Affinity Fab
Well-known member
Well after lurking on here for years I finally have something to contribute myself.
The semi-shortened version of the saga goes like this...We bought a home on an acre in a really nice suburb where over time I remodeled every square inch of into something I was really proud of. It had an attached 2 car garage & I always intended to build a 30x 40 garage out back for my shop. Fast-forward one kid & almost 9 years later I was finally ready to build the shop. However it turns out the city has some of the most restrictive accessory structure ordinances I've ever come across. 720 sq. ft.!! That's it, all I could build! I attended zoning board of appeals meetings & did my homework, tried every possible scenario of building 1200 sq. ft., I was even willing to settle for 1000 but nope 720 that's it, not even 721. I was heartbroken!
I really loved our home so I was about to just settle & start building the 2.5 car garage they would let me. Then my wife & I started casually looking at other homes as a possibility never thinking we'd find something that would suit both of us in a million years, but I'll be damned if we didn't find a place that we both fell in love with in a matter of no time. Before putting in an offer I checked with the township & they would allow up to a 1400 sq. ft. accessory structure on the lot size!! So we bought the place, sold the old one & I had a builder out the day after we got the keys.
The semi-shortened version of the saga goes like this...We bought a home on an acre in a really nice suburb where over time I remodeled every square inch of into something I was really proud of. It had an attached 2 car garage & I always intended to build a 30x 40 garage out back for my shop. Fast-forward one kid & almost 9 years later I was finally ready to build the shop. However it turns out the city has some of the most restrictive accessory structure ordinances I've ever come across. 720 sq. ft.!! That's it, all I could build! I attended zoning board of appeals meetings & did my homework, tried every possible scenario of building 1200 sq. ft., I was even willing to settle for 1000 but nope 720 that's it, not even 721. I was heartbroken!
I really loved our home so I was about to just settle & start building the 2.5 car garage they would let me. Then my wife & I started casually looking at other homes as a possibility never thinking we'd find something that would suit both of us in a million years, but I'll be damned if we didn't find a place that we both fell in love with in a matter of no time. Before putting in an offer I checked with the township & they would allow up to a 1400 sq. ft. accessory structure on the lot size!! So we bought the place, sold the old one & I had a builder out the day after we got the keys.











