Home-based businesses create opportunities. Nashville shouldn’t hinder their success | Opinion
My dream is a Nashville dream. I just want to operate my home-based music business, but foolish regulations are putting it at risk. Thankfully, the Tennessee Supreme Court just heard my case against these unconstitutional rules.
My daughter was born in 2005. As a single dad, I wanted to be able to spend as much time with her as possible while still pursuing my professional career as a record producer. So I spent tens of thousands of dollars and converted my detached garage into a professional recording studio called The Toy Box Studio.
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For 15 years, everything was perfect
With the overwhelming support of my neighbors, I was able to spend time with my daughter and watch her grow while recording albums for some of the most talented musicians in the world. Over the course of my career, I’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredible artists, including John Oates, Jack White, Wilco, Adele and the Zac Brown Band. It was honestly a dream come true.
Then, one day in September 2015, I received a cease-and-desist letter. Ironically, Music City had decided it was illegal for me to make music at home. The reason? A little-known provision in the law that prevented some—but not all—at-home businesses from serving clients on site.
The letter shocked me. All I was trying to do was earn an honest living while raising my daughter. But now the city’s unconstitutional rules were threatening to put me out of business.
After partnering with the Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit law firm, I learned my story was not unique. Pat Raynor, a hair stylist in Nashville, had run into a similar problem after she decided to start working from home following her husband’s passing. In 2013, she shelled out more than $10,000 to renovate her home and obtain a residential shop license from the Tennessee State Board of Cosmetology. She began serving clients, most of whom were friends and neighbors, but just a few months later the city shut her down.
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A new report from IJ finds that most at-home businesses provide important income and flexibility for their owners and that many of those owners started their businesses after losing their jobs or being forced to close their traditional businesses due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. Unfortunately, the report also finds that rules that stop people from starting at-home businesses aren’t just a thing in Nashville.
Nashville officials have defended the ban on client visits by saying it was designed to prevent traffic jams and keep noise down in residential neighborhoods, but this is nonsense. Other businesses, such as home daycares and short-term rentals, were exempt, making this a simple case of the government picking winners and losers. That’s both unfair and unconstitutional. One Nashville planning commissioner even admitted that the ban was contrary to the American way.
In July 2020, the city voted to ease its ban on client visits to home-based businesses. That was certainly good news for me, Pat and other Nashville residents who want to use their home to earn a living. Unfortunately, the reform still treats our businesses worse than some others, which are allowed to see twice as many clients as we are.
Not only that, but the ban on client visits will return in 2023.
That’s why Pat and I have taken our case all the way to the Tennessee Supreme Court. This isn’t just about us—it’s about anyone who wants the flexibility to run a business from their home.
Tennesseans have a right to earn an honest living in their homes. Here’s hoping the Tennessee Supreme Court decides the music can play on in Music City.
Lij Shaw is the owner of The Toy Box Studio in Nashville.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville case could decide future of at-home businesses in Tennessee
