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Minimum distance to accessory structure.

D

digdug

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2016
Messages
2
Location
Los Angeles
Hello Everyone,

I am looking at buying a house with the idea that I could add a master bedroom into the back yard. The problem is the city (Inglewood CA) has a code that states an accessory structure has to be at least 6 feet from the main house and to get the addition to the size I would like, it would get about 3 feet from the detached garage. If this 6 ft. minimum is a fire issue could I add some fireproofing to the garage that would allow me this proximity (in theory). The other angle I am curious about is what it would take to attach this garage to the main house. I read somewhere that if the two structures shared a roof it would be considered one building. If this is true (or somewhat true) what is the least amount of "connecting" I could get away with (In theory)? I have added a picture of the property to help illustrate the situation. The red rectangle is the addition I would like to add.

Thanks in advance for any insight or advice you can give!

 
The only one who can answer your question is the city.

We have different zoning setbacks for accessory structures and the main residence. If you attach them together then the setbacks for the main residence are applicable and the whole thing becomes a violation.

The 6 ft could be a fire separation reason or a zoning requirement or it could have been on the books for so long nobody remembers why it is there.

We would allow a simple breezeway to connect the two structures.
 
Thank you both for your advice. I have never gone down to a city's building and safety department. Do they have people around to answer these types of questions (no plans.. not even a home yet) and if so what job title should I ask for? Besides my google maps image is there anything else I should know before going down that would help the person answer this question?

Also, with the possible breezeway concept would there have to be door going into each structure on either end of the breezeway.. or is that not a requirement?

Thanks again!
 
Draw a site plan....on the lid of a box of doughnuts.

Doors at the breezeway are not required by us and we would call it a single building. Not all jurisdictions would see it that way. A breezeway can also create a problem because a garage may have a lesser setback requirement than a dwelling and as one building it may be too close to the property line.

Drywall would be required from foundation to roof sheathing on the inside of the garage.
 
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Add three more feet to the bedroom and it is all one building including the garage?
 
Over the years I've had to separate secondary buildings like garages from homes by different amounts, attaching with a breezeway was common. A couple of years ago I took one into the city and they surprised me by suggesting that I just connect them, I said you can't do that, attach a U occupancy to an R occupancy, you'll make it all a R occupancy and it won't comply with the rear yard setback requirement. The plan checker said: "Don't even refer to them as U and R occupancies, that's old fashioned terminology, we allow that now becasue we have had so many requests for sunrooms etc. and people end up enclosing the breezeways anyway." This surprised me since that now eliminates the rear yard setback requirements, talk to your local building department, they may have a similar policy.
 
DD, avoid watching the "flipper" shows on TV and you will be less disappointed when you receive answers at the building department to your questions.

You have come to a "good" place, welcome.
 
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