Most cities have exempted renovation of existing buildings for live/work from design review, under the assumption that they are encouraging the re-use of a building which otherwise may sit vacant indefinitely, and that use of the building is preferable to underutilization. Additions to buildings and new construction live/work would typically be subject to local standards, although the question would be: residential or commercial standards? Clearly, residential standards would apply to home occupation. Work/live might fall under commercial standards, if any. See zones and residential reversion for discussions of the appropriateness of new construction work/live.

Design review of new construction live/work becomes a judgement call which may depend on what zone it is in, how design review is enforced in residential and commercial projects, etc. But more fundamentally, when design review is imposed on live/work projects, it is important to be aware of its special needs and requirements, as outlined in The Ten Truths of Live/Work and Planning Policy. In projects over a certain size, say 8 units, provision of interactive common space is highly recommended, both in new construction and renovation live/work.

While more study of the parking and traffic implications of live/work are needed, experience has shown that unless the individual spaces are quite large (say 2000+ s.f.) and/or are configured with separate work spaces, two spaces (maximum 2-1/2) per unit should be enough even when employees and walk-in trade are permitted. Local zoning standards for parking requirements should apply to separated work spaces or unit areas in excess of 2000 square feet, subtracting for the residents’ use of that space.