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Under the County's home occupation regulations (section 912.05(6)), landscaping services in agricultural areas operated out of a "home office" and on-site accessory structures are permitted as a home occupation with limitations that restrict the operation to a small-scale "family business". Such specific limitations include a prohibition of non-resident employees on the premises and a prohibition on outdoor display of signs or display of equipment and materials. Consequently, a proposed regulation change could specifically reference the "carve -out" for home occupation landscaping services in agricultural areas to clearly preserve the status of such small-scale services operations. • Regulations of Other Counties Staff researched regulations of nearby counties for nursery and landscaping services in agricultural districts. Research results are summarized in a comparison chart for Brevard, Osceola, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, and Indian River counties (see attachment 3). In summary, compared to the other counties, IRC has more stringent requirements for retail nurseries and has similar allowances permitting wholesale nurseries and landscaping services in agricultural areas. All jurisdictions appear to allow lawn mowing as a component of landscaping services. Palm Beach County has specific criteria for landscaping services in agricultural districts including a 3 acre minimum site size, an accessory to a nursery criterion, and a prohibition on outdoor debris storage. For context, staffs research also indicates that IRC's minimum lot sizes in its agricultural districts are significantly larger than Brevard's and St. Lucie's and are the same as Martin County's (see attachment 4). Larger minimum parcel sizes tend to raise the minimum level of investment needed for a new property owner to start a business in an agricultural area. • Existing Landscaping Services in IRC Agricultural Areas Staff's research identified 17 existing landscaping/nursery/property management businesses in IRC's A-1 agricultural district (see attachment 5). Staff focused its research on the A-1 district since that district has the highest concentration of residential estate/"ranchette" properties and the highest incidence of land use conflicts. Research indicates that most existing nursery/landscaping services in the A-1 district have a landscaping services site area to nursery site area ratio of less than 1:2. In other words, 14 out of the 17 nursery/landscaping services businesses have a landscaping services site area that is less than 50% of the nursery site area. Research also indicates that 12 out of the 17 nursery/landscaping services businesses are located on sites having at least 400,000 sq. ft. (9.183 acres). For all 17 existing businesses, site sizes ranged from 4.8 acres to 270+ acres. The 400,000 sq. ft. threshold is a good quantitative standard for capturing original "10 acre" tracts and parcels that have been reduced in size by right-of-way dedications for canals and roads. For the A-1 nursery/landscaping services businesses identified, dirt roads provide access to 9 out of the 17 businesses with the remaining 8 other businesses accessed by paved roads. Building setbacks vary greatly for the existing businesses although staffs observations and code enforcement experience suggest that sites with nursery plantings and/or visual buffering along road frontages with parking/building areas located "in back" generate few if any complaints. Currently, all these agricultural zoning districts have a 30' building setback and no specific setback for driveways or parking areas. Staff's experience is that larger setbacks (such as 50') between landscaping services 158