I got the bomb of my lifetime (thus far) dropped on me this past weekend. A neighbor of mine decided that it would be better to complain to the city about running a business out of my home, rather than take it up with me - sweet little me, am I really that unapproachable??
So here I am, thinking life is finally starting to wind down and get itself organized, and I get this terrible letter in the mail on Saturday regarding the complaint, and the city looked into my business and found that I didn't have a permit or a licence to run music lessons out of my home. AHH! I really didn't even know that I had to have one. I've been teaching for almost 10 years, and hadn't thought about applying seriously even once. I thought it was optional, something you did if you wanted to claim your name to your business, or be 100% official. I was fine being unofficial. I get paid, I do my taxes like everyone else. So what's the problem?
Well, apparently, my neighbor doesn't like it when parents wait in their idling cars on main public roads. I can safely assume exactly which neighbor filed the complaint - a parent of a student told me that while she was idling for not even 2 minutes on the blvd, my grumpy neighbor stuck an "IDLE FREE ZONE" sign on her window inside the house. This was just a week or two ago, so things are lining up nicely here for that ridiculous neighbor. But seriously, we've seen them a million times, and although we don't know each other I thought we were all friendly and looked out for each other. So why not just come and talk to me about it? I have the ability to tell my students where to not park, and in fact I did so immediately after receiving the letter, assuming it had to do with extra traffic that I generated. I had NO IDEA that idling cars would become an issue. Wow.
The next step is to apply for a permit and a licence (that's $450 by the way - without even knowing whether it will be approved or not). I'm pretty sure the city will be fine with it, as there are music teachers that teach out of home everywhere in the city. But ultimately, the public gets to decide whether I can keep my business or not. That is the scariest thing I've ever had to deal with. My mind is constantly focused on that issue, and on finding ways to make myself as invisible as possible so that no one realizes they can actually do anything about it. I think that after I've applied, before the city puts a BIG SIGN on my lawn for people to complain about, I'm going to talk to that wretched neighbor (very politely, of course) without accusing them of anything. I'll say that I'm applying for a permit, and that I've made changes to my parking/idling policies, that I'm sorry I ever offended them in any way, and to come to me next time before they go and screw me over.
Please hope with me that it all works out.
The hardest part is feeling like I'm not free to do as I wish in my own home. The second I leave my door I feel like people are watching my every move. I didn't know that people actually had that much time on their hands, to be so fixated on the comings and goings around my own home. Seriously, really? I feel utterly violated, like I have no privacy. I had to take pictures of my own house to give to the city. And how does one neighbor have so much say in what I do and don't do - how does idling cars justify this kind of up-roar?! I'm so confused, lost, alone - even though Noel is SOOO extra caring and supportive about all of this. It's really hard for me to stay positive, I think mostly because it's completely out of my hands once I hand the permit application in (which has taken 4 days for me to do, when it should have been 10 minutes). I think subconsciously I'm trying to avoid handing the application in so that I can't get negative feedback. Even though I know that after March 20th, running my business is going to become illegal...still it's hard to get it done.
So I'm kind of stuck in limbo. I don't know for sure what's going to happen, although I'm really trying very hard to stay positive so that the power of my positive thinking will put things in the right direction. It has to work out, it must. Therefor it will. Right?
So here I am, thinking life is finally starting to wind down and get itself organized, and I get this terrible letter in the mail on Saturday regarding the complaint, and the city looked into my business and found that I didn't have a permit or a licence to run music lessons out of my home. AHH! I really didn't even know that I had to have one. I've been teaching for almost 10 years, and hadn't thought about applying seriously even once. I thought it was optional, something you did if you wanted to claim your name to your business, or be 100% official. I was fine being unofficial. I get paid, I do my taxes like everyone else. So what's the problem?
Well, apparently, my neighbor doesn't like it when parents wait in their idling cars on main public roads. I can safely assume exactly which neighbor filed the complaint - a parent of a student told me that while she was idling for not even 2 minutes on the blvd, my grumpy neighbor stuck an "IDLE FREE ZONE" sign on her window inside the house. This was just a week or two ago, so things are lining up nicely here for that ridiculous neighbor. But seriously, we've seen them a million times, and although we don't know each other I thought we were all friendly and looked out for each other. So why not just come and talk to me about it? I have the ability to tell my students where to not park, and in fact I did so immediately after receiving the letter, assuming it had to do with extra traffic that I generated. I had NO IDEA that idling cars would become an issue. Wow.
The next step is to apply for a permit and a licence (that's $450 by the way - without even knowing whether it will be approved or not). I'm pretty sure the city will be fine with it, as there are music teachers that teach out of home everywhere in the city. But ultimately, the public gets to decide whether I can keep my business or not. That is the scariest thing I've ever had to deal with. My mind is constantly focused on that issue, and on finding ways to make myself as invisible as possible so that no one realizes they can actually do anything about it. I think that after I've applied, before the city puts a BIG SIGN on my lawn for people to complain about, I'm going to talk to that wretched neighbor (very politely, of course) without accusing them of anything. I'll say that I'm applying for a permit, and that I've made changes to my parking/idling policies, that I'm sorry I ever offended them in any way, and to come to me next time before they go and screw me over.
Please hope with me that it all works out.
The hardest part is feeling like I'm not free to do as I wish in my own home. The second I leave my door I feel like people are watching my every move. I didn't know that people actually had that much time on their hands, to be so fixated on the comings and goings around my own home. Seriously, really? I feel utterly violated, like I have no privacy. I had to take pictures of my own house to give to the city. And how does one neighbor have so much say in what I do and don't do - how does idling cars justify this kind of up-roar?! I'm so confused, lost, alone - even though Noel is SOOO extra caring and supportive about all of this. It's really hard for me to stay positive, I think mostly because it's completely out of my hands once I hand the permit application in (which has taken 4 days for me to do, when it should have been 10 minutes). I think subconsciously I'm trying to avoid handing the application in so that I can't get negative feedback. Even though I know that after March 20th, running my business is going to become illegal...still it's hard to get it done.
So I'm kind of stuck in limbo. I don't know for sure what's going to happen, although I'm really trying very hard to stay positive so that the power of my positive thinking will put things in the right direction. It has to work out, it must. Therefor it will. Right?
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