I had vacation Easter week. One thing I wanted to get done, get a date on building garage. Monday of that week, I called the builder to get the quote updated (it was a couple years old). They updated the quote, and we discussed location. They told me I might need variances and made an appointment to come out Thursday to look at locations and see what would be needed. I said sounds good. Thursday comes, no call, no show. I emailed another builder. They sent me a quote that was a few grand cheaper than the no show. And, it had a window, an extra inch of concrete, and, they use 6x6 posts and 6x2 framing as opposed to 4x4 and 2x4's. When they called, they informed me of the variances likely needed because of the location. I own over .6 acre corner lot. Can enter a garage on two different streets. Seems, since the city widened the main road, they made it a "thoroughfare" . By doing so, the city deems it necessary to limit buildings to sixty feet from the centerline of the road. Now, I don't really expect special treatment, but, being a thinking person, and not a government drone, I have to ask, why can't I build a garage that would be clear of the sidewalk by twenty four feet, but the neighbors house and garage two and three doors down are about twelve feet from the sidewalk. If they decide to widen the road more, they would literally have to demolish the garage and house two and three houses down from me. The realtor lied about location of septic field in back yard, so, I would have to redo the septic field in back to put the garage back there. I am really aggravated as the main reason I moved, and bought this house was so I could put a big garage on it. I am now looking to put an attached garage on the front, as I believe I can fit it in far enough back not to have to bother with the variances. I realize you need codes so the neighborhood doesn't look like a shanty town, but some of the rules make no sense. The two neighbors I refer to are two of many, if you follow the street. There are many properties that lost distance between property and street when they widened the road. But, if the government used common sense, which it doesn't, they would write the rule so you couldn't build a building closer to the road than the building on the street presently nearest the road. Sad part is, I believe I am going to have to reduce the size of the garage from what I wanted, by quite a bit. If I can't build that, I may have one more move to make. I hate government overreach. I measured, and believe I can get a 32 wide by 24 deep attached garage. Wanted 40 foot, but, 32 would be better than what I have now.
