A Pain In The Zoning Code: Leavenworth Prohibits Home-Based Physical Therapy

In 2025, longtime licensed physical therapist Nicole Bulow moved with her young family to the picturesque town of Leavenworth, Washington, to live closer to her sister. In two different Seattle neighborhoods, Nicole successfully operated her physical therapy business, SolFuel, from her home without causing problems or complaints. Her business was so quiet and unobtrusive that many neighbors didn’t even know it existed. She never expected that her business would be illegal.

For more than 15 years, Nicole has specialized in physical therapy to help active adults recover from injuries and guide women through pregnancy and postpartum recovery. Working from home gave Nicole flexibility to spend time with her children and allowed her to offer clients a private, comfortable, and personalized place for treatment. 

When she moved to Leavenworth, a Bavarian-style village in the Cascade Mountains, Nicole had every reason to believe she could continue operating SolFuel the same way she always had. Some clients were willing to travel more than two hours from Seattle to continue working with her. 

And she thought she satisfied all the requirements; Leavenworth allows massage therapists and similar businesses to operate from home. Nicole even went to city hall to make sure she checked every box for a home occupation license, and a city employee initially assured her she would have no problem. Her application confirmed she would follow the city’s rules on guests, business hours, and parking.

Through IJ’s Zoning Justice Project, we see all too often local governments weaponizing their zoning codes to exclude harmless, unobtrusive businesses—trampling private property rights and economic liberty in the process.

Then the city abruptly changed its tune. Leavenworth eventually issued a formal interpretation of its zoning code concluding that physical therapy was too similar to prohibited home businesses, including doctors, dentists, and chiropractors. Among the city’s reasons: Physical therapists sometimes have waiting rooms, treat people’s conditions, and are licensed by the state Department of Health.

But none of that has anything to do with zoning.

Zoning regulations are supposed to address things like traffic, parking, and noise. They are not a blank check for cities to arbitrarily favor some occupations over others. Yet through IJ’s Zoning Justice Project, we see all too often local governments weaponizing their zoning codes to exclude harmless, unobtrusive businesses—trampling private property rights and economic liberty in the process.

SolFuel has no greater impact on Nicole’s neighbors than businesses Leavenworth already allows in homes, including hair salons and even combined massage and yoga studios. Yet for now, Nicole must rent unnecessary office space in town, separating her from her children and depriving clients of the private, personalized environment at the heart of her business model.

Leavenworth can enact reasonable zoning rules that protect public health and safety. But under the U.S. and Washington Constitutions, it cannot arbitrarily pick and choose which harmless home-based businesses are welcome based on distinctions that have nothing to do with zoning. 

That’s why Nicole has joined with IJ to fight back. With IJ’s help, she has appealed the city’s interpretation, challenging its justifications and its attempt to exercise power it doesn’t have. A victory for Nicole would vindicate the right of all Americans to earn an honest living from their own homes.