Illegal vs Legal Non-conforming ?

[ZZGAMAZZ]

My brother submitted the report as a work sample to BREA when I was supervising him.

A Top 10 all time AF post!!!!

 

[gregb]

The irony, if one was working then, WAMU was the client.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

The irony, if one was working then, WAMU was the client.

I still kinda remember the day when I had to drive to WAMU [somewhere like Pasadena] to respond to a complaint of some kind. Just when I arrived the doors were being locked as the company was going down. Can't remember if the Feds were there locking the doors or what...

 

[George Hatch]

Some lenders dodge that issue altogether (we're not the zoning/permit police) because they don't want to get caught up in a racism allegation.

 

[Mark K]

GH is correct per HBU- "legally permissible", but you are also correct as to when the dwelling was built and its legally permitted use at that time. Therefore, the question refers to a back in time date of original construction and zoning compliance at the time.

An appraiser could also run into the situation where the improvements were constructed prior to implementation of any zoning. Virtually any home over 100 years old in this area fits into this category, especially the older homes in the small towns. No zoning at all and then they created zoning and then they changed it multiple times over the years. They changed side and front/back setbacks so many times over the years that I called most older homes legal, non-conforming and left it at that. The assessor also has unreliable dates of construction in their records and any home built prior to zoning is dated 1926 in the records even if the home was built in 1850.

You do the best you can with what you have and if anyone questions it, my standard answer was..."prove me wrong and I'll change it."

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

An appraiser could also run into the situation where the improvements were constructed prior to implementation of any zoning. Virtually any home over 100 years old in this area fits into this category, especially the older homes in the small towns. No zoning at all and then they created zoning and then they changed it multiple times over the years. They changed side and front/back setbacks so many times over the years that I called most older homes legal, non-conforming and left it at that. The assessor also has unreliable dates of construction in their records and any home built prior to zoning is dated 1926 in the records even if the home was built in 1850.

You do the best you can with what you have and if anyone questions it, my standard answer was..."prove me wrong and I'll change it."

I can't quite explain my bottom-line perspective....that the issue/status is much more convoluted because the Guest Unit was built basically from scatch, withiin the past few months--based upon what had been a storage shed previously, with no formal documentation of any kind available other than what the listing agent implied by shrugging her shoulders. Consequently the possibility of a "legal non-conforming" status because of murky history isn't available because it was built recently, without building permits of any kind--although CA has had a very literal current statewide ADU initiative for the past few years that allows ADU's and Jr ADU's virtually on any residential parcel with consideration for developmental standards...so I went into this thread with an assumption that the guest unit would reveal the improvements to be "illegal" re zoning compliance....but I'm about 90% certain now based upon AF wisdom that the page 1 Legal Conforming status pertains to "permissible" rather than "permitted --although I shall find and include formal reference to FMAE interpreation to include in the Zoning and/or HBU narratives. [Just another residential "cooking cutter"...]

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

But now that the original dilemma has been addressed, how's about peer advice regarding the following, which is a typical above-ground storage shed, on the outside... but a full laundry room on the inside with power & water connections, and a hole in the side for water to drain out on to the patio...meets code standards in your experience?

 

[Mark K]

But now that the original dilemma has been addressed, how's about peer advice regarding the following, which is a typical above-ground storage shed, on the outside... but a full laundry room on the inside with power & water connections, and a hole in the side for water to drain out on to the patio...meets code standards in your experience?

You have to love the creativity!!

But no. Even in areas with no zoning, construction is still regulated by codes and draining onto a patio doesn't meet code. OTOH, I never considered myself to be a code compliance inspector and since that's not part of the structure nor is it permanent, I'd put it into the same category as any small shed, i.e., no value.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

You have to love the creativity!!

But no. Even in areas with no zoning, construction is still regulated by codes and draining onto a patio doesn't meet code. OTOH, I never considered myself to be a code compliance inspector and since that's not part of the structure nor is it permanent, I'd put it into the same category as any small shed, i.e., no value.

So by scoping the "thing" away, as personal property, it can by association also be overlooked as a potential safety hazard if determuned by the jurisdiction not to be building code compliant.... which I wish to do although the electrical outlet installed into its rear wall is suspect...

 

[Mark K]

So by scoping the "thing" away, as personal property, it can by association also be overlooked as a potential safety hazard if determuned by the jurisdiction not to be building code compliant.... which I wish to do although the electrical outlet installed into its rear wall is suspect...

I don't see a safety hazard. Drain water from a washer generally isn't hazardous. Messy? Sure.

I've seen a lot of storage sheds where someone ran a semi-permanent extension cord to it. Not my problem.