# Shot Down



## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

Well.... after almost a month of calling ppl and asking questions and filling out building permit apps I was told today I could NOT build my loft   
I was told I could modify my current shed but that will not be enough room.
Kinda sucks that I pay taxes and cant build a loft on my own property.
I was told the reason I cant build it is because they only allow ONE accessory building per home.
GRRRRRRRRRR im so mad :S


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Could you kind of 'extend' your shed by building a pen and a loft onto one end or one side of it so it would be 'one' building?

John


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

I was thinking that also.....
But the city said I was limited to 120 square feet :S
I know my current shed is bigger than that so Im probably already in trouble LOL
the shed has been there since we got the house over 15 years ago.
another thing that upsets me is I can drive around my neighborhood and see other houses with more than one shed :S
Seems why you try to do the right thing everything works against you :S
If i woulda just built it I probably would have been able to get away with it but I was fearful that they would tell me to tear it down and I would have to find a home for my birds plus pay w/e fines they woulda came up with.
With my luck that probably would have happened 
Its so bad here if your grass is over 8" they leave you a notice that you have 3 days to cut it or get fined.
GRRRRRRRRRR


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

OHHH...sorry to hear this. What's the size of your current shed? No way to make that work? Yea, old Mr. Government loves to tell us what we can and can't do, but they can't get anything right themselves.


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

When I get home tonight I will look at the shed I have now and see if I can build something that will work.
Just sucks how I cant build a loft just for them :S
If it wasnt for my motorcycles I would be good.
I dont want to keeo them out in the open cause of rain and so on even with covers.
also my current shed is not elevated off of the ground.
that will be a problem correct?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Well, it really should be up off the ground, but doesn't HAVE to be. There's a floor, right? 
You could just move............


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

ROFL!!!
I am thinking of moving to GA where I KNOW I can build a loft 
Thing is selling my house is another battle 
the current shed does had a concrete floor
IDK what im going to do 
Im just so frustrated
three weeks to be told I cant do it
GRRRRRRRRRRRR
He coulda told me that the first day I talked to him (him being the guy in the zoning dept of city hall) I told him I already had a shed up.
sooo frustrating


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## dovie (Oct 1, 2008)

Just wanted to say hi to StoN3d as we are kinda neighbors. I am in Upper Marlboro, Md. Sorry to hear of your zoning problems...


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## risingstarfans (Sep 13, 2008)

Try what I did. When told i could only keep ten birds on my small lot in a mobile home park, I bought a travel trailer, actually just a shell of one, remodelled it and rented a parking area here in the MHP. I kept my birds, the city is happy. Plus, I can take all my birds to a show without boxes

One question, why the heck did you try for a building permit? Not normally needed for an outdoor storage type shed as long as it doesn' have a foundation or utilities. Look up your zoning ordinances on the city/county website and look for loopholes.


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## Revolution Lofts (Aug 7, 2008)

Here where i live, you can keep anything, until someone complains lol. I'm in the middle of a neighborhood, over 80 birds, they make so much noise sometimes, i just have good neighbors lol, i would suggest moving into a more rural area? or less crowded?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

my husband has built a barn, and pole shed(man shed). a hen house and a loft and a run in shed...with no permit...now that is because we have no electric going to them.......anyway not when we built them


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

is anyone willing to help me out LOL
Ive been looking through this site for two days now
http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=10220&sid=20
I dont see anywhere where it says you can only have one accessory building per lot.
The city hall guy told me its in the codes that your only allowed one accessory building per house.
I took a ride through my neighborhood y/day and saw about 3 houses with two sheds.
I even saw one with a garage and two sheds.
I did see where it says the shed can only be 120 square feet.


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## moonshadow (Mar 26, 2007)

I'm sorry to hear about your problems. As you know mine are slightly similar. The trailer idea is actually a good one. Would probably be pretty cost effective and you could probably make it look pretty nice.


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

BAH!!!!
I think I finally found it 
4-23.6 Administration; Permits; Section 105. 
(a) Section 105.2 is amended to read as follows: "Work Exempt from Permit." Notwithstanding the foregoing, except for classified historic sites and property located within Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Overlay Zones, permits shall not be required for the following, provided that the construction does not result in any violation of this Subtitle: a one-story detached accessory structure on one- and two-family dwelling properties accessory structure only per property


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

*Just wanted to say hi to StoN3d as we are kinda neighbors. I am in Upper Marlboro, Md. Sorry to hear of your zoning problems...*

Hi Neighbor 
Do you have birds?


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## dovie (Oct 1, 2008)

No, no pigeons yet, only poultry. still researching : )...........


