Workshop Dimensions and Zoning Restrictions

[Karl Juelch]

My wife and I are looking at the possibility of buying a house on a 3 1/2 acre lot. I would like to eventually build a freestanding workshop no larger than probably 30x40. I spoke to the township zoning officer to find out about any possible restrictions on such a building, and he advised me that there shouldn't be any problems with such a building, but did warn me that the maximum allowable height of an outbuilding is 16 feet.

My question: Is it possible to build a 30x40 foot building, with 10 foot ceiling height, and no support columns obstructing the floor plan and still keep the height of the building under 16 feet?

[Steve Milito]

You can span 30 ft without support columns. You'll need to ask the township if there are any restrictions on a low-slope roof other than underlayment and covering requirements.

You could try for a zoning variance if there are slope requirements for aesthetic reasons.

[Steve Meliza]

Around here the roof height is defined as 1/2 way from the eaves to the peak of the roof. So if your eaves were at 11' and the peak at 20' then your roof height would be calculated as 11' + 4.5' = 15.5'. This may not be how the limit in your area is calculated, but it is possible.

[Thomas Bank]

As Steve mentioned, make sure you know how they calculate the maximum height - and whether there are any allowable variations based on how far away from the property line you are. Particularly on a few acres, there is a visual difference between having maximum height at the property or setback line and having maximum height 100' away from the property/setback line.

[Karl Juelch]

Setback requirements from boundaries are 30'--there will be no problem doing that. There is also a maximum coverage restriction, but the zoning officer looked up the square footage of the house, added 1200 for a 30x40 outbuilding, and said that would be no problem either.

Very interesting to hear how "maximum height" can be calculated--I had no idea. Zoning official never said anything about any formula--he just stated "maximum height can be no greater than 16 feet". I will check back to see if that is a straightforward 16', or a calculated 16'.

[Steve Milito]

Around here the roof height is defined as 1/2 way from the eaves to the peak of the roof. So if your eaves were at 11' and the peak at 20' then your roof height would be calculated as 11' + 4.5' = 15.5'. This may not be how the limit in your area is calculated, but it is possible.
Wow! The places I've lived use maximum height of the ridge line measured from the average final grade.

[Thomas S Stockton]

In California if you can call it a building used for agriculture there tends to be more flexibility.
Tom

[Jerome Stanek]

A 30X40 can be built very easy keeping it under 16 ft 10 foot plus a 4-12 pitch puts it at just over 15 ft and you could drop to a 3-12 pitch

[Karl Juelch]

Thanks to you all for the great information!

[Thomas Bank]

I will say that "out in the country" it tends to be more absolute. Most of the more complex complications are "in town" when they want to allow flexibility without infringing on other properties.

Here is a diagram showing how an average height could be calculated:

262071

And here is an explanation of "sky plane" which shows that the further back from the property lines you are the higher you can build without infringing on your neighbors.

262072

[Karl Juelch]

Thank you for the additional information!

[Brian Michael clancy]

Hi Karl
When I built my barn 70 X 36 in CT, I got a clear span by using room in attic truss.
It was a cheaper way to go. I however have 11.5 ft ceilings in the shop and 14 wide X 8 ceiling X 70 feet long upstairs.
I have my office and storage up there. Plenty of room between truss for electrical and mechanicals.
Good Luck
Brian

[Jim Andrew]

You might consider buying trusses that are designed for a little storage weight. I have a area in the center of my shop attic floored where I can stack supplies I only use occasionally. Like my extra pipe and fittings, etc.

[Karl Juelch]

You might consider buying trusses that are designed for a little storage weight. I have a area in the center of my shop attic floored where I can stack supplies I only use occasionally. Like my extra pipe and fittings, etc.

That is the only thing I will miss about my current shop: honest-to-God 2x12 oak ceiling joists spanning 14 feet. I mounted a chain hoist from 2 of them--it is a very cheap and easy way to have heavy lift capability.

[Karl Juelch]

Hi Karl
When I built my barn 70 X 36 in CT, I got a clear span by using room in attic truss.
It was a cheaper way to go. I however have 11.5 ft ceilings in the shop and 14 wide X 8 ceiling X 70 feet long upstairs.
I have my office and storage up there. Plenty of room between truss for electrical and mechanicals.
Good Luck
Brian

What an amazing space--you could have your own bowling alley!

[Jim Andrew]

The old pole building I made into a shop had 2x6 rafters with 1x8 X braces which acted as trusses, and they had a chain over the peak of one where they hung a chain hoist. Didn't hurt the building.

[David Falkner]

We're in a fairly new gated subdivision, about 7 years old, and the HOA doesn't really care how large a shop or shed is as long as it closely resembles the house - roof pitch, brick if it can be seen from the street, etc. No store bought sheds at all. The lot is a little less than 1/4 of an acre so this isn't a sprawling estate. We have considered building a large shop, about 1,000 sq. ft., in the back yard so I checked with the zoning commission. I sat down with my SketchUp print out and he pulled up our yard on Google Earth. The rules are fairly easy to understand - a free standing building can be no closer than 5' to the side property line and no closer than 7.5' to the rear line and no larger than 30% of the yard, which in our case would be 1,150 sq. ft. (he used Google Earth to measure - pretty neat, actually). I figured I was home free until he noticed on my drawing the breezeway and proposed enclosed back porch connecting the shop to the house. The rules for an attached structure are different. The setback from the back property line has to be at least 20' but the addition can be as large as we want as long as the setbacks are honored. That meant my original 30'x35' design had to be modified to no more than 22'x50, close to the same size but now long and skinny.

The interesting note on all of this is that an outbuilding, shop, addition, house - whatever - can be 35' high! That's a full 12' higher than the peak on our house. And you can go as high as 45' but for every foot above 35' you have to take one foot off the setback (side and rear). The HOA restricts all buildings to two floors so I can't see anyone ever going higher than about 25'. While we're deciding on how we want to proceed we've decided to insulate the two car garage and install a mini split AC/heat pump. Insulation was blown in this past Tuesday and still deciding on which mini split for a DIY (considering the Pioneer 12,000 BTU 19 SEER).

Sorry, first post here and got off topic and rambling... :)

[Thomas Bank]

I figured I was home free until he noticed on my drawing the breezeway and proposed enclosed back porch connecting the shop to the house. The rules for an attached structure are different. The setback from the back property line has to be at least 20' but the addition can be as large as we want as long as the setbacks are honored. That meant my original 30'x35' design had to be modified to no more than 22'x50, close to the same size but now long and skinny.

I would have built the shop and then gone back in a year or two and submitted plans to fill in with the porch and breezeway.


The interesting note on all of this is that an outbuilding, shop, addition, house - whatever - can be 35' high! That's a full 12' higher than the peak on our house.

Our borough has a maximum height but also states that any accessory structures can be no higher than the main structure.


And you can go as high as 45' but for every foot above 35' you have to take one foot off the setback (side and rear).

This is basically the "sky plane" I mentioned earlier.