Law Of The Land

Regulation. Frustration. Those words have become synonymous in the minds of many homebased business owners attempting to right years of zoning regulation wrongs. Michelle Bloom, owner of Minneapolis-based Creative Business Consulting, recalls the moment last May when she heard that the Minneapolis City Council had reversed a zoning ordinance she'd spent three years rewriting and revising with city planners. "I was angry, tremendously frustrated, even sad," says Bloom. "In the business world, something like that just wouldn't have happened. I went home that day and said, ` That's it. I'm done.' "

However, by July, Bloom had recovered from her disillusionment and resumed her mission as director of the Minneapolis Homebased Business Association's Zoning Task Force. "I felt very strongly that this was an important fight for so many reasons," she says. "The council realized after the fact that they voted the way they did because they were uneducated. We asked for meetings with all of them. We came in with the facts, the numbers, the economic impact."