The rezone request for 707 S. Broad Street was approved by the Monroe City Council in March of 2016! Little did I know that it was only the first of many hurdles to overcome when opening a business from a home.
The house is in the historic corridor and no changes can be made to the exterior without acceptance of the Historical Society. Roof, windows, doors, landscaping… everything has to be approved. My biggest priority, however, was the ramp that would need to be built according to ADA standards for handicap accessibility. I couldn’t open without the ramp. Roof, windows and doors would have to wait. I found a builder who claimed to be familiar with ADA standards and could build my ramp. My plans were easily approved by the Historical Society and construction was started.
The ramp project quickly became my biggest headache. I informed my builder, from the beginning, that if the ramp could not be finished by April 15, then I didn’t even want it to start. The Antiques Capital of Georgia was hosting their yearly spring event and I was on the map of the local antique places to visit.
My doors would have to be open, or at the very least, have a tent event in the yard. I was promised that the ramp would be finished in the two weeks before the event. At some point during construction, I realized that the quote included a 10′ wide stairway that wasn’t in the initial plan. I had to go back before the Historical Society for approval. Which wasn’t until after the 15th. Which meant my stairway wouldn’t be complete before the spring event. I was promised (again) that a temporary stairway would be installed before opening and they would complete the project after I met with the Historical Society. I lightly breathed a sigh of relief and we went to Florida for spring break.
Upon returning from vacation, a week later, we drove by the house to check on the process. There were 16 posts concreted in the ground and the floor of the ramp, and that was about it.
It was 5 days before the spring event! There was NO way the ramp, stairway and rails were going to be finished. I was given a long list of excuses about the city requiring more work and material, and it was then I realized their knowledge of ADA standards was much less than they claimed. We started working on the inside of the house, on the off chance that they would finish and also trying to plan for a tent in the yard in case they didn’t.
Long story short, the temporary stairway was installed and I had to block off the ramp section which wasn’t finished and couldn’t be used. We had the event mostly in the yard, although customers were allowed to walk through and “see” the house. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best “soft opening” we could manage. We had a great day and I framed my first $1 made! It was (almost) official.
They finished the ramp (after additional cost) and my stairway was approved. I received my Certificate of Occupancy and on April 22, I was officially open!
My plan is to only be open on the weekends for right now so that I can continue to work on appraisals during the week. I have to pay for the ramp, which ended up costing more than my updated electrical system and total HVAC install combined.
I am still trying to find my niche in this market and need to focus on advertising. It is more work than I imagined, but we are loving it! My kids (who I rarely saw before) come out to help me on the weekends and my husband and I spend a lot of time together working on the house. It makes my heart happy whether I make a ton of money or not!
Come by and see us! Knicknaques 707 S. Broad Street, Monroe, GA 30052