zoning laws: 20' setback distance from my property line....

[OutHouse]

From what I recall, a garage is a secondary building since it's not used to live in there (sleep, cook, wash, live, etc). Adding your second floor on your garage and using it as a studio could change the use of your garage since now you can use it to "live" in there instead of just storing lawn equipment and a car.

the only utility will be power. there wont be water or any living quarters like bathrooms. i could not imagine how much more it would cost to get water and sewer lines out in.

 

[Rhezuss]

the only utility will be power. there wont be water or any living quarters like bathrooms. i could not imagine how much more it would cost to get water and sewer lines out in.

I understand that. You should call your city and ask them why the setbacks are that much and work from there depending what their answer is. Sometimes in a zoning law, you don,t even have to have water accessible in a building to be called "livable" by that law...

Each city as it's own laws, it's confusing most of the time.

 

[Eli]

So.. let me get this straight. This law is in place to protect my neighbor from being inconvenienced because the wall of my building is right on my property line? What if I want to put up a fence, or a wall?

I don't get it. It's my property line...It shouldn't matter where the building is inside of it.

This type of shit drives me insane. What is even the point of owning land if you can't, well, do whatever you want?

When I buy property, I'm going to make sure there's not another soul within a square mile of me. Screw this nonsense...

 

[alkemyst]

I'm assuming it's just local building code.

That would piss me off too. It's my property.. If I want to build something within a millimeter of my property line, what the fuck is the problem with that?

What is the reasoning behind such a law? D:

This is all outlined prior to you BUYING the property.

Why do fucktards not get this?!?!

 

[highland145]

Most buildings need to be set back to reduce fire danger and to provide open space.

Mine.

Sorry wrong thread.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Often the property line is the center if the road, make sure you get drawings of your parcel to make sure the pins aren't the setback line. You may be fine.

 

[OutHouse]

This is all outlined prior to you BUYING the property.

Why do fucktards not get this?!?!

lol wut? sorry but the town admn staff was not present when i bought my house. PLUS the code since 1997 had changed. it used to be 20 feet from the road center line, now its 20 feet from my property line.

 

[OutHouse]

Often the property line is the center if the road, make sure you get drawings of your parcel to make sure the pins aren't the setback line. You may be fine.

exactly, the town code used to be this.

 

[Rhezuss]

So.. let me get this straight. This law is in place to protect my neighbor from being inconvenienced because the wall of my building is right on my property line? What if I want to put up a fence, or a wall?

I don't get it. It's my property line...It shouldn't matter where the building is inside of it.

This type of shit drives me insane. What is even the point of owning land if you can't, well, do whatever you want?

When I buy property, I'm going to make sure there's not another soul within a square mile of me. Screw this nonsense...

Ok example: You and an other dude buy a property where both of you want to build a house on it. You decide that you build this house at 2 inches from the line and your neighbor decide he's gonna do the same.

You end up with 2 houses at 4 inches from them...with windows and roofs right next to each other...water from both roofs dropping on the walls, damaging prematurely both walls...

Or, your neighbors's house sets on fire...what do you think will happer to yours?

Or, your house wall needs repairing or you want to replace a window...how will you work in a 4 inches sapce?

 

[bruceb]

All towns have setback requirements and it is up to you to meet them. Unless you can prove a substantial hardship exists, where the only way to add the item, is to be closer than the town setbacks. And this usually happens on undersize or odd shaped building lots, where a home should never have been built in the first place. Your best bet is get a local architect to design what you want and an attorney in your town who deals with the planning board / board of adjustments on a routine basis. He will file for the variances and help you try to win them. In my town, these things are denied often.

 

[Patranus]

Most buildings need to be set back to reduce fire danger and to provide open space.

If the city wants to provide open space it should purchase the "buffer" between properties.

I can understand zoning laws in terms what the purpose of what is build IE commercial, light residential, ect, but shit like this is ridiculous.

 

[alkemyst]

lol wut? sorry but the town admn staff was not present when i bought my house. PLUS the code since 1997 had changed. it used to be 20 feet from the road center line, now its 20 feet from my property line.

I somehow doubt they changed your plat layout without any input from those living there.

There was probably a misunderstanding to the original limits.

However, this is more or less of sounding already like you are attempting to over improve the land.

