1450 Neotomas Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95405 • phone (707) 565-4700 • fax (707) 565-7849 Tina Rivera – Director
Agenda Item from: Tina Rivera, Director, Department of Health Services Agenda Item to: City Managers
Date: June 18, 2024
Purpose: City Managers’ Meeting June 20, 2024
Agenda Item – MEHKO – Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKO)
Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKOs) are small-scale retail food facilities established by Assembly Bills 626 (2018) and 377 (2019), allowing individuals to run small restaurants (dine-in or take-out) from their private residences. MEHKOs provide home-based business opportunities, particularly for those with limited access to capital or facing barriers such as child or elder-care responsibilities. They also increase community access to healthy food, offering options for cultural or regional foods that may not be available locally.
MEHKOs must be operated by a resident in their private home, with no more than one full-time employee from outside the household. Food must be prepared, cooked, and served on the same day, and sales are limited to 30 meals per day or 90 meals per week, with annual sales capped at $100,000. Third-party delivery services, catering, resale, and sales from food trucks or carts are prohibited, and outdoor signage is not allowed, though online sales are permitted.
The County will propose to opt into the MEHKO statute via ordinance in September. As part of the ordinance to opt in we would require that the applicant demonstrate that a MEHKO is consistent with the governing General Plan of the applicable city or county. • In the cities, the form of this demonstration would be a letter from the city, or if the city does not timely respond, Environmental Health’s interpretation of the city’s general plan.
Alternatively, cities could provide Environmental Health with a list of General Plan designations that allow and disallow MEHKOs.
• In the unincorporated part of the County, Permit Sonoma would provide a list of consistent general plan areas. In a nutshell, MEHKOs would not be allowed on agricultural land in the unincorporated areas of the County where the General Plan disallows restaurants.
For the first year, MEHKO permits would not have fees, because the permitting fees would be covered by the grant received from the State.