Dear ANC Zoning
Task et al:
Following are lessons learned today from a most patient tutor, Bob Kelly the
new Zoning Administrator in DCRA.
The first lesson is that "floor" and "story" are not the same thing. They
are related but mean different things. It is only if you understand the
distinction between the two that you can understand the seeming paradox of
why a four-floor house to many of us is a three-story house to architects
and zoning administrators. I know this is a difficult adjustment for many of
us who rode the elevators in Garfinckels waiting for the elevator operator
to say "2nd floor, ladies lingerie," and we would take a would take a quick
peek before going on to the "fourth floor, men's furnishings."
And then there was Filene's Basement in
Boston, which we always thought of as a floor where we could go to get
Brooks Bros suits on the cheap and watch women try on dresses.
Basements--that's the key to the paradox.
Basements are always a floor. But basements, even if habitable, are seldom a
story. But the first story could not be a story without the floor (and
ceiling) of the basement. Let me try to explain. We have to go back to what
is a definition of a story in the zoning code and Builder's Code. A story
lies between upper surfaces of two floors. Thus section 202 of the Building
Code reads: "Story is that portion of a building included between the upper
surface of any floor and the upper surface of the floor next above, except
that the topmost story shall be included between the upper surface of the
topmost floor and ceiling or roof above."
In a similar vein, section 199 of the
Zoning Code defines a story as: "The space between the surface of two
successive floors in a building or between the top floor and the ceiling or
underside of the roof framing. The number of stories shall be counted at the
point from which the height of the building is measured."
Thus, since a basement usually does not have a floor under it, it can not be
counted as a story. But it might become a story if it were built atop a
cellar with a floor or a crawl space with a floor. Or if the house were
built on a slope with a basement atop a garage.
As you might expect, it get a little more complicated than that. The
Building Code (again section 202) states that "a basement shall be
considered as a story above grade when the finished surface of the floor
above the basement is:
1. more than six feet above
grade plane.
2. more than six feet above the finished ground level for more
than 50 percent of the total building perimeter,
or
3. more than 12 feet above the finished ground level at any
point.
I think what all those confusing definitions mean is the builder builds up
the dirt around a basement so that the basement will not be considered a
story above grade and thus make a three-story house into a four-story house
in violation of the zoning code.
Where the basement does come into play is that its floor is included in
figuring the total square footage of a house.
And you may ask when is a cellar not a basement. Well, going back to section
199 of the zoning code, a cellar is a cellar when its ceiling is less than
four feet above "the adjacent finished grade." Now people often live in
basements, and sometimes in our neighborhood in cellars. But as far as I can
figure, habitable space has nothing to do with the case of whether it is a
basement or a cellar.
Walking back to Union Station, still perplexed, I thought what a wife might
respond if the husband, down in the basement, asked where she wanted him to
take the laundry. I bet she would say: "take it up to the second floor,
darling." And then he, having read the Zoning Code, would say "and which
story is that, darling? And after that they would stop calling each other
'darling."
Incidentally, Mr. Kelly, who showed good humor and patience throughout the
hour-long tutoring, offered a great idea of how to let neighbors know what
kind of a house is going to be built next door. He suggested that with the
issuance of a building permit, the developer/builder be required to put up a
placard on the property showing what the house would look like. Now there's
an idea I think our ANC could support. I suspect that is not the last good
idea we will hear from Mr. Kelly.
Respectfully submitted,
John Finney
Chair, ANC3D |
