It is in a kind of conservation land. There are specific rules to follow to preserve the terrain in addition to the usual building codes and others. It was the condition the town imposed for not shutting down pre developed land. If the rules were followed, the garage will be about 40-50’ away from me instead of 5-7’.
In our experience, it’s very unlikely that the city will force a homeowner to tear down an existing structure. At most, the home owner could face a fine if it’s proven they built without a permit.
(My H was on the zoning board of appeals in our last community).
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What was on the site before the current garage and home were built? How is it causing you traffic problems if it is a single-family home? How is flooding a concern? Are you in a flood zone? If not, may be hard to argue it will cause flooding.
Good luck with the attorney. It may be tough to do much if it has been in place for 10 or more years and no complaints, especially if they are just putting their gym equipment in the garage. If they start teaching classes (even to a small group) that might be a commercial use in a residential zone which may not be allowed.
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If I am reading this correctly, the structure has been there over 10 years solely as a detached garage with little use. But now it’s being restructured as a home gym, perhaps as a selling point for AirBNB or some other form of paying guests. It’s only a few feet from OP’s house and will likely have considerably more traffic and noise; possibly the construction is what’s causing flooding concerns.
I have no knowledge of the legal situation but would think repurposing an unpermitted structure should have ramifications.
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I’d either seek remedy at the local building/zoning/planning dept. and failing that, speak with a RE lawyer and file a lawsuit.
I’ve known a few instances where the structure had to be torn down, just depends on the jurisdiction and other potential remedies, if any.
The answer is, it depends. I do this for a living. There could be a variance. It could be a pre-existing, non-conforming structure. It could just be violating code. We, the body politic, just don’t have the facts. Let’s assume that its a variance or pre-existing, non-conforming structure. In such case, the use of the building is fine…until there is a casualty, then you will likely be unable to rebuild the structure as it currently is. Instead, any new structure would likely have to comply with code. As always, talk to your local real estate attorney.
Agree.