Let’s talk about beating the system.

I figured out how to beat the system to put a “garage” in certain side yards where you are not allowed to have a garage. Check it out!

Let me start by mentioning that all jurisdictions are a little different, so you will need to do the legwork to look up your own codes. Also, you need to think about this holistically. Even though you may satisfy one set of codes, it may have the latent effect of triggering other codes. Again, you need to do the legwork to check into everything for your situation. This commentary is what worked in one situation, and certain elements may or may not work in yours. Lastly, we are not suggesting to do anything illegal. We are only suggesting to find the codes that help you to get as close as possible to your desired outcome. Use the codes to your advantage by doing exactly what they say (and hold the building department accountable for following that language).

So here’s the situation:

The client wanted their garage pushed as close to the side property line as possible, so it would not crowd their new front entry. Unfortunately, in that jurisdiction, garages were not allowed in the side yard setback. So that’s the dilemma: how do you get a garage where you’re not allowed to have a garage?

I started by rephrasing the dilemma to solve the actual problem: how do you park a car in a secure covered area in the side yard? Notice this states the actual problem without using the term “garage.” OK, so what is a “secure covered area”? In short, it is a roof and walls. So the problem is really to solve: how do you get a roof and walls in the side yard?

The walls are easy. Almost every jurisdiction allows you to build fences in side yards. Conventionally, fences are thought to be wood slats on posts, but that is not what fences must be. The land use code in this situation did not define what a “fence” is, but it did limit the height of fences to 6’ although certain areas could extend to 8’ if the entire fence averaged out to 6’. So this means you are allowed to construct an 8’ fence where you want one, but you must have an equal amount of 4’ high fencing elsewhere. Additionally, since the code does not dictate the required materials of fences, this was entirely up to me, so I chose the same exact materials and construction processes as the walls of the rest of the garage. This mode of thinking allows you to follow the code by building 8’ high walls in areas where fences are allowed to be since those can be classified as fences.

Check out this diagram:

Great! Now we have walls to secure the parts of the garage within the side yard setback. The next challenge is to get a roof within the side yard setback. Within this jurisdiction, the codes allow roof overhangs to project up to 2’ into the side yard setbacks, so with a 5’ required side yard setback, that left 3’ of uncovered space. This is where additional creativity needed to come in.

Since the 2’ allowable roof overhang results in a 3’ gap to the fence, covering this 3’ gap is the next problem to solve. The code in this jurisdiction allowed 4 horizontal structures within certain side setbacks that could be 8’ above the ground: sheds, arbors, play structures, and solar panels. Any of these could be used to solve the problem, so next is to eliminate which options are not optimal. This would be absolutely ridiculous to design a 3’x20’ play structure in that area, so that option was out. The shed could have been considered, but a shed seemed too similar to a garage to be able to clearly define different uses between a shed and garage.

The more obvious solution was an arbor. An arbor in that jurisdiction allows you to have a maximum 4’ wide and 40 sq ft covered area at each entrance at a maximum height of 8’. This was perfect. We needed to cover a total area of 3’x20’ near each “gate” of the fence, and that is consistent with what arbors are for: they announce a sense of entry at the gates of fences. Since we had two gates, we could make two 3’x10’ arbors to cover that whole area. This enabled us to build an allowable “roof structure” next to the allowable roof overhang of the garage. The catch was that arbors must be 50% open. This meant we could not cover the arbor with a roof.

The next creative problem to solve was getting shelter from the rain in an area where you are not allowed to have a roof, but you are allowed to have a “roof structure” (also known as an arbor). This is where solar panels come in. In this jurisdiction, solar panels were allowed to be placed anywhere that they could get solar access without casting shadows onto the neighbor’s property for any more than 50% of the time. Since this side property line was a south property line, this was perfect. The sun shines from the south and hits the solar panels in this area, and it never casts a shadow on the neighbor’s property. The solar panels were the perfect cover to create security, rain protection, and a little extra power for the garage (they power the battery in the garage door opener).

There you have it! 3 walls and a roof that effectively extends the usable area of a garage into the side yard. Mission accomplished!

Items to consider with this solution:

Firstly, fire ratings. When building within side yards, there may be required fire ratings that limit the amount of combustible materials, roof ventilation, and openings such as windows. Additionally, some jurisdictions may consider these elements to be appurtenances to the principal structure if they touch (or even get close to touching). That could also trigger issues. In this jurisdiction, arbors, fences, and solar panels were all considered minor appurtenances, and anything under 5’ wide was specifically considered to be a minor element that does not result in the principal structure being classified as extending into the side yard. These sort of nuances in the definitions of each element must be carefully considered.

If you take anything away from this post:

It is your job to help your client get what they have hired you to do while also complying with the codes. This solution uses the allowable parts of the code to get the desired outcome. This is not breaking a rule. This is following the rules exactly. This is creativity. And your next step is to be creative as you design it, so it all comes together cohesively when it’s built.