Milton planners approve home office business

At its Nov. 21 meeting, the Milton Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a special permitted use for a neurotherapy business to have a home office on Chandler Street.

Lauren Haggerty, owner of Brain Love Neurotherapy, sought to open a satellite office in Milton; the company already has offices in Rehoboth Beach and Dover. Neurotherapy is a sort of physical therapy for the brain, helping people who suffer from anxiety or have had traumatic head injuries.

Haggerty said the intention is to work with one client at a time, two hours at a time, with hours limited and work hours only occurring Monday through Friday. She said 90% of the company’s clientele comes through word of mouth, with very little advertising. Haggerty said the intention is to have eight clients at the Milton location. The property contains a main house and a separate office building, out of which Haggerty would operate. 

For the commission, there were a number of confusing issues to work out. First, Haggerty does not own the property; she would be renting from owners Elizabeth Zando and Robert Blayney. Zando had previously requested and was granted a conditional use to install a kitchen range in the house. At issue was whether the building would be occupied, as town code requires that anyone operating a home office business must reside there. 

In addition, Haggerty asked for a second special permitted use for another house at 313 Valley Road; that application was later withdrawn after the permit for Chandler Street was granted.

The Chandler Street application also received pushback from neighbors. Both Steve Crawford and Amanda Kilby said they supported Zando’s previous request for a conditional use because they understood the use was for home healthcare for co-owner Blayney. 

In a letter to the commission, Crawford said he would not have supported Zando’s conditional-use application if he had known that the property would be rented for business purposes. 

Kilby said, “If I had known that this was going to turn into this, I would have had a stronger voice. I feel like it was a bait-and-switch.”

The neighborhood where Crawford and Kilby’s homes are, and where the business would be, is known as Preserve on the Broadkill. The neighborhood has a homeowner’s association, which Kilby said Zando is not part of. Kilby said the preserve is not intended for commercial businesses.

“I have nothing against what you are doing, but it is just not the right place,” she said to Haggerty. 

Zando spoke during the public comment period of the meeting, saying the office was originally a construction office. She said Haggerty’s business will not cause any problems within the neighborhood, and that she did not bait-and-switch anyone. Zando said she felt sabotaged by the reaction from neighbors.

Other concerns brought up by neighbors were in regard to parking, although Zando said clients of Haggerty’s business could use the driveway.

The commission approved the special use, but with a number of conditions. First, hours are capped at Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Second, no more than one patient per appointment and no more than five per day. Third, someone must reside on the property and a written lease must be provided to the town. Fourth, there needs to be a business license and one designated parking space for the business.

Commissioner George Cardwell imposed one last condition, which is that the commission will review the special permitted use after six months to determine how it is working.