The Nevada County Board of Supervisors is considering adopting an ordinance that would allow residents to operate restaurants and sell meals out of their homes.
Small businesses, called “microenterprise home kitchens,” must prepare and serve meals on the same day and can serve up to 90 meals a week. There are no unannounced health inspections like in traditional restaurants. All inspections are by appointment only and do not require a domestic kitchen to be modified to commercial kitchen standards/requirements.
The county currently does not allow these businesses.
On Tuesday, the board accepted a $50,098.51 state grant for public comment on the proposed ordinance. The Department of Environmental Health will hold meetings with restaurant owners and other interested residents, as well as conduct a survey on whether the public wants small business home kitchen permits.
The benefit of allowing small business home kitchens is that individuals can start their own business with little or no overhead and potentially earn up to $100,000 a year.
There are currently about 50 such businesses operating illegally in the county, and this could make them legal. The downside is that food poisoning can increase if the food is not prepared correctly.
Since the state opened the door to local jurisdictions to allow such businesses in 2019, nine local governments, including Berkeley, Alameda and San Mateo, have adopted ordinances allowing such businesses.
Supervisors are expected to decide whether to move forward with the ordinance in 2025 after considering public opinion.
