Staff and board parse code language on detached accessory buildings and door heights

Staff explained that detached accessory buildings in many districts have a 15-foot maximum height and that prior variances increasing building height (to 20 feet in a referenced case) enabled taller overhead doors in detached scenarios. At one point staff said Section 553 is silent on overhead door height, a point the board used to explore whether the present configuration should be treated as functionally equivalent to a detached taller structure.

Members discussed technical distinctions — a variance increasing the accessory building height is different from an exception solely for an overhead door on an attached garage. One committee member noted that even if a detached structure would allow greater clearance, the board still must find a property-specific hardship to justify a variance for an attached building.