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

Cool....
Im Puerto Rican but the city wont let me keep chickens on my roof


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## Pegasus (Feb 6, 2007)

Sometimes being too honest is not allowed when it comes to city zoning law but what I'm wondering, since you said you have some neighbors that have something bigger than 120 feet, I say just build a little smaller than 120 feet... I was told before that I can not build a loft in my backyard but I don't mind what they say (neighbors) just wanted to have a hobby and not a whole sale livestock, you know what I mean? And I wanted to added something more, my neighbors knows that I'm the only guy who have homing pigeons in the area (that they know of) , and I'm the neighbors handyman so that's another credit I got for them not to make any complain...I'm not saying that bend some rules sometimes but sometimes it works...


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## dovie (Oct 1, 2008)

Could you do a canterlever structure? Maybe what counts is the square feet of the base of the structure.


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## Revolution Lofts (Aug 7, 2008)

*Make 2 floors?*

how about you make the base less than 120 feet? But make it really tall. I got a crazy idea. Make stairs inside the loft, that will lead to a second floor on top of the bottom floor...if i had the time i would make it...sounds awesome lol. Like if you make the base, 6ft, by 6ft. But you make the loft like 11 or 12 feet high. And you make two floors, the joint between the two floors should be really strong though, so that you don't fall down through. And just make small stairs that are covered leading to the second floor. And you can have 3 lights in the loft, one on the bottom floor, one inside the staircase since it'll be a bit dark, and one on the top floor. And you can have ventilation on both floors. (Chicken wire etc) I think it would work out great


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Gurbir said:


> how about you make the base less than 120 feet? But make it really tall. I got a crazy idea. Make stairs inside the loft, that will lead to a second floor on top of the bottom floor...if i had the time i would make it...sounds awesome lol. Like if you make the base, 6ft, by 6ft. But you make the loft like 11 or 12 feet high. And you make two floors, the joint between the two floors should be really strong though, so that you don't fall down through. And just make small stairs that are covered leading to the second floor. And you can have 3 lights in the loft, one on the bottom floor, one inside the staircase since it'll be a bit dark, and one on the top floor. And you can have ventilation on both floors. (Chicken wire etc) I think it would work out great





StoN3d said:


> BAH!!!!
> I think I finally found it
> 4-23.6 Administration; Permits; Section 105.
> (a) Section 105.2 is amended to read as follows: "Work Exempt from Permit." Notwithstanding the foregoing, except for classified historic sites and property located within Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Overlay Zones, permits shall not be required for the following, provided that the construction does not result in any violation of this Subtitle: *a one-story detached accessory structure *on one- and two-family dwelling properties accessory structure only per property


The law is pretty specific, plus a "tall" building would be much more visible.


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

im going to rebuild the shed I have now.
its a 12x12 shed.
I will draw out some plans today and uplaod for everyone to see


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

StoN3d said:


> im going to rebuild the she I have now.
> its a 12x12 shed.
> I will draw out some plans today and uplaod for everyone to see


sounds like a plan...cool...


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

here is a rough drawing of the new design
If anyone has any ideas on some changes please feel free to reply.
if anyone has a better design.. please feel free to reply 
the shed is 12x14 and I need a spot for two motorcycles one being a 1700cc yamaha roadstar and the other being a 650cc yamaha vstar classic.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7vfyl0


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2008)

where I live they say the same thing about people and only being able to have one shed on a property but all my neighbors have at least two or more even , size here isnt a consideration but you have to pay a fee if the shed is over a certain size ..i think the more you draw attention to what you are doing on your property the more problems you will have ..i used to have a huge shed on the property before that never was a problem but it seems if you ask thats when the problems occur and as long as your neighbors dont mind it isnt a problem for any regulations that may be in your town .. my neighbors love my birds and ask why I dont fly them more then I do , I fly them every day that I can they just cant tell cuz my birds never land any where other then my house lol the only thing is it only takes one person to ruin it for everyone else and complain so keep your birds well trained and you shouldnt have a problem


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## dovecote1 (Aug 16, 2008)

*There are ways around anything*



StoN3d said:


> Well.... after almost a month of calling ppl and asking questions and filling out building permit apps I was told today I could NOT build my loft
> I was told I could modify my current shed but that will not be enough room.
> Kinda sucks that I pay taxes and cant build a loft on my own property.
> I was told the reason I cant build it is because they only allow ONE accessory building per home.
> GRRRRRRRRRR im so mad :S


Put an old set of trailer axles under your new loft, add a trailer hitch, register it with the town/state as a trailer. No one can say anything about you having it then. Or put 24" of styra-foam under it and register it as a boat. Good luck ! I hope you get your loft !


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

This is why I'm glad I live out in the middle of trees where no one knows/cares if we build something


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## ace in the hole (Nov 27, 2007)

Sorry to hear about your problem. I am building a new breeding loft for my birds now because the Township would not let me use a camper trailor as a loft. I told them I used the 30 ft. camper trailor because it was portable and I did not plan on being here more than a year or two. But their blite law states that you can not use a camper for anything other than it was intended for. 

You could check to see if they have anything in your local laws about camper trailors. You may be able to get away with having a camper in you back yard! I just made the mistake of puting mine right out in the open with a lage flight pen and an orange and white pigeon trap facing the road.

Ace


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