Hello-
I was wondering if there was anyone out there from PA that has recently had their kitchen licensed, and if so do you have any tidbits or information that maybe helpful. I'm going to call next week to start the process.

Thanks in advance,
Kelly

I'm in the same boat. I'm a little confused with the whole process. One place I read I was allowed to have a licensed home kitchen if it were in an area of the home that dogs were not allowed (I have 3 dogs), and another website told me that under no circumstances can I have a home bakery if I have pets, didn't matter if it was a separate building or not. So now I have a meeting with my church tomorrow about possibly renting their kitchen. But that is as far as I've gotten. If my church agrees to let me rent their kitchen, I'm kind of clueless of where to go from there. Let me know what information you find out. I do know that it depends on what county you live in, I live in York County, PA. Good luck!!!

It does not depend on the county you live in. It depends on the municipality you live in. In areas where the municipality has no office which oversees food-related businesses (mostly suburban and rural areas) the state governs. In municipalities where there is a health department that oversees food-related businesses, the municipality must abide, at least, by the laws of the state, but can have laws of it's own which supercede state law, as long as that law provides more protection for the public than state law.

And as far as pets go, all the legitimate home-based bakers I know in PA have separate kitchens from their home kitchen, and no animals at all are allowed in those areas. I have to admit, I do not know them all, so I cannot vouch that this is the law throughout the state.

Instead of asking a generic question here, which would be answered differently throughout the state, I suggest you contact your municipality first, then the state, for the information you seek, as it applies to your area.

Theresa

Or you can google it for in your state to get the laws and stuff????

Pennsylvania allows licensed home kitchens. Go to the PA Dept. of Agriculture website to get the details of their inspection and requirements. As far as being allowed where you live...

My township requires that I pay for a variance to get the letter to hand to the PA Dept. of Ag... But... when we were house hunting, the township we were looking into said they'd be happy just to hand me the letter with no variance... All depends on exactly where you are located how many hoops you have to jump through. There was about 30 min. between the $500 variance and the free letter... go figure.

First step is to get the guidelines from the Dept of Ag.. then talk to your township's zoning officer, then you will know what you need to do.