04-24-2010, 07:20 AM
Reinhard, there are various regulations and restrictions, but it totally depends on exactly where you are living. I would imagine the area you are asking about would have Home Owner's Association deed restrictions and there may be city governement or county code regulations and permitting.... aside from the limited space as you mention.
I'm only speaking for Texas here. Other states are different, and may have statewide building departments that regulate and inspect anything in the entire state.
For the area you mention, I'm just guessing, but the HOA deed restrictions probably allow outbuildings but they would have to be constructed from materials which match the house to make the property more appealing and pleasant. There may also be property line restrictions - can't build within x feet of the street, within x feet of the back property line, etc. Of course, it is possible that the deed restrictions don't allow outbuildings. Understand that the Home Owners Association is not a government agency. It is a "voluntary" group that attempts to keep the neighborhood looking nice to keep the property values high and create a certain standard. For example, you wouldn't want your neighbor to have 15 broken down junker cars sitting in his driveway. The deed restrictions are essentially a contract that any buyer of a property in that neighborhood must agree to before they can purchase there.
The city regulations (if that location is in a city) would probably require permits and then inspections, with various code regulations which must be followed. In Sugarland, there would probably be wind storm regs which require metal tie-downs and strapping to connect the bottom plates to the studs, studs to the top plates, top plates to the rafters, etc. Any large city is going to have a fair number of regs and permitting. Plumbing permit, building permit, electrical permit, foundation, and all of that stuff has to be inspected. It can be quite involved.
Smaller cities and towns may require just a building permit, and maybe a couple of inspections. Depends on the city or town... some smaller towns would have a building process just as elaborate as a large city. Others would have hardly anything.
If not in a city or town, just in the county, again it all depends. Most counties don't have a whole lot of regs, if any at all, but some do. However, the county goverments are spread pretty thin so they don't have the manpower to enforce anything even if there were alot of restrictions and regs.
I live in a neighborhood with one acre lots well south of the major city of Houston. We are not in a city or town, we just have county regs which are just about nonexistent. We do have Home Owners Deed restrictions but they don't have anything preventing outbuildings. They mostly concern stuff like not allowing trailer houses and you can't have a bunch of cattle or livestock. You can have a horse for each acre you own though.
I'm only speaking for Texas here. Other states are different, and may have statewide building departments that regulate and inspect anything in the entire state.
For the area you mention, I'm just guessing, but the HOA deed restrictions probably allow outbuildings but they would have to be constructed from materials which match the house to make the property more appealing and pleasant. There may also be property line restrictions - can't build within x feet of the street, within x feet of the back property line, etc. Of course, it is possible that the deed restrictions don't allow outbuildings. Understand that the Home Owners Association is not a government agency. It is a "voluntary" group that attempts to keep the neighborhood looking nice to keep the property values high and create a certain standard. For example, you wouldn't want your neighbor to have 15 broken down junker cars sitting in his driveway. The deed restrictions are essentially a contract that any buyer of a property in that neighborhood must agree to before they can purchase there.
The city regulations (if that location is in a city) would probably require permits and then inspections, with various code regulations which must be followed. In Sugarland, there would probably be wind storm regs which require metal tie-downs and strapping to connect the bottom plates to the studs, studs to the top plates, top plates to the rafters, etc. Any large city is going to have a fair number of regs and permitting. Plumbing permit, building permit, electrical permit, foundation, and all of that stuff has to be inspected. It can be quite involved.
Smaller cities and towns may require just a building permit, and maybe a couple of inspections. Depends on the city or town... some smaller towns would have a building process just as elaborate as a large city. Others would have hardly anything.
If not in a city or town, just in the county, again it all depends. Most counties don't have a whole lot of regs, if any at all, but some do. However, the county goverments are spread pretty thin so they don't have the manpower to enforce anything even if there were alot of restrictions and regs.
I live in a neighborhood with one acre lots well south of the major city of Houston. We are not in a city or town, we just have county regs which are just about nonexistent. We do have Home Owners Deed restrictions but they don't have anything preventing outbuildings. They mostly concern stuff like not allowing trailer houses and you can't have a bunch of cattle or livestock. You can have a horse for each acre you own though.
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