Will Campbell of blogging.la has a question about a business setting up shop in his residential neighborhood in Silver Lake. How can they, Modern Ethnic, open a store/showroom/office he wonders? How can he verify that they're not violating a law? All good questions.
Our first step, if we were Will, would be to go to ZIMAS, type in the street name and number and check the zoning on the property. If it is in Silver Lake, most of those residential areas are zoned for R1 uses. The R1 Zone does allow for accessory uses and home occupations, however the Code provides that "no changes are made which alter the residential character or appearance of the dwelling unit..." and "signs and windows and outside displays in connection with the home occupation are prohibited." In order to get a sign in that R1 Zone, we're guessing they got a conditional use which would show up in the property information on ZIMAS under the Case Numbers dropdown box. If there is no such approval we would call our council person, and say "WTF?"