Fire Lane Vertical Clearance, Structures above

[wtravisl]

I was recently told by a local building code official (Austin, TX) that our jurisdiction no longer allows any building or structure to span over a required fire lane.

I've never heard of this, and know of no code-based backing for it (IFC, IBC, local...). He said that the overhead clearance requirement (14' for us) was only related to tree branches & powerlines - no buildings allowed.

When I pointed out the numerous 'skybridges' around town built over fire lanes (some not even months old), he backed off slightly and said something to the effect that those are ok because they're not occupied space, but you can't enclose a room of any kind (apartment, office, etc) above a fire access road. (Never mind that some of those bridges serve as egress routes)

My project (Type IIIA construction) had called for apartments on 3rd/4th/5th floors to be built above a 30' wide x 2-story opening, through which a 25'w fire lane would pass, to allow emergency vehicles to access the backside of this building.

I also have another multifamily project (4+1 podium, Type VB over I), where we'd like to use the garage entrance to accommodate one leg of a T-turnaround for emergency vehicles, but based on this new ruling, apparently we cannot.

Am I missing a code-based requirement here? Does anyone else have a similar requirement in their jurisdiction?

 

[Yikes]

I am not aware of any prohibition against occupied structures above a fire lane.
A classic example here in LA is the 3rd street tunnel, which goes right under buildings.

 

[Msradell]

I've never heard of it being a code requirement in any of the codes. I would ask him to please give you a copy of the code that prohibits it, I'm betting he will be able to produce it!