Shop House Laws

[Mollard]

What are the laws in your area for building a shop with an appartment in it. It's more practical for me to just have a large garage with an appartment in the loft or something. I'm in Ontario Canada. I don't really need a house right now, but a place to work. I would like to buy a lot and build a shophouse, then build a house on the lot in 10 years or something. But I don't know what the laws are.

 

[PAToyota]

Check with your local municipality. Whatever any one of us says about how things are where we are, it isn't going to affect how things are where you are...

The biggest issue will be fire separation. You'll need to provide adequate separation for safety purposes as well as for issues such as carbon monoxide from vehicles traveling into the living spaces.

There may also be issues with zoning - that a shop with apartment is seen as a commercial structure and not allowed in a residential neighborhood.

Again, talk to your local authorities.

 

[JB740i]

I'm building my house and garage at the same time. They said the permit for the house had to be approved before the detached garage could be. They don't want someone building the garage and living it or running out of money and not building the house.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I'm building my house and garage at the same time. They said the permit for the house had to be approved before the detached garage could be. They don't want someone building the garage and living it or running out of money and not building the house.

We have a similar requirement for detached accessory structures (garages and other types of storage buildings) here. They won't permit a residential structure after an accessory structure is permitted, for the same reasons you cite.

Indeed, only your LOCAL zoning and code people can tell you what you can and cannot do, and how to do it.

Charles

 

[Joe B.]

That is not a shop. It is just a very large den.

 

[oldgoat]

I know of at least 3 garages with a apartment above them. So I would guess that they are legal in some places or in at least some cases. All three are in residential areas and one was built within the last couple of years. The only way to know for sure is to check with your local code inspecters and find out if you can and then what restrictions there would be. The main problem I would think would be fire so I would be extra careful of having exits that I could get out of without having to go through the garage. One of the places near me has one of those ladders that you can release outside of one window for an escape.

 

[Old Moparz]

I agree, what's allowed will vary from one location to another. Not just differences in countries, states, or provinces, but also within the town, city, or village. The tax office or the building dept. will have maps & info on your area & can tell you specifically what's allowed on your property.

Even if it isn't allowed, applying for a variance to the zoning law, in most cases, will get you permission. There are houses & garages in my town that have apartments that are above or in the garages, & the town granted permission. It's a slower process compared to just getting a permit to build, so plan ahead.

Something else to think about if they allow you to do what you have planned. Be careful where you plan to locate the structures on your property. Where I live, a detached garage cannot be closer to the front property line than the house, & there are minimum distances to the rest of the property lines called set back limits.

You don't want to build the garage in one spot & screw you up later with eliminating the ideal location of where you want to place the house, septic, well, or any other feature on the land. Of course if you have a lot of acreage it may not be an issue, but if you have a narrow or shallow lot, you'll regret it.

 

[PAToyota]

Even if it isn't allowed, applying for a variance to the zoning law, in most cases, will get you permission.

The "test" for a variance is to prove that the disallowing regulation forces undo hardship on you. As a couple threads on this board show, being granted a variance is decidedly not a sure thing.

No matter how much is discussed here, until you talk to your local authorities you will have no more information about what you can or cannot do than when you first asked your question here. What may work for me at my property may not work for someone two miles from me in a different jurisdiction or even two block from me in the same jurisdiction but a different zoning condition much less someone two-thousand miles from me in a different country...

 

[trainer]

I'm in Ontario and I know a few people here who have done that, but i'm in a small town, so local zoning and laws can affect things.

 

[SCOOTER]

Mine has no Kitchen, so it's not an apartment..The building dept. and I have agreed to call it a hobby area with two offices (no closets) and a 3/4 bath,and a great room..I had a unique situation because we changed inspectors during the project and the outgoing one didn't give a **** and the new one just wants the mess that he left finished and forgotten about..

 

[stricht8]

The biggest impedence to getting a variance is not the town but your neighbors. Damned neighbors. Best thing is not to have them at all. Just keep in mind that whenever you have living space over a garage or next to a garage, all walls and ceilings that separate the two will have to have fire rated 5/8" sheetrock. Also, garage door to living space must be fire rated 20 min or 1/2 hour.