HAMPTON, Va. — Vianca Kern is doing what she can to turn her passion for baking into profit.
“I do cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies. All kinds of stuff," Kern said.
When News 3 interviewed her, she said she had been placing baked goods on a stand to sell grab-and-go style outside her home. That is, until the city told her she couldn't do that.
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“Once I had that set up, a couple of weeks later we get a notice from the city saying that we’re violating a zoning ordinance," Kern explained.
The problem, she said, is the city will only allow bake stands in areas zoned for agricultural use. Her neighborhood is not. In fact, at the time of the interview the city had no agricultural zones.
Cottage bakers can sell online and do porch pickups, but they can’t have an unattended bake stand.
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“I have a bright yellow stand. It’s got a couple of shelves, very, very similar to this," fellow cottage baker Heather Russell said, referencing Kern's stand.
Russell also had a stand and was told by the city to shut it down.
“It’s frustrating because there are so many bakers that are just looking to support their families," said Russell.
She has been working with Kern to fight back. Kern had started a petition online to gather support for allowing bake stands in residential areas. As of Sunday morning, it had close to 300 signatures.
Both she and Russell said not being able to have their stands is a big loss.
“When I made the pivot from my corporate job, a nice-paying nine-to-five, into this I saw it as an opportunity to have my small business and still be able to continue to have the finances that our family was used to," Kern said.
“My goal, when I set it out, was enough to help cover car payments, small utilities, things like that. Just to help ease the burden on my household. So, my projections were that that would actually happen," said Russell.
They planned to go before City Council September 23 and make their case for changing zoning regulations.
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