day care center

I think most home business restrictions are for the purpose of preventing excess traffic in the area.

If all business are restricted then people could not work at home on a remote office computer or other such businesses where no traffic increase is caused.

Another case is online stores operated from homes. They take delivery of product from UPS, and these type couriers are in the communities every day for deliveries to someone. They will take their product to the post office or to a UPS drop off once per day, so they do not create any extra traffic. Obviously they could not have people pick up at their home.

It doesn't sound like someone baby sitting 3 kids is going to create any extra traffic that is excessive.

What is the full wording of your CC&R? And is a business also covered in your Rules and REgulations? If so, what is the full wording of that?

With the exact wording, others here may be able to offer more advice.

Harold,

Their declaration seems to be straight forward, and seems to be in line with today's work at home society. Operate your business at home, but do not add extra traffic to the streets, or create extra commution. Their declaration has two criteria:

1. If one is running a business it must have the proper license. If no license is required for the number of children that are cared for, then that meets the first requirement of the declaration.

2. There must be no external evidence of the occupation. That could be a bit subjective, and every neighbor may have a different opinion. The board would first need to decide their collective position after receiving written complaints from neighbors. If the board does not receive written complaints, then it's a non-issue.

Perhaps 10 children could present external evidence because there would be 10 automobiles arriving at the residence, possibly at the same time, twice per day.

A neighbor living 10 blocks away may not notice this at all, but the next door neighbors may be bothered by this.

What would happen if 10 homes in the area ran day care centers? Now there are 100 cars twice per day.

Three or four children being picked up may not be that noticeable.

Ten children outside for recreation could be external evidence, whereas 4 may not.

I believe the test is how many children are "reasonable" in order to meet that second criteria. That would be up to a judge, and a judge could rule either way.

I'm trying to be objective in looking at the declaration, so I cannot state whether a day care next to me would bother me, no matter the number of kids.

If the day care were next door to my house then I would be able to form my opinion if a nuisance is being created and if there is external evidence of an occupation.

Consider a neighbor has a construction company that is run out of the home. He parks his unmarked truck with a trailer attached, in front of his house each evening. Each morning four vehicles containing his workers arrive at the house to pick up supplies and work orders. Each evening the same four vehicles arrive and drop off completed work orders and tools.

Now consider that in a community of 140 homes there are 6 licensed contractors on different blocks, doing the same thing. Two of them are on the same block.

Could this be external evidence of an occupation?
Is this adding extra wear and tear to the private streets?
Is this situation different from the day care traffic?

If there were 6 day care centers in the same community with the 6 contractors, is it possible that in the mornings and the afternoons the community would resemble a commercial area, and would neighbors complain?

However, if there is only one such business, either construction or day care, and they are determined to meet the criteria of the declaration, then wouldn't every home in the community be entitled to operate the same type of business?

This is just food for thought, because these can be tough calls.

How would I go about solving the question the poster asked?

If I were on the board, and a written complaint came in, I would send a friendly letter to the homeowner asking if they had the proper license, and then I would have the license and the laws verified.

Next I would somehow try to determine if there is external evidence of an occupation in the home.

I would make sure that my decision was based on an objective interpretation of the declaration, and my observation.

If I determined there was external evidence of an occupation, I would sent a notice of violation. If the homeowner elects to contest the violation, then I would consult with an HOA attorney on how to proceed. (That is because of the subjective nature of the criteria, and the potential legal costs if the homeowner were to sue)

I would recommend that the board follow the advice of that attorney to the letter. If the board voted to not follow the attorneys advice, then I would make sure that the minutes use my name to show how I voted on the issue. That is in the event the board is sued individually over the action, and it is found that the board was negligent in their fiduciary duties, I would have some protection because the minutes would show that I disagreed with the action.

Marie, one thing to check is the wording: "professional and administrative occupations"...

In my opinion, running a child care center is NOT a typical "professional and administrative occupation"... No slur intended for the wonderful people who do run day care centers, but the TYPICAL definition for a professional occupation tends to run to engineers, bankers, lawyers, accountants, managers, etc.. those people who have advanced training, degrees, etc..

So, one could interpret your code to still not allow child care, as it is not a professional occupation.

Unless, of course, you are in California.