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“The development plan ‘XXX’ of the city of XXX is certainly somewhat outdated, and nowadays the designated house types would probably look different.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
E
erazorlll12 Apr 2020 11:27Specki schrieb:
Well, it doesn’t really matter. I can only say that in many ways I’m not standard, and I notice that again and again in this forum. But that’s okay. You just have to be prepared to stand your ground against common opinion more often. But it will work out I understand you and think it’s perfectly fine not to accept the general opinion but to try to realize your own ideas.
However, I would give you one piece of advice: always try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes.
Especially the people at the local building authority deal with building permits / planning permissions every day. Everyone wants to deviate somehow and fulfill their own dream. If they approved every exception, the zoning plan would basically be meaningless because then everyone would build whatever they want. So the challenge is to find a balance between allowing exceptions and complying with the zoning plan.
I’m certainly no expert in this field, but I would have a professional (architect) talk to the building authority. They know the options and can prepare the fundamentals (e.g., other deviations within the development area) accordingly and discuss them on equal terms with the officials. Or how would you feel if a layperson came to you and tried to explain what is allowed and what isn’t?
And sometimes, unfortunately, you just have to face reality. If all houses in the development area have the same height or number of story restrictions, it will probably be very unlikely to make exceptions.
Good luck with that.
N
nordanney12 Apr 2020 11:39kaho674 schrieb:
but because there isn't enough money for more.Yep, unless I build out in the countryside, land prices starting at €250-300 per sqm (approximately $270-325 per sq yd) are the main driver for the final house price. And I'm not talking about plots in metropolitan areas, where prices usually start around €600 per sqm (about $650 per sq yd).
erazorlll schrieb:
If they approve this every time, then the zoning plan is basically pointless, because everyone would just build whatever they want. You are basically right, but not in this case. The zoning plan dates back to 1974 and has already been amended six times in several sections. Planning regulations also need to adapt to the times, but unfortunately, the authorities do not have sufficient resources to implement meaningful changes.
erazorlll schrieb:
And sometimes you just have to face reality. You did not do that.
erazorlll schrieb:
If all the houses in the development area have the same height or storey restrictions. They actually do not. Only the six plots south of the cul-de-sac have a single-storey restriction. In the rest of the development area, which is over 30 hectares (74 acres), at least two storeys are allowed. Even within the same building plot, exemptions have already been granted.
erazorlll schrieb:
I'm definitely not an expert in this field. I don’t understand the intention behind your post.
E
erazorlll12 Apr 2020 12:04Escroda schrieb:
I don’t understand the intention of your post.I’m really sorry for you.
Specki schrieb:
However, what I keep noticing really applies to me. Please search on YouTube for "Ihr seid alle Individuen." That’s a bit how you come across to me. Anyway, the path has been shown several times now: hire a professional, submit a proper building permit / planning permission inquiry, and wait for the results. Whether this will ultimately be cheaper than having a few extra square meters (square feet) of floor area is debatable, since these steps also incur costs.
Regarding the plot size: no matter what evidence you provide, a few extra square meters (square feet) do not really matter when you focus on the actual usability. The rest is psychology. Where I come from, we say: "Jede Doll is angig."
Let’s please stay on topic.
I only mentioned this because there was an attempt to fit me into a "typical mold," which often doesn’t work for me. By the way, if you keep hearing this from people you know, maybe it means something. But that’s not what this is about, so let’s just leave it at that.
Back to the main topic: what really hurts me is the huge amount of lost space.
If I have a knee wall of 50 cm (20 inches), and then build a short wall (dwarf wall) at about 1.20 m (4 feet), although 1.50 m (5 feet) would probably be better given the low roof pitch—because at 1.20 m (4 feet) I still only reach a head height of 1.75 m (5 feet 9 inches) before I reach a ceiling height of 2 m (6 feet 7 inches)—then easily 20 square meters (215 square feet) of floor area are completely lost. And because of that, I have to build the house correspondingly larger.
But it looks like I’ll have to live with that. Well, maybe I’ll know more tomorrow when I reach the guy at the local building authority (LRA).
I only mentioned this because there was an attempt to fit me into a "typical mold," which often doesn’t work for me. By the way, if you keep hearing this from people you know, maybe it means something. But that’s not what this is about, so let’s just leave it at that.
Back to the main topic: what really hurts me is the huge amount of lost space.
If I have a knee wall of 50 cm (20 inches), and then build a short wall (dwarf wall) at about 1.20 m (4 feet), although 1.50 m (5 feet) would probably be better given the low roof pitch—because at 1.20 m (4 feet) I still only reach a head height of 1.75 m (5 feet 9 inches) before I reach a ceiling height of 2 m (6 feet 7 inches)—then easily 20 square meters (215 square feet) of floor area are completely lost. And because of that, I have to build the house correspondingly larger.
But it looks like I’ll have to live with that. Well, maybe I’ll know more tomorrow when I reach the guy at the local building authority (LRA).
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