More Permitting Woes

We got an email last Thursday saying that our permit reviewer was objecting to the definition of Gross Floor Area we used, and didn't accept how we wanted to meet the parking requirements. We lobbied, they deliberated, and as of today they basically rejected our appeals on all fronts. The details get pretty complicated, but basically the city's code has different definitions of Gross Floor Area. This is what determines whether our design is less than the 850 sq.ft. limit for our Secondary Apartment. The one we used is the one that originally was used to evaluate the Secondary Apartment provisions. They're using a definition from new ordinance which has nothing to do with our 850 sq. ft. limit. It makes sense that they would make sure that we're compliant with the new ordinance, but applying its definitions to the Secondary Apartment rules seems like a mistake. The new ordinance explicitly does not eliminate the original definition, and it explicitly is not meant to interfere with or influence the Secondary Apartment rules. In fact, the new ordinance specifically says that the Secondary Apartment section of the code supercedes it in cases of conflict.

Also, they are counting the area of our stairs as livable space twice, as if each stair tread were part of our square footage as well as the space below that tread, too. But you can't fight City Hall. We set out to build a house under 850sq.ft., and changing our design to fit the way the permitting office works is just going to have to be a part of that project.