ᐅ Obtaining an Exemption from the Zoning Plan – How to Proceed?
Created on: 11 Apr 2020 09:58
S
Specki
Hello everyone,
I need some assistance with our project. Since many here have probably gone through something similar, I thought I might get some good advice.
Starting point:
Land plot available
We want to build a single-family house (possibly with a granny flat).
Currently, there are 2 adults with 2 children (2 and 4 years old). The house will be used by us. The plan is to create a small granny flat upstairs that will later be rented out once the children have left home.
The following (relevant) requirements come from the development plan from 1974:
- Ridge orientation East-West
- Strictly single-story
- Knee wall max. 50 cm (20 inches)
- Roof pitch between 22° and 28°
Attached is an excerpt from the development plan. The plot outlined in purple is the one in question. The houses shown in red do not exist; they were just added for planning purposes.
We would like to change the ridge orientation and raise the knee wall to 1 m (3 ft 3 in), or preferably 1.25 m (4 ft 1 in), because otherwise the house would be too small.
I first went to the building authority and spoke with the responsible lady there.
She looked at the plans and said that from her side it is not a problem initially, but I need to speak with the district office (Landratsamt, LRA), as they have to approve it. She gave me the contact details.
I then called the gentleman at the district office. He said it would be difficult and advised me to submit a formal preliminary building inquiry. So, I sent an email to both the gentleman at the district office and the lady at the building authority.
A relatively quick reply came from the district office:
Quote:
“The development plan ‘XXX’ of the city of XXX is certainly somewhat outdated, and nowadays the designated house types would probably look different. However, the development plan still serves as the legal basis for issuing building permits—any planned construction project must therefore comply with the regulations set therein.
Regarding the ridge orientation, this is more of an aesthetic specification for the planned location than a higher-level urban planning objective—subject to approval from the city of Buchloe, a waiver (which needs to be applied for) for changing the ridge orientation can therefore be considered.
It is different with the knee wall specification. This is a requirement based on urban and regional planning reasons. So far, no exemptions have been granted here, so your plans must comply with the existing regulations. The district office of Ostallgäu, after consultation with our legal building advisor, cannot promise an exemption. To achieve a corresponding increase in the knee wall or possibly the creation of a second full storey, the development plan in this area would have to be amended.”
After that, I was pretty discouraged and sent another email asking if at least the roof pitch could be changed. This was about a week ago, and I haven’t received a reply yet.
Two days ago, I met another person from the city’s building department. He was working behind our property on the road planned there.
I chatted with him a bit. He said he understands that we want to deviate from the development plan. However, he has no influence in this matter because it is not his responsibility. I am already dealing with the right people at the district office and the building authority. I just need to talk again to the gentleman at the district office. Perhaps I could get approval from the neighbors or other people in the same building area (marked in blue on the plan) for my deviation.
He also said it wouldn’t be easy because of equal treatment rules and to avoid everyone wanting to deviate.
Changing the development plan would be unrealistic and could take up to two years. I can probably forget about that, especially since there are only three free building plots left in that field anyway.
So, that’s the situation now.
We definitely want to raise the knee wall a bit.
We don’t want to build a bungalow because that would reduce too much garden space.
With a 50 cm (20 inches) knee wall, you can’t really get usable rooms upstairs.
I am grateful for any tips or suggestions on how we could still achieve our goal.
Thanks in advance!
Best regards,
Specki
I need some assistance with our project. Since many here have probably gone through something similar, I thought I might get some good advice.
Starting point:
Land plot available
We want to build a single-family house (possibly with a granny flat).
Currently, there are 2 adults with 2 children (2 and 4 years old). The house will be used by us. The plan is to create a small granny flat upstairs that will later be rented out once the children have left home.
The following (relevant) requirements come from the development plan from 1974:
- Ridge orientation East-West
- Strictly single-story
- Knee wall max. 50 cm (20 inches)
- Roof pitch between 22° and 28°
Attached is an excerpt from the development plan. The plot outlined in purple is the one in question. The houses shown in red do not exist; they were just added for planning purposes.
We would like to change the ridge orientation and raise the knee wall to 1 m (3 ft 3 in), or preferably 1.25 m (4 ft 1 in), because otherwise the house would be too small.
I first went to the building authority and spoke with the responsible lady there.
She looked at the plans and said that from her side it is not a problem initially, but I need to speak with the district office (Landratsamt, LRA), as they have to approve it. She gave me the contact details.
I then called the gentleman at the district office. He said it would be difficult and advised me to submit a formal preliminary building inquiry. So, I sent an email to both the gentleman at the district office and the lady at the building authority.
A relatively quick reply came from the district office:
Quote:
“The development plan ‘XXX’ of the city of XXX is certainly somewhat outdated, and nowadays the designated house types would probably look different. However, the development plan still serves as the legal basis for issuing building permits—any planned construction project must therefore comply with the regulations set therein.
Regarding the ridge orientation, this is more of an aesthetic specification for the planned location than a higher-level urban planning objective—subject to approval from the city of Buchloe, a waiver (which needs to be applied for) for changing the ridge orientation can therefore be considered.
