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Pottery Studio and retail classification change of use (what use)

J

jlfitz67

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Mar 7, 2024
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Greetings, I am looking to move my studio to a new town, into a former retail space. That space was classified as mercantile. The fire marshal and building dept were talking about not needing to change the use, however, the occupancy for mercantile is significantly less than what my needs are for classes, but I am not a "school" per-se either. I am trying to figure out what a change of use will trigger, in terms of the space and requirements. It is already totally fitted out with fire suppression, sprinklers, and all that jazz, I was wondering how complicated this is going to get if I change the use and what use should I be looking at. also I love how the "use" is not matched up with the "zoning" makes this super fun. the space is about 1100 sq ft. There will be no permanent fixtures, just some retail displays, and pottery wheels and stools and shelves and also some work tables and stools, and one sink that is already there that we are moving to a different wall, and yes the kiln we have already had an engineer there for that work. THANKS
 
Will you be selling pottery? How about pottery art supplies? Will people pay to attend classes? How many classes are anticipated and how many attendees?

You mentioned a kiln and an engineer. The engineer part of that seems odd.. Is the kiln electric or gas? How large is the kiln in watts/btu? Would the kiln be cooled to room temp when not attended?
 
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Yes there will be a part of the space that is retail. the space is about 1000 sq ft lets say it is 24' x 40' for example. I estimate that approx 200 sq ft of this space will be the "retail" part of it. The classes will have 8-12 people and there are also "members" who have access to the space to work on their projects outside of class time. There is one door. There are sprinklers, fire alarms etc. It was formally a retail and also restaurant as accessory use.

I would estimate perhaps 20-25 persons max in the space at once but usually more like 12-16. Usually less as "classes" are not held all day long, but 2x per day. I will also offer "walk in" pottery making at tables, where people can come in... I need to look up what they classify "paint your own pottery" places as... hold please...
 
ICE said:
Will you be selling pottery? How about pottery art supplies? Will people pay to attend classes? How many classes are anticipated and how many attendees?

You mentioned a kiln and an engineer. The engineer part of that seems odd.. Is the kiln electric or gas? How large is the kiln in watts/btu? Would the kiln be cooled to room temp when not attended?
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We have had engineers do the feasibility plan. I am moving my studio from one town to another. The kiln is electric and all the specs have been run through the engineer, we have already met with fire, building, etc and they are good with our plan, however, I am now getting the architectural drawings done and there is confusion about the "use"
 
jlfitz67 said:
We have had engineers do the feasibility plan. I am moving my studio from one town to another. The kiln is electric and all the specs have been run through the engineer, we have already met with fire, building, etc and they are good with our plan, however, I am now getting the architectural drawings done and there is confusion about the "use"
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The professionals that are assisting you, in conjunction with the AHJ, will get to the correct result.

I enjoy pottery, do you have a website?
 
Use group E (Education) is only for students through grade 12. Beyond that, educational occupancies for students older/higher than grade 12 are classified as Group B (Business). The manufacture of masonry products (clay bricks) and ceramics is classified as Group F-2 (low-hazard factory). It seems to me that you have a mix of B, F-2, and M. There's no reason why you can't classify the space as non-separated mixed use.
 
If it is just classes and not truly manufacture, I could go B and M......like the beans....Those are typically more compatible with typical plazas where F2 might be an issue (but maybe not)..If the building official is not good with the Energy Code (and energy increase) it is not likely to be a problem.....You said sprinklers so that is good, you will likely owe some accessible upgrades (up to 20% of the work) but there shouldn't be too much else....Would you say what Town in CT?
 
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