Without these laws any idiot with a load of cinderblocks would be expanding his home to the edges of their 'land'.

 

[TechBoyJK]

If it's that important, just present your case to the council.

 

[bruceb]

If it's that important, just present your case to the council.

Agreed, but only when you are represented by Legal Counsel.
You stand little chance of winning without an attorney who
knows how to work the system.

 

[OutHouse]

I somehow doubt they changed your plat layout without any input from those living there.

There was probably a misunderstanding to the original limits.

However, this is more or less of sounding already like you are attempting to over improve the land.

Without these laws any idiot with a load of cinderblocks would be expanding his home to the edges of their 'land'.

?? wtf are you talking about? my plat lines have not changed and that isnt what im bitching about.

 

[jaha2000]

Move out of the city.

 

[highland145]

Move out of the city.

Our county has instituted a 5ac rural distinction for some areas. Meaning lots can't be smaller that 5ac (current ones grandfathered in). Catering to "horse farms."

So if you bought 100ac with thoughts of a 100 house development, tough.

 

[vi edit]

Our county has instituted a 5ac rural distinction for some areas. Meaning lots can't be smaller that 5ac (current ones grandfathered in). Catering to "horse farms."

Many people have that law misunderstood. We have a "5 acre" rule here in Il, but it doesn't mean that lots have to be 5 acres or bigger. It means that if they are less than 5 acres they have to be fully developed with streets, gutters, utilities, ect. If you want to sell raw land they have to be 5 acres or bigger.

 

[highland145]

Many people have that law misunderstood. We have a "5 acre" rule here in Il, but it doesn't mean that lots have to be 5 acres or bigger. It means that if they are less than 5 acres they have to be fully developed with streets, gutters, utilities, ect. If you want to sell raw land they have to be 5 acres or bigger.

Spoke with the county council when this came up. It's been a couple of years but that was my understanding at the time.

In your case, if I have 2 ac on a dirt road, I can't sell it? Utilities aren't an issue but we have a lot of unpaved roads here.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Spoke with the county council when this came up. It's been a couple of years but that was my understanding at the time.

In your case, if I have 2 ac on a dirt road, I can't sell it? Utilities aren't an issue but we have a lot of unpaved roads here.

The law is saying you can't take a 10 acre parcel and sell it off as 10-1 acre parcels. If you have 2 acres, you're considered grandfathered. You just can't split up to less than 5.

If you have <10 acres: You cannot split at all.
If you have >=10 acres: you can split, but each piece must be 5 acres minimum.

eg: 12 acre lot can be split 6 and 6, but cannot be split 8 and 4.

 

[vi edit]

In your case, if I have 2 ac on a dirt road, I can't sell it? Utilities aren't an issue but we have a lot of unpaved roads here.

I think individual lots are okay. The goal here in IL was simply a control issue. It basically prevented farmers/land owners from subdividing and keeping the county largely out of the mix. You couldn't go and do as you describe - take a small 10 acre field and chunk it in to 10-20 lots and walk away with the profit. You instead were forced to either sell it as 2, 5 acre lots or fully develop it with all of the various county depts invovled and have a formal subdivision.

 

[paperfist]

In NY if you can get your neighbors that live within 200' to agree you can usually get a building to pass if it's not within the set back.

Or if you can engineer the building so it's not permanent, ie on a slab it's not considered a permanent structure and can be built closer then set back. It's usually the case of sheds and small garages.

I would just tell the town I'm going to deduct 20' from my property taxes

 

[AUMM]

from your description of the situation I think it will be fairly easy to obtain a variance. I have had to do this several times for basically the exact same reason.... If there are other homes in the area with structures within the 20' setback this will help you as well..

 

[bruceb]

Here in NJ a lot of towns have minimum lot size requirements for residential use. The objective is not to get homes right on top of another. Even though they are still pretty close. In Wayne, lots are at least 1/3 of an acre. Up in Ringwood / Wanaque, closer to 1/2 acre. Some parts of Alpine (by the Palisades Parkway) have like a 2 or 3 acre min lot size (homes there are not cheap, especially very close to NYC)

 

[PingSpike]

Just go find a shitty ass barn and have a company plop it down where you want it and claim it was there forever and therefore grandfathered in. Then quietly fix it up from the inside. Old houses are always build almost in the fucking road.