Week 18: First round of plan check corrections issued!

So it’s October 5^th. After 8 weeks of waiting (they said 12 weeks, so “cheers” to the Building Dept.) the drawing set is finally back. We have a few minor corrections and omissions as well as a few major ones that may directly affect the project. The latter is as follows:

1) The height of the building (43’-6”) is in question. This is due to several overlaps in the codes that govern buildings in hillside areas. First, there is the Hillside Ordinance which has specific stipulations that limit the overall height of a structure to 36’-0”. However, for R-2 zoning this does not apply. Secondly, there is Hillside Grading which refers to a different set of criteria, ones that allow for a 45’-0” overall height. Planning and Zoning is trying to make up their minds on this one, since they told us during our research phase that 45’-0” was O.K. we have a pretty solid case. However, with the Building Department everything is “Duck and Cover” so who knows how it’s going to end up.

2) A building over 3 stories requires an additional stair from the second story if the second story is over 500 SF (which ours is). We knew this part of the code, but are trying to argue that since the bottom of the stairs from the second floor end at a floor that is at street level, we should be exempt. It’s a case of project-specific determinations, so we’ll see what they say.

Obviously these two items could drastically change the way the project looks and is designed. We are waiting on word from our plan checker for more information.

Stay tuned!