Legal Question in Business Law in California

When I opened my business twenty years ago I went to the city to apply for my license and I wanted to get a home occupancy permit, the planning department told me no on the home occupancy permit because my trade is a competitive business and it has to be in a commercial location with a regular occupation permit and can't be zoned in a residential area. My trade is upholstery, here is my problem with the city. I found out that there's a guy running an upholstery shop from his home in a residential area and advertising his home as an upholstery shop, so I contacted the city and asked them if he was licensed there response was yes and he has a home occupancy permit, so I asked them why they told me no years ago and in 2006 they said yes to this guy and gave hime the same thing I asked for when I started my company, got no real answer from them. Do I have a case against the city on the grounds of unfair business practice? I thought when a person opens a business to be part of the business community to compete for business, maybe I was wrong all of these years.


Asked on 10/03/11, 1:57 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Well, here are the possibilities:

1. Maybe you were just plain misinformed twenty years ago.

2. Maybe the rules changed between 1991 and 2006.

3. Maybe the zoning is different - not all "residential" zoning is identical as to restrictions.

4. Maybe the other guy applied for and received a variance.

In any event, a suit against the city will get you nowhere; it is well established that governments are not liable to citizens for misinformation given out by clerical personnel.

If you are interested in moving home, which may or may not be good for business overall, I'd re-contact the city, perhaps through a lawyer with local zoning experience, to find out if you could run this business at home with a variance, and how to apply.

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Answered on 10/03/11, 6:02 pm


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