building height


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building height

The total height from the bottom of the ground floor to the highest structure or decoration on the roof. Local building codes or airport avigation easements may place restrictions on building height.

Example:  The Washington, D.C., building height restriction states that no building may be more than 20 feet taller than the width of the street in front of it, but exceptions may be granted for spires, towers, domes, minarets, pinnacles, and engineering structures such as ventilation shafts.

height, building

Generally held to be the height from the street to the surface of a flat roof or the average height of a pitched roof, without taking into account roof structures, air handling equipment, antennas, or satellite dishes. The term is most often significant when attempting to meet zoning restrictions, which usually contain their own definitional sections. If so, then it is irrelevant what the general public considers as the true measurement of building height; the method of measurement specified in the statute will control.

The Complete Real Estate Encyclopedia by Denise L. Evans, JD & O. William Evans, JD. Copyright © 2007 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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ZR 62-736, the special permit provision, would allