Garage only on vacant lot

[driftpin]

As mentioned, some good here, some bad.

All the respondents who said, "get the local Zoning Code, familiarize yourself w/it, and be sure of your zoning classification," I agree with. Anyone who said, "sneak it in," that is a BIG NO!

I worked in planning and zoning, I wrote zoning determination letters, and did plans review for people trying to do something like you're proposing. I do not hold-out hopes for you getting what you want, with your present level of knowledge.

If the zoning says, "no accessory uses w/o a residential dwelling," probably the only way to get by that is with a variance. 'Self-imposed hardships' or wanting to build an accessory use, a garage, in a residentially-zoned district, on a vacant lot is likely not going to be approved.

Building a minimum-sized dwelling allowed by code, with a maximum-sized accessory use, legally allowed, is going to be the path to getting approval. There may be consideration for an attached multi-car garage and a detached accessory use such as a garage or hobby storage, or whatever terminology is locally-used. Another member mentioned the possibility of calling it 'tractor storage.' Study the local ordinances to see where an interpretation might help in what is legally permitted.

Bear in-mind that if you're attempting to build in an area where the zoning density is 6 dwelling units/acre, meaning 6 D.U./net acre, or ~35,000 sq. ft. instead of a gross acre of 43,560 sq. ft. where the plat is surrendering 8,560 sq. ft. per gross acre for roadway rights of way, utilities, flood control, public safety & etc., the mean size of each lot is ~5,000 sq. ft. When you take into account the maximum permissible plot coverage you are not speaking of a very large development allowable. Perhaps the best answer is to find a plot where your intended use is not subjected to such onerous regulation.

Members mentioned the 'AG' use, Agricultural zoning requires (usually) larger plots than single family residential (SFR) plots do. However, the allowance for out-buildings is often more-generous, and sometimes may require rudimentary permitting.

Whatever you do, don't go into a project thinking that you're going to skirt the zoning code and the building code, and will do whatever usage you want, versus whatever usage is allowed if the two are in-conflict. If you want to have a place to work on cars or motorcycles, repairing them for 'a few customers a week,' you will soon run-into the local jurisdictional officials' enforcement efforts if you're attempting to operate a business not-allowed in that zoning district. All it takes is one disgruntled neighbor to register a complaint or an enforcement officer, or the building official to shut-down such an operation. When fines begin, they can continue to accrue until the building official or other enforcement official is satisfied the violation has stopped and the land parcel is now in full compliance.

As to that, above, don't post advertising online or on your property, "Al's Car Repairs, Best in Alabama!" or anything similar.

The two places where your local government posts its zoning code are

• American Legal Publishing
• Municode

If you go to your local jurisdiction's web pages, you will probably find a link to one of these. Before you make plans to buy a parcel for an accessory use, find out what legally you're entitled to do or not to do. You can request a zoning determination letter which can answer your questions formally as to permitted uses at a particular land parcel, what the sq. footage, minimum or maximum is for a particular use, including accessory uses.

The best advice I can give apart from the above points, is that you should consider the use of a professional planner, land development specialist, or land use attorney who does business in the jurisdiction where you hope to purchase land. They are familiar with the local code and the people who write it, interpret it and enforce it.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

I spent my engineering career in the water/wastewater design business and designed several of those kinds of places, both for wastewater pump stations and water well houses. The difference is they are city property, providing a service for the public. The residential neighborhood they're in wouldn't be able to exist without them. A private garage isn't a valid comparison.

They look at a everything on google maps now and they will see the additional structure.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

As mentioned, some good here, some bad.

All the respondents who said, "get the local Zoning Code, familiarize yourself w/it, and be sure of your zoning classification," I agree with. Anyone who said, "sneak it in," that is a BIG NO!

I worked in planning and zoning, I wrote zoning determination letters, and did plans review for people trying to do something like you're proposing. I do not hold-out hopes for you getting what you want, with your present level of knowledge.

If the zoning says, "no accessory uses w/o a residential dwelling," probably the only way to get by that is with a variance. 'Self-imposed hardships' or wanting to build an accessory use, a garage, in a residentially-zoned district, on a vacant lot is likely not going to be approved.

Building a minimum-sized dwelling allowed by code, with a maximum-sized accessory use, legally allowed, is going to be the path to getting approval. There may be consideration for an attached multi-car garage and a detached accessory use such as a garage or hobby storage, or whatever terminology is locally-used. Another member mentioned the possibility of calling it 'tractor storage.' Study the local ordinances to see where an interpretation might help in what is legally permitted.

Bear in-mind that if you're attempting to build in an area where the zoning density is 6 dwelling units/acre, meaning 6 D.U./net acre, or ~35,000 sq. ft. instead of a gross acre of 43,560 sq. ft. where the plat is surrendering 8,560 sq. ft. per gross acre for roadway rights of way, utilities, flood control, public safety & etc., the mean size of each lot is ~5,000 sq. ft. When you take into account the maximum permissible plot coverage you are not speaking of a very large development allowable. Perhaps the best answer is to find a plot where your intended use is not subjected to such onerous regulation.

Members mentioned the 'AG' use, Agricultural zoning requires (usually) larger plots than single family residential (SFR) plots do. However, the allowance for out-buildings is often more-generous, and sometimes may require rudimentary permitting.

Whatever you do, don't go into a project thinking that you're going to skirt the zoning code and the building code, and will do whatever usage you want, versus whatever usage is allowed if the two are in-conflict. If you want to have a place to work on cars or motorcycles, repairing them for 'a few customers a week,' you will soon run-into the local jurisdictional officials' enforcement efforts if you're attempting to operate a business not-allowed in that zoning district. All it takes is one disgruntled neighbor to register a complaint or an enforcement officer, or the building official to shut-down such an operation. When fines begin, they can continue to accrue until the building official or other enforcement official is satisfied the violation has stopped and the land parcel is now in full compliance.

As to that, above, don't post advertising online or on your property, "Al's Car Repairs, Best in Alabama!" or anything similar.

The two places where your local government posts its zoning code are

• American Legal Publishing
• Municode

If you go to your local jurisdiction's web pages, you will probably find a link to one of these. Before you make plans to buy a parcel for an accessory use, find out what legally you're entitled to do or not to do. You can request a zoning determination letter which can answer your questions formally as to permitted uses at a particular land parcel, what the sq. footage, minimum or maximum is for a particular use, including accessory uses.

The best advice I can give apart from the above points, is that you should consider the use of a professional planner, land development specialist, or land use attorney who does business in the jurisdiction where you hope to purchase land. They are familiar with the local code and the people who write it, interpret it and enforce it.

Now I have heard that sometimes the primary dwelling can't be smaller than the accessory structure. My buddy ran into this once that's an engineer, but he found out they were just making up rules that weren't on the books, so it never hurts to looks at the actual code books.

 

[driftpin]

it never hurts to looks at the actual code books.

That was my point. If you can make your plans meet the code, the permit(s) "shall be issued." If you use a prescriptive code approach, your attempt at permitting should be an easy path to approval. Attempting to get a permit for something specifically not-allowed under the jurisdiction's code is likely not going to be approved.

 

[reader2580]

They look at an everything on google maps now and they will see the additional structure.

Government has been using overhead views since the 70s in some areas. My understanding is they hired companies to take aerial photos to look for improvements and new buildings that were not on the tax rolls. They must have recovered more than enough in new taxes to pay for the photos.

 

[mike93lx]

It's always impressive how many responses these new users can get. The guy joined, posted and logged out, probably never to return and we are already on page two

Unsurprisingly, its a topic that can be controversial and has a political side to it. It's almost like trolls know what they are doing

 

[NUTTSGT]

It's always impressive how many responses these new users can get. The guy joined, posted and logged out, probably never to return and we are already on page two

Unsurprisingly, its a topic that can be controversial and has a political side to it. It's almost like trolls know what they are doing

It happens alot. Sometimes they come back and sometimes they don't .

It's a typical issue that has surfaces here many times. Information that has helped some of the membership get past these issues, some legally or others simply bypassing the local AHJ.

What I see as trolling are the members that always want to make a political issue out something that isn't. Dealing with a government agency to get permits/variance to build a garage or shop is not a political issue. It's just a procedure that a person needs to do and part of the build process.


If the OP comes back and wants to have the thread re-opened, he or she can PM me and I will gladly open it back up.

 

[mark_m]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I was no excepting to get so many replies. Really great information and gave me some things to think about.

I was looking to build a 30x40 - 3 bay garage for personal use (storage). I’m thinking the better option now is to find a property with a existing structure and go from there.

Thanks

 

[NUTTSGT]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I was no excepting to get so many replies. Really great information and gave me some things to think about.

I was looking to build a 30x40 - 3 bay garage for personal use (storage). I’m thinking the better option now is to find a property with a existing structure and go from there.

Thanks

Before you drop the thought all together, take an hour or so to visit the AHJ or probably zoning office. Take a basic plan of what you want to build and inquire with them about building or the possibility of a variance.

If they aren't pleasant to deal with or give you the absolute "no-go" start looking elsewhere. If you find a spot with a building already built, make sure it's not zoned commercial and check into everything before making an offer.

 

[PoorUB]

I would spend some time with the zoning office, or what ever the authority is in your area. They might let youu build a slab on grade house, and not finish the inside at all, as long as the outside is finished, then build your three car garage. It is really hard to say what they will do.

In my area they are tough! I am allowed to cover only 30% of my lot and any other structure's foot print can not total more than the foot print of my house. Now they will grant a variance, but it is tough to get one. A guy down the street bought the lot next to him, ripped down the house and built a large three stall garage with a bay for his motor home. I was shocked to see it and went up to the city to talk to them about it. I don't remember the exact details, but they had him do an addition to his house along with the garage as they insisted on the square foot of the garage being less than the house.

What I also find crazy is we are in an area of $175 - $250,000 houses. This guy now had a double sized lot, a large house with a very nice detached garage. If he had built in a newer area of the city it would be a $750,00 property and it sits in the middle of 1950s ramblers and many of them are rentals. The houses on either side of him are worth about $200,000. He will never get the value out of the property.

 

[finn]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I was no excepting to get so many replies. Really great information and gave me some things to think about.

I was looking to build a 30x40 - 3 bay garage for personal use (storage). I’m thinking the better option now is to find a property with a existing structure and go from there.

Thanks

That’s pretty much what I ended up doing. I was looking into buying a 1/2 acre down the street, clearing it, and building a ~30’x40’ pole barn.

I ended up finding a place on about three acres, a half mile from the house as the crow flies on a cul de sac, off the only road to town, with 48’x75’ stick built shop with 16’ eave height, , complete with 200 amp electrical service, bathroom, and in floor heat for much less than cost of the building I was considering.

Plus, bidding out the construction and finishing the building myself would have taken a year or two out of my life.

Talking to a contractor friend, he thinks the slab alone would cost more today than what I paid for the building and land.

If I ever get too old to use the building for my own projects. I can always rent out heated storage space on a seasonal basis, for cars, UTVs, snowmobiles, boats, and campers. Heated storage, with tall doors and high ceilings is in high demand.

 

[Pen & Wrench]

My wife and I have the same issue. We ended up buying a home just across the alley from our home with the idea of putting a garage in the back yard. We rent the house out. Then the house adjacent to the one we bought had a fire and they tore the house down and left the old crappy garage and put it up for sale, and we bought that, with the idea of putting a new garage (shop) on that lot. We can't just build a garage either, but we do have a couple other options. We can have the property merged with the rental property, they are adjacent to each other & then we could build a garage. In my town the city had approved a couple deals where the properties were across the alley from each other & I believe we can also have our lot merged with our home. My first choice is to build living quarters with the garage, but the cost may hold us back, and we may choose the cheaper option of tying the lot to our home property. If the sudden change in the stock market would not have happened, we were hoping to get started on this deal yet this year, and now I may want to wait for the stock market to rebound a bit before I spend a bunch of money or take on a bunch of debt. I usually jokingly say that if we end up adding an apartment, the living room will have a concrete floor and an overhead door to the garage, but of course we would not do that. I have not checked, but I am wondering if we could just fix up the garage that is there, and leave things as they are, but its too small for what I want, and I'd really like to put something up that would look attractive. My other issue is that every year my wife seems to add flower beds, and if I want too much longer there may not be any room for a garage, amongst all the flower beds.

 

[tworley]

You'd be surprised how many officials don't even know themselves

100%

I work at a small consulting firm and we're usually hired by developers to clear the environmental side of things prior to construction. Just recently I had a project where a developer was proposing 240 town homes. Per the town development code, they needed to have a plan in place to manage and conserve wildlife.

So we came up with the management plan per the code. Once we had our first P&Z hearing, the board's first question regarding wildlife was "well what does our code say about wildlife?". They had no clue what document I even provided them. Had to walk them thru their own codes and ordinances to get the project approved.

Its been suggested and Ill suggest it again, start getting familiar with your municipal codes and make sure you're reading the latest and greatest amendments and ordinances.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

100%

I work at a small consulting firm and we're usually hired by developers to clear the environmental side of things prior to construction. Just recently I had a project where a developer was proposing 240 town homes. Per the town development code, they needed to have a plan in place to manage and conserve wildlife.

So we came up with the management plan per the code. Once we had our first P&Z hearing, the board's first question regarding wildlife was "well what does our code say about wildlife?". They had no clue what document I even provided them. Had to walk them thru their own codes and ordinances to get the project approved.

Its been suggested and Ill suggest it again, start getting familiar with your municipal codes and make sure you're reading the latest and greatest amendments and ordinances.

I also think it can come back to bite you later on if the current governing body isn't up to speed or doesn't care and let's you do things that aren't allowed. Idk, I guess it's grandfathered in once they give you the permit. It's usually okay until some nosey neighbor brings something to the city's attention unless you have an overzealous inspector. The neighbor had a dumpster outside and he nailed them while looking at anither house on the same street. Although I did tell the neighbor that was pretty dumb to put it out front like that. They could have made it less obvious. Lol

 

[BurtEggley]

find a commercial lot or one zoned for manufacturing, storage yards etc.. You can't build just a garage, whether to be a commercial manufacturing facility, to store things, or to work on cars etc., on a lot that is zoned residential. Or look outside the city in a county that has no zoning codes, or agricultural areas.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Used to sit on our planning board and I've seen it before... Garage only implies that you're running a business on the site and I'm guessing it's zoned residential only. I don't think you'll get around it, unless your house is on the adjacent lot and you can merge them.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Used to sit on our planning board and I've seen it before... Garage only implies that you're running a business on the site and I'm guessing it's zoned residential only. I don't think you'll get around it, unless your house is on the adjacent lot and you can merge them.

Everyone calls my building a shop and I tell them it's a "barn" lol You tell the city you want to build a shop on a residential lot a d I bet they will say no. Honestly that's really what it is. Just a place I store a bunch of junk really.

 

[driftpin]

I don't think you'll get around it, unless your house is on the adjacent lot and you can merge them.

Even then, you run up on requirements about the % covered by the SFR vs. the garage, a common exclusion in many jurisdictions. They may want a connection between the SFR and the garage/outbuilding. Height restrictions are another consideration, and the method by which they measure the accessory building's height, compared to the SFR, may not meet the zoning requirements. If you're looking to install a lift, see what's allowed for the accessory building's height before the purchase of an adjacent parcel. Your lift may exceed the allowed building height.

 

[finn]

My wife and I have the same issue. We ended up buying a home just across the alley from our home with the idea of putting a garage in the back yard. We rent the house out. Then the house adjacent to the one we bought had a fire and they tore the house down and left the old crappy garage and put it up for sale, and we bought that, with the idea of putting a new garage (shop) on that lot. We can't just build a garage either, but we do have a couple other options. We can have the property merged with the rental property, they are adjacent to each other & then we could build a garage. In my town the city had approved a couple deals where the properties were across the alley from each other & I believe we can also have our lot merged with our home. My first choice is to build living quarters with the garage, but the cost may hold us back, and we may choose the cheaper option of tying the lot to our home property. If the sudden change in the stock market would not have happened, we were hoping to get started on this deal yet this year, and now I may want to wait for the stock market to rebound a bit before I spend a bunch of money or take on a bunch of debt. I usually jokingly say that if we end up adding an apartment, the living room will have a concrete floor and an overhead door to the garage, but of course we would not do that. I have not checked, but I am wondering if we could just fix up the garage that is there, and leave things as they are, but its too small for what I want, and I'd really like to put something up that would look attractive. My other issue is that every year my wife seems to add flower beds, and if I want too much longer there may not be any room for a garage, amongst all the flower beds.

The other advantage of merging a lot with the one your house is on is that it will then qualify for the homestead property tax exemption, if your state has such a thing.

A rental property won’t qualify for the homestead exemption if the lot is adjacent to it, nor will a lot across the street from your house. The lot has to be contiguous to your primary residence.

 

[Pen & Wrench]

A rental property won’t qualify for the homestead exemption if the lot is adjacent to it, nor will a lot across the street from your house. The lot has to be contiguous to your primary residence.

Actually, in my community the city has previously granted to merge two properties into one legal description, even though they were across the alley from each other. I'm not saying it was right, but I was told that if it had ben done in the past, they will not refuse a reasonable request for the same thing. Not sure I'm going to do it but the City Planner has already told me that they won't refuse a reasonable request for it, simply because there is precedent for it in my town. Normally I would not expect to be able to do this.

 

[driftpin]

Actually, in my community the city has previously granted to merge two properties into one legal description, even though they were across the alley from each other. I'm not saying it was right, but I was told that if it had ben done in the past, they will not refuse a reasonable request for the same thing. Not sure I'm going to do it but the City Planner has already told me that they won't refuse a reasonable request for it, simply because there is precedent for it in my town. Normally I would not expect to be able to do this.

One thing that needs to be considered in this particular circumstance. If the property is going to at some point in the future, be considered as a 'buildable lot' for another SFR, it may not qualify for that as most residential zoning for SFR's, will not qualify to use the second parcel (in this case, across the alley) now combined into one lot of record, as a lot for another SFR. So-sorry, Charlie.

 

[Packard V8]

OTOH, planning and zoning requirements/regulations/restrictions can be a moving target and what was prohibited in the past may be encouraged tomorrow. What one thought he was paying a premium for back when can be gone by a stroke of the pen. What one had wanted to build but was forbidden to do for fifty years is now encouraged. Some win, some lose.

In our city, for more than a hundred years past, there was a hard R1 single family zone, with minimum lot sizes, setbacks, et al. Recently , with the intention of promoting "in-fill" and slowing sprawl, the city is saying, "Just tell us what you will build in the formerly R1 zone and we will approve it." Duplexes? "Sure" A row of townhomes, "Certainly" An apartment block? "Go for it." You invested every dollar you'll ever see into a single family zone because you didn't want a dozen renters next door? "Sorry about that. That's the way it's going to be from now on. Best of luck with your resale." You've got room to build an apartment block, "Retirement income guanteed and more tax dollars for the city; whohoo!" Some win, some lose.

jack vines

 

[finn]

OTOH, planning and zoning requirements/regulations/restrictions can be a moving target and what was prohibited in the past may be encouraged tomorrow. What one thought he was paying a premium for back when can be gone by a stroke of the pen. What one had wanted to build but was forbidden to do for fifty years is now encouraged. Some win, some lose.

In our city, for more than a hundred years past, there was a hard R1 single family zone, with minimum lot sizes, setbacks, et al. Recently , with the intention of promoting "in-fill" and slowing sprawl, the city is saying, "Just tell us what you will build in the formerly R1 zone and we will approve it." Duplexes? "Sure" A row of townhomes, "Certainly" An apartment block? "Go for it." You invested every dollar you'll ever see into a single family zone because you didn't want a dozen renters next door? "Sorry about that. That's the way it's going to be from now on. Best of luck with your resale." You've got room to build an apartment block, "Retirement income guanteed and more tax dollars for the city; whohoo!" Some win, some lose.

jack vines

Relaxing zoning covenants to allow additional housing is a relatively new phenomenon, brought on by the lack of affordable housing across the country. There’s side benefit is that ir reduces sprawl, and reduces the need to add infrastructure which is rarely paid for by the developer. There’s a well defined purpose there.

Allowing commercial structures Willy Nilly in residential areas doesn’t have an overall benefit to anyone, so they’re different animals.

 

[dcg9381]

In our city, for more than a hundred years past, there was a hard R1 single family zone, with minimum lot sizes, setbacks, et al. Recently , with the intention of promoting "in-fill" and slowing sprawl, the city is saying, "Just tell us what you will build in the formerly R1 zone and we will approve it." Duplexes? "Sure" A row of townhomes, "Certainly" An apartment block? "Go for it." You invested every dollar you'll ever see into a single family zone because you didn't want a dozen renters next door? "Sorry about that. That's the way it's going to be from now on.

If you've ever had your property "rezoned" out from under you, it's an experience, especially when you bought the property to build "A" and now zoning says you can't build that anymore.

I know one person who bought a large residential lot in a restricted neighborhood. All residential lots are 3+ acres. A developer bought the property across the street and petitioned the city to make it R3 (dense residential) and simply re-wrote the restrictions in the neighborhood as they own most the voting shares. I think that fight has gotten expensive.

Urban area here, the city has decided that to help out with the housing shortage that they are now allowing ADU structures. Price of land is so high that people are simply building what is essentially multi-family on property originally zoned R1. It can be a windfall if you build and then rent out a small place in your back yard, but I understand why long time residents feel like they got a raw deal when occupancy doubles around them.

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

If it is zoned residential, more than likely there is absolutely no way you’re going to be able to build a garage without a primary residence

 

[Buckeye93]

Hi everyone,
I was looking to purchase a vacant lot and build only a garage on it. I’m running into an issue with zoning as every town I checked with says that a primary residence is required first before building a garage. Is there any way around this? I’m in south New Jersey.

Thanks

Have you looked into putting a small trailer “home” on it to get approval?

 

[bmwrd0]

My neighbor built just a garage on the lot between our homes.

I wish he would finish the damn thing, it has only been a decade.

 

[Jeff]

Easy peasy

A co-worker in Florida had 3 acres. He bought a 2-story metal building. 1st floor was shop w/ 3 doors. 2nd floor was 2/2 apt.

 

[LB-1911]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I was no excepting to get so many replies. Really great information and gave me some things to think about.

I was looking to build a 30x40 - 3 bay garage for personal use (storage). I’m thinking the better option now is to find a property with a existing structure and go from there.

Thanks

Good Luck in your search.