It is different with the knee wall specification. This is a requirement based on urban and regional planning reasons. So far, no exemptions have been granted here, so your plans must comply with the existing regulations. The district office of Ostallgäu, after consultation with our legal building advisor, cannot promise an exemption. To achieve a corresponding increase in the knee wall or possibly the creation of a second full storey, the development plan in this area would have to be amended.”
After that, I was pretty discouraged and sent another email asking if at least the roof pitch could be changed. This was about a week ago, and I haven’t received a reply yet.
Two days ago, I met another person from the city’s building department. He was working behind our property on the road planned there.
I chatted with him a bit. He said he understands that we want to deviate from the development plan. However, he has no influence in this matter because it is not his responsibility. I am already dealing with the right people at the district office and the building authority. I just need to talk again to the gentleman at the district office. Perhaps I could get approval from the neighbors or other people in the same building area (marked in blue on the plan) for my deviation.
He also said it wouldn’t be easy because of equal treatment rules and to avoid everyone wanting to deviate.
Changing the development plan would be unrealistic and could take up to two years. I can probably forget about that, especially since there are only three free building plots left in that field anyway.
So, that’s the situation now.
We definitely want to raise the knee wall a bit.
We don’t want to build a bungalow because that would reduce too much garden space.
With a 50 cm (20 inches) knee wall, you can’t really get usable rooms upstairs.
I am grateful for any tips or suggestions on how we could still achieve our goal.
Thanks in advance!
Best regards,
Specki
Specki schrieb:
I think I’ll simply call the person at the local building authority again to check whether there really is no possibility and mention the first house in the street once more. That’s how we’ll do it.
Almost everyone wants to build with cost efficiency in mind here – not everyone has a lot of money available.
By the way, I can’t really understand the KfW40 concept either.
See you at the floor plan discussion then.
Yes, you can assume that 95% of home builders plan every dollar carefully and try to save wherever possible. We are quite sensitive to statements like:
Everyone thinks that way, which is why no one is really different.
If you want to keep things truly minimalist and as cheap as possible, we will tell you which factors drive up costs. For example, a major cost driver is getting into disputes with the local authority or trying to obtain a change in the zoning plan. Someone in our village did that too. I believe it cost around 6,000 euros (about $6,600).
Specki schrieb:
I "think" a bit differently than most people. I always try to save money when possible, but without compromising on quality that is important to me. However, that quality often looks different than it does for others.
Everyone thinks that way, which is why no one is really different.
If you want to keep things truly minimalist and as cheap as possible, we will tell you which factors drive up costs. For example, a major cost driver is getting into disputes with the local authority or trying to obtain a change in the zoning plan. Someone in our village did that too. I believe it cost around 6,000 euros (about $6,600).
ypg schrieb:
This is how we do it
Almost everyone wants to build cost-effectively here – not everyone has a lot of money.
By the way, I can’t really understand the whole KfW40 idea either.
See you at the floor plan discussion then I’m looking forward to your opinion when I put it up for discussion
kaho674 schrieb:
we are pretty allergic to that. I know
However, it really applies to me as I’ve noticed repeatedly.
Who has a garden like mine, as I mentioned above? Most are happy with 500 sq m (about 5,400 sq ft).
Some wouldn’t, for example, want to shift the property boundary because 750 sq m (about 8,100 sq ft) is enough for them. I definitely want to do it so I at least have 900 sq m (about 9,700 sq ft), which is already close to my lower limit.
We also renovated the two-family house mostly on our own. Here is the original thread about it (unfortunately the pictures were deleted):
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/zweifamilienhaus-bj-64-Renovierungskosten-uebersicht.26131/
ypg schrieb:
By the way, I can’t understand the whole KfW40 idea either Many here feel the same. For me, however, it is a must!
I would build with very good insulation anyway and want a controlled ventilation system. So, I might as well build to KfW40 standard and take advantage of the subsidies.
That’s why I stick to it—I’m not standard.
Thanks to you all! I will report on what comes out of it. But yes… I’m starting to fear it will just stay with the zoning plan.
I keep reading that some people are allowed to deviate from it. Even the lady from the municipality said she would be fine with it. She also mentioned a cost of about 0.2% for a waiver, which sounds manageable. But apparently, it really depends on the individual caseworker, and the guy at the district office probably doesn’t want to.
Regards
Specki
Specki schrieb:
Who already has a garden like the one I mentioned above?For example, I do. 2100sqm (0.52 acres). And usually, having the other smaller plot is not due to laziness in maintaining it, but because there isn't enough money for more.Then you also don’t meet the standard (at least regarding the plot).
I don’t think most people are just focused on money. I believe most are simply happy with 500-600 sqm (5,400-6,500 sq ft) and don’t want to maintain too much garden.
Well, it doesn’t really matter. I can only say that in many ways I’m not standard, and I notice that over and over again in this forum. But that’s okay. You just have to stand your ground against the usual opinion more often. But it will work out.
I don’t think most people are just focused on money. I believe most are simply happy with 500-600 sqm (5,400-6,500 sq ft) and don’t want to maintain too much garden.
Well, it doesn’t really matter. I can only say that in many ways I’m not standard, and I notice that over and over again in this forum. But that’s okay. You just have to stand your ground against the usual opinion more often. But it will work out.
Specki schrieb:
But it will work out Give it a try.Similar topics