virtualmin fix-domain-permissions results in 403 FOrbidden

Running "virtualmin fix-domain-permissions --domain " results in a 403, causing this error in the apache log.

[core:crit] [pid 20773] (13)Permission denied: [client ] AH00529: /home/accountname/public_html/.htaccess pcfg_openfile: unable to check htaccess file, ensure it is readable and that '/home/accountname/public_html/' is executable

To fix I had to "chmod +x /home/accountname/public_html"

What could have caused this issue, and what is the proper fix? or is that it.

Apache Version: Server version: Apache/2.4.7 (Ubuntu) Server built: Jan 14 2016 17:45:23