Is an exit path needed for storage / mech accessory rooms in a garage?

[Yikes]

I have an a apartment building with a one-level subterranean parking garage where the rows of cars meet at two inside corners of the garage, leaving an 18’x18’ un-parkable square space between the cars. I would like to fill in this space with generic accessory storage (for perhaps traffic cones, mops, hoses, etc.), and maybe a small room for some mechanical ventilation equipment. Such rooms would have in-swinging doors, so the doors can't be physically blocked by a car.

The AHJ’s initial opinion is that any such room would be blocked in by the cars in the parking stalls, and I need to move (delete, actually) stalls to create a min. 3’ wide exit path.

I believe these rooms are not intended as an “occupiable space”, and therefore I’m not sure why I would need a continuous and unobstructed 3’ wide exit path. How would exiting from this room be any more difficult than exiting from the parked car?

Losing parking stalls is NOT an option, per planning dept. requirements.

 

[mtlogcabin]

cut 4 ft off the corner off the room on a 45 degree and put the 3/0 door in the corner or make the room 18x15

 

[Yikes]

mtlogcabin: making the room smaller, let's say 10'x10' would leave an 8' space outside the door so they can leave the room OK, but they're still theoretically "trapped" between two perpendiclar parking spaces in the garage.

 

[north star]

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Yikes,



In your room, is the mechanical ventilation equipment "in use" or just

stored parts?....If "in use", then the space would [ IMO ] meet the

definition of an occupiable space, and therefore, have the MOE

requirements [ " ....in which occupants are engaged at labor" ]



* * * *

 

[FyrBldgGuy]

Only provide exit egress for the people you want to live. If the custodian does not matter then...

Really, provide some egress width. I don't know that 3' is necessary. This is an employee work area, at least provide enough space for a rolling cart to get in and out. Reduce the width of the parking stalls. Then you will have the space for the exit, and maybe a few more car door dings.

 

[mtlogcabin]

No more trapped than the occupants of the vehicle. How wide are the parking spaces. Can these 2 spaces have a smaller width and be designated compact?. If you have a wall or some other obstruction you can not park against it and get out of the car so some common sense needs to be applied to make this work.

 

[Paul Sweet]

Cars are usually around 6 ft. wide, and parking spaces are usually around 9 ft. wide. Few cars are 18 ft. long these days. It would be tough to park 2 cars in such a way that a person could get trapped in the room, at least without some damage to the cars.

 

[Yikes]

Here's a quick sketch, just to make sure we're all talking about the same thing.A agree that it wont be a practical problem, because if a driver or passenger can get out of hteir car ok, then surely a person can get out of a storage or mechanical closet ok.However, do you think there is still a problem with the "letter of the law" in IBC / CBC chapter 10?

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