I as-built surveyed a house under construction, nearing completion, in a new subdivision today. The client, and expectant buyer of the house, is an existing client of our company on commercial projects.
The lot is 35 feet wide, with a 5 foot sideyard setback requirement on one side, and a 4 foot sideyard setback requirement on the other, all per plat. So that leaves 26' width of buildable space, right?
The house measures close to 27.5' wide.
So now what? I've told the client about this. She is only concerned about the location of a fence to be placed along the 5' side. The issue about the house encroaching into the sideyard setback requirements went in one ear and out the other. What really bad thing can happen to my client due to the house encroaching on the setbacks?
Depends- is the setback from code or from a CCR? If the latter, it still depends- on what kind of teeth the HOA has and is willing to bare.
I've seen a number of outcomes. The most common is paying to upgrade any close walls to fire rated. Worst case is fire up the big yellow toys...
Long time ago (about 1999) worked on one where the neighbors complained. City made the owner tear out the part of house in the setback.
LRDay, post: 412967, member: 571 wrote: Long time ago (about 1999) worked on one where the neighbors complained. City made the owner tear out the part of house in the setback.
Although I live in a different country, the rules here regarding setbacks etc are similar and are there for good reasons and I strongly support their enforcement. In the house that I live in, five years ago the neighbor illegally extended their back room 2m towards my boundary. Good result for them, sitting there all night drinking, smoking, loud music, urinating, vomiting - all under the free glow of my security lights and now 3m away from our bedroom windows. That original 2m further away sure made a difference.
I staked out the line on a recently built house to get a corner rounded to make the clearance for a power right of way, took a nice chunk about five foot sides of a 45-45-90.
In Palm Beach County, an encroachment of that size would likely cause a lawsuit of who should pay for cutting that side of the house off. But around here lawsuits come of stucco too close to line also, to the extent of chipping the stucco to meet the requirement. Architects also design houses to meander lines from 1870 and not a current mean high water line along a river.... Good luck!
A 35' lot...... that's not living..... :worried:
Rules only apply to poor people.
Does that put us right back to the saying that's been posted here before "he who has the gold rules"?
I believe the first time I saw that saying was in a Wizard of Id cartoon many, many moons ago (for me anyway, in the 1970s). Said by the King of course.
In Florida I have been through this several times. They can usually be cleared up by requesting a variance from the local planning and zoning agency. It will probably involve a public hearing and construction "may" be put on hold until the encroachment is resolved. I'ts a relatively straightforward process. 😎
At 4' & 5' setbacks fire codes come into play. A wall too close to an adjacent structure, or where an adjacent structure is allowed, may be required to have no window openings or other penetrations to reduce fire spread potential.
Paul in PA
house gets finished:
no final occupancy permit...
insurance policy not issued because of fire hazard...
or nothing happens and life goes on
Nothing happens now as far as your concerned. Stake out the fence and get payed. If she doesn't want your help with the setback issue your job is dibe.
another "depends" revolves around who the title company is. here it is not uncommon for a developer to set up their own title company to expedite the conveyance of lots out of large scale development. if that's the case she likely won't have near the worries (with it being new construction) that she would were it a "real" title company.
enforceability is the crux, which is why i asked about where the setback originated. if it's per city/local code then she's most likely S.O.L., but stands a slightly better chance if the setback was created by plat or restrictions only. because if she sneaks by this original run-through- and doesn't have a busybody neighbor (or perhaps a perfectly reasonable neighbor who doesn't want to smell the farts from next door)- most title companies will still insure if a restriction has gone unenforced for a number of years (usually a minimum of 5).
Mark Mayer, post: 412950, member: 424 wrote: So now what? I've told the client about this. She is only concerned about the location of a fence to be placed along the 5' side. The issue about the house encroaching into the sideyard setback requirements went in one ear and out the other. What really bad thing can happen to my client due to the house encroaching on the setbacks?
Easy solution, stake the fence 5' from the house on one side, and 4' on the other.....;-) (ha! the house is a monument. Monuments hold over distances.)
The Spelling Police notified me that there has been an egregious error in a post above. The word used was "payed". The word intended was "paid".
By the way, for those who Google the word "egregious", please note the archaic meaning is not the intended meaning in this case.
Those who Google the word "payed" will wish to debate the issue with the Spelling Police, but to no avail.
Now for a really deep question. I just put the gallon milk jug back into the refrigerator with only a half a swig of milk left in it. How many liquid ounces are there in a swig?
Mark Mayer, post: 412950, member: 424 wrote: I as-built surveyed a house under construction, nearing completion, in a new subdivision today. The client, and expectant buyer of the house, is an existing client of our company on commercial projects.
The lot is 35 feet wide, with a 5 foot sideyard setback requirement on one side, and a 4 foot sideyard setback requirement on the other, all per plat. So that leaves 26' width of buildable space, right?
The house measures close to 27.5' wide.
So now what? I've told the client about this. She is only concerned about the location of a fence to be placed along the 5' side. The issue about the house encroaching into the sideyard setback requirements went in one ear and out the other. What really bad thing can happen to my client due to the house encroaching on the setbacks?
so why did she want the asbuilt?
Or rather who ordered it?
Somebody must care... (hope you did not lay it out)
Holy Cow, post: 413027, member: 50 wrote: The Spelling Police notified me that there has been an egregious error in a post above. The word used was "payed". The word intended was "paid".
By the way, for those who Google the word "egregious", please note the archaic meaning is not the intended meaning in this case.
Those who Google the word "payed" will wish to debate the issue with the Spelling Police, but to no avail.
Now for a really deep question. I just put the gallon milk jug back into the refrigerator with only a half a swig of milk left in it. How many liquid ounces are there in a swig?
considering a standard shot is 1.5 fl oz, and where w(i+g) = 1.8h(o+t), a swig is 2.7 fl oz.
Holy Cow, post: 413027, member: 50 wrote: Now for a really deep question. I just put the gallon milk jug back into the refrigerator with only a half a swig of milk left in it. How many liquid ounces are there in a swig?
Two ounces of milk, and two ounces of saliva in one left-over swig?
