Home business idea in Bal Harbour fizzles

By RODOLFO ROMAN, rroman@miamiherald.com
Miami Herald

A proposed rule that would have required home-based businesses in Bal Harbour to pay a fee and register with the village have been shut down.


The village council decided not to vote on the proposed ordinance at a recent meeting.


"I was looking over it and it is too much government regulation,'' said Assistant Mayor Joni D. Blachar.


If the proposal had been approved, businesses with a residential Bal Harbour address outside the commercial area would have had to pay for a business tax receipt. The law would have had prohibited business owners from meeting with clients in the home, ban exterior signage, and forbid large-scale business operations.


Bal Harbour's rules do not expressly address the issue of home-based businesses. The issue was presented by Village Manager Alfred Treppeda in response to several residents inquiring about the legality of home-based businesses.


At the meeting, resident Doug Rudolph said the rule was unnecessary. "We have never had a problem with this,'' he said.