ᐅ Obtaining an Exemption from the Zoning Plan – How to Proceed?
Created on: 11 Apr 2020 09:58
S
SpeckiHello 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“The development plan ‘XXX’ of the city of XXX is certainly somewhat outdated, and nowadays the designated house types would probably look different.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
N
nordanney11 Apr 2020 13:55Specki schrieb:
I am grateful for any tips or suggestions on how we could still achieve our goal Look for a different development area!
This is not meant as a joke, but why should you be granted an exemption from a BINDING zoning plan? That is exactly what it is for—to prevent everyone from building however they please.
Specki schrieb:
The stipulated ridge direction at the planned site is more of an aesthetic regulation than an overarching urban planning objective – subject to approval by the city of Buchloe, an exemption for changing the ridge direction can therefore be considered and applied for.
It is different with the knee wall height requirement. This is a regulation with urban planning and design reasons. So far, no exemptions have been granted regarding this, so your planning must comply with the existing rules. An exemption cannot be granted by the district office of Ostallgäu after consultation with our construction law expert. To raise the knee wall height accordingly or possibly to create a second full floor, the zoning plan would need to be amended in this area. That will remain unchanged...
Sorry for you.
Specki schrieb:
I then sent an email to the gentleman from the district office as well as the lady from the building authority. This is not a formal preliminary building inquiry. I’m surprised you received such a detailed response at all. It is not the district office’s task to explore development possibilities for the property, but rather to review a completed plan.
Specki schrieb:
So far, no exemptions have been granted regarding this. Not even for house number 2a? This is clearly a relatively new house with a rotated ridge. The attic appears to be converted as well, and it’s on a significantly smaller plot than yours.
Specki schrieb:
whether it is at least possible to change the roof pitch. The information available online is very limited. Your plan excerpt is not from the legally binding original plan but a composite of all six previous amendments.
The usual and, in my opinion, only promising approach is for an experienced planner to thoroughly study the zoning plan including its entire history and justifications, identify the key aspects of the planning and urban development goals, conduct a detailed site context analysis, and use these results to formulate a convincing argument for the necessary exemptions. The more unofficial individual questions you ask, the more careless answers you will receive, making it harder for a professional.
I’m probably going to touch a sensitive topic, but the development plan was known before buying the plot, right? So why would someone buy a plot if they are not satisfied with the regulations and want to change such significant aspects?
We also had to wait longer because the first plots all
- had little to no usable garden space
- did not allow full brick cladding
- only permitted flat roofs
etc.
If I couldn’t come to terms with that, I would ask about it before the purchase...
We also had to wait longer because the first plots all
- had little to no usable garden space
- did not allow full brick cladding
- only permitted flat roofs
etc.
If I couldn’t come to terms with that, I would ask about it before the purchase...
nordanney schrieb:
Look for a different building area!
I’m not joking, but why should a waiver from a BINDING development plan be granted just for you? That’s exactly what it’s for—to prevent everyone from building whatever they want.Well, I’ve already read from many people that they were allowed to deviate from the development plan. So I’d like to give it a try too.Escroda schrieb:
This is not a formal preliminary building enquiry. I’m surprised you even got such a detailed response.The lady from the city told me this is exactly how I should proceed.Escroda schrieb:
Not even for house number 2a? This obviously is a fairly new house that changed the ridge orientation.The first house isn’t even shown on the plan. It’s also not fully within the building zone. They rotated the ridge direction to fit the cross street. But thanks for pointing that out—that might be something to follow up on.Escroda schrieb:
The usual—and in my opinion only promising—way is that an experienced planner carefully studies the development plan along with its full history including justifications, identifies the planning principles and urban development goals, conducts a thorough analysis of the surroundings, and based on these results, formulates a convincing argument for the necessary waivers. The more unofficial individual questions you raise, the more thoughtless answers you get, making it harder for the professional.Thanks for this advice. So far, a real estate agent I know and the lady from the municipality told me to start by enquiring privately like this. They said this was the most promising approach.Müllerin schrieb:
I might be stepping on toes here, but wasn’t the development plan known before buying the plot? Why buy land if you aren’t happy with the regulations and want to change such fundamental things?Yes, I’m stepping on toes I own the plot below. The rear part has so far been used as a garden and was never intended for anything else. Now it will be accessed via a new road. The street north of the plot doesn’t even exist yet; it’s only just being built. We thought, since that’s the case, we might as well build a house there.
So when we bought it, this wasn’t even under consideration yet.
kaho674 schrieb:
What is the plot like? Is there maybe a slope so you could build with a basement?
I think trying to bypass or change the development plan is a bad idea.The plot is basically completely flat. We don’t want a basement. Why is it a bad idea?