish the Baumgartners’ proposal from broader mobile‑commercial uses.

The board granted the special exception without additional conditions during the initial vote; later the board amended the order to add a condition that the home‑occupation approval applies only to the current property owners at 8821 Limerick Lane (it will not automatically transfer with the property sale).