Garage Restrictions

[JoshStratton]

Here is an interesting article for those wanting to build a garage within city limits:



http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...onster_garages

[ViperBlue68]

I'm planning on adding a 2-3 car Garage on the side of my property I'll have to take another look and see if California or my County has changed anything, I know I will double check before buiding starts as well... dont wanna have to tear anything down AGAIN...My storage shed (10x10 NOW stucco'd with 8 foot Garage door to match home) got red tagged by the county inspector.... too tall for bein so close to the fence...B.S. if ya ask me... luckily it was just in the framing stage after lookin at the revised County codes I had to redraw my plans and have them approved before we could finish it....came out just as nice not as big tho...oh well you win some you lose some...enuff with my ranting

[Hartz]

Had something similar here. I just went "up" instead of "out." Gotta love lifts...

[DeepBlue68]

Wow, I can't imagine how mad I would be if I spend all that time/money building an awesome garage like that, and then had to tear it down because of a griping neighbor. A friend of mine had it out with their nextdoor neighbor in court because they didn't like the fact that he had a sport-court with big overhead lights built in his backyard. He won the case after over 2 years of being in court.

[kman67rsss]

There is now way in hell i would tear anything like that down due to a neighbor's complaints. if i have all proper documentation and permits then they are SOL as far as im concerned.

[digitalman2112]

I'm planning extra garage space now - I thought I was paranoid, since at every decision point, I chose to make it look as much like the house as possible - now I know why

[apex69]

The real problem is, it's a box. There was no architectural thought put into this. It has no curb appeal. Some forward thinking needed. This can still be saved.

[myclone]

The real problem is, it's a box. There was no architectural thought put into this. It has no curb appeal. Some forward thinking needed. This can still be saved.

I agree. Im a HUGE advocate of "if you own it do what you want with it" but in this case the guy put up a steel building in the burbs so the other property owners have legit concerns and arent just being naggy neighbors IMO.

I checked into the steel buildings a few weeks ago while in the initial planning stages of my new garage but they just didnt look that good IMO without a lot of effort to keep them from sticking out like a sore thumb if built in close proximity to the house. I live in a rural area but do have two neighbors within sight of my property that moved here for the rural setting so that was another thing that made me decide against the steel building since Im sure they wouldnt appreciate having what looks like a warehouse within yards of their property (I know I wouldnt appreciate it).

I feel for the guy and what car guy wouldnt want a garage the size he has but throwing up a steel building in the suburbs of that size without any thought to how other property owners would react is a little on the short sighted side. Hopefully the owner and his neighbors can come to a mutual agreement without him tearing the stucture down, which would be a HUGE waste at this point, by making some cosmetic changes to the structure to help it blend in with the surroundings a little better.

My .02 FWIW.

[Fluid Power]

Well put Myclone....The thing look terrible...A little forward thinking would have prevented this mess...I agree that if council approved it, than the city is probably stuck...

Darren

[nancejd]

I have to disagree with you guys. The bottom line is that the building is on his property and he should be able to build whatever he wants. As long as it doesn't stink, spew effluent, or cause vermin to migrate to someone elses property, it's just not any of their business. What the ever happened to private property rights in this country? Somewhere along the line peoples property values meant more to them than their rights, how sad. Your rights end at your property line, not your neighbors.

[68protouring454]

when my neigbors start paying my taxes, then they can decide what i build, if i am within city/town codes, then i will do what i want, next time i buy a car i will ask all my neighbors what they want to see in my driveway!!NOT
come on, land is not cheap, and we all pay hefty taxes, lets leave each to his own and worry about ourselves.
there is alot of crap out there because of people worrying about others, true some people have bad taste but his garage was neat and i am sure is nice on inside, what is wrong with it?? is he starting a junk yard?? people are pretty worried about other peoples business these days
jake

[TonyHuntimer]

The garage is ugly and his house looks awesome. What a horrible combo so close together. There must be some better way he could have done it. Maybe he could put up some trees or something to decorate it. ...But D@"~! That big ugly garage is SO close to his house! The smartest thing he could do is bribe his neighbors by inviting them to work on their cars in his garage.

When I own a bigger house on a larger lot, I want to build a garage that resembles a small 1950's gas station. You wouldn't be able to see the gas station facade from the living spaces of the house because my wife would never agree to let me do it and I'll do some creative construction to hide it from the view of my neighbors.

It will take careful planning and execution because I want it functional and I would never want a garage to decrease the value of my property. Property value is EVERYTHING!

Tony Huntimer
RaceHome.com

...oh... and about what your neighbors have to say about what you have on your property... There is a fine line. I grew up in a small town of about 20,000 people (Benicia, CA). All the lots in my area were about 3000 square feet. One day, about a month after we put our house up for sale, my neighbor (a pretty good guy...I thought) brought home a school bus. A BIG BEAT UP YELLOW school bus. It wouldn't fit down the side of his small lot, so he got his saw out and cut a 5 foot long section of the eave of his roof off the side of his garage. He squeezed that big ugly thing tight to the fence and the side of his garage. The front bumper barely cleared the sidewalk in front of the house. It took 2 years to sell our house! ...and it only sold after he took the bus on a family trip and it broke down in another state! I'm not saying neighbors have rights to say what you do on your property. I'm just saying I hope your neighbors aren't ___holes that lack good judgement, common sense, decency, and/or integrity.

[JMarsa]

I agree with apex69 & myclone on the curb appeal part. I live in the same area as Hartz, and I made sure that my neighbors were cool with my intentions. I bought my home with the intent to build a garage. I waited a couple years to build after I moved in and during that time I established a nice relationship with my neighbors. When it cam time to build I asked them if they had any objections, and neither did. I too built up and my garage is taller than my home and is about 900 sq ft. in a mature sub full of late 60's colonials and ranches in the 2-3000 sq. ft. range. When it came to curb appeal and acceptance I made sure that the garage looked modern and nice. If I sell, the guy will think "cool I get a shop" and she'll think "it can be a place to entertain". The additional cost in design and materials was negligible.

There's a pic below.

--JMarsa

[nancejd]

We aren't talking about the wisdom of building something that is kind of an eyesore, or considering the best wishes of your neighbors before you build. What we are talking about is a group of your neighbors getting together to use the government to decide what is acceptable for you on your own property. What if they decide that you shouldn't be able to have a car parked outside? What about an RV or boat? Who draws the line in the first place?

[toxicz28]

We aren't talking about the wisdom of building something that is kind of an eyesore, or considering the best wishes of your neighbors before you build. What we are talking about is a group of your neighbors getting together to use the government to decide what is acceptable for you on your own property. What if they decide that you shouldn't be able to have a car parked outside? What about an RV or boat? Who draws the line in the first place?

I agree! If I were that guy, and I won the right to keep my garage.( which he shouldn't have to fight for, since the town gave the approvals) I'd paint it puke green just to piss the neighbors off even more! But that's just the kind of ******* I am!!!

[DeepBlue68]

What we are talking about is a group of your neighbors getting together to use the government to decide what is acceptable for you on your own property. What if they decide that you shouldn't be able to have a car parked outside? What about an RV or boat? Who draws the line in the first place?

There can be many laws limiting what you can and can't have parked in front of or on the side of your house depending on where you live. In my old neighborhood, my dad's bass boat wasn't allowed to be parked out in front of our house, even for a night. We got into it with a neighbor once for parking it out in front of the house overnight and the next afternoon after fishing before taking it back to the storage, and later got a call from the homeowner's association threatening to fine us.

Another example: my girlfriend's dad has a car trailer that he parks on the side of their house, which is visible from the street. Someone complained, and a city inspector came out and said he had to build a fence to hide the side of his house from the street if he wanted to keep the trailer, which he did. I don't agree with it at all, but at the same time, you can't argue with the laws governing the area in which you live. By living there, you implicitly agreed to be subjected to them and abide by them, so there's not really a whole lot you can do.

[MrQuick]

If I had bought my house and some guy build an eye sore like that and lowered my prop value down by $100k i'd be pissed too. Its more than city rules, its trying to get along with neighbors and flowing with your surroundings.
We are all car heads so this doesn't sit with us well, but what if your neighbor built a 20x80 chicken coupe or rabbit farm, a giant eye sore with no reguard for neighbors feelings. How would you feel then? Im willing to bet it would be different.
Im sure there is a middle ground that could have been discussed.

[David Sloan]

This is why i bought 6.67 wooded acres, an put my house an metal garage in the middle of it.

To do this i had to go pay for a zoneing variance an post big signs on the roads so that the neighbors would know what was going on. an when the meating was going to be so they could attend if they want to know whats happening.
Then they can ask ?s or complain if they want to about what iam wanting to build.

In my case only one of my neighbors showed up an ask what i was going to do with a big building like that. So i told them, I build old muscle cars an hot rods as a hobby an this would be my retirement moneys when i was ready to sell off most of the cars i have built. Nobody had a problem with it so the city council aproved it an i built a 40'x80' an a 30'x30' behind my new house. ( well i built the garage 1st then the house)

You just got to keep your prioritys right LOL LOL!

My point here is that most countys or citys have rules that you have to go by.
They hold meating for this sort of thing an the neighbors know what is going on.
If they did not atend the meating, so they could say there peace, then it is there fault!!
just my 2cents (sorry if i affended anybody)

[apex69]

"I agree that if council approved it, than the city is probably stuck..."

"The additional cost in design and materials was negligible".


The local municipality would have had to approve it. When something like this is up for review, documents go out to neighbors in the area offering to attend an informal meeting to express objections or opinions as to the placement and or design styling of this construction it being an out building or attachment.

It's apparent that this guy is not hurting for money and could have, “at a negligible cost”, added some architectural integrity to this building.

I myself have 2750 sqft of garage space in a very rural area. Perhaps in 40 years the building/s I have, if the area were ever to be built up, may look out of place.

[68protouring454]

i still say if the city allowed it, then its good, when you move into a area, you should check out the zoning etc laws to see what is allowed, maybe that owner did when he built the house, so he new he could put up the garage, we all know how somethings look good to some and horrible to others, like david said, thats why i have 8 acres too, although i did not build out in woods i am in site of road, i had to go thru review comitee , have lot drawing etc, they accepted it, i also sent letters to land abutters, none showed, i got my approval, so i can do what i want and i have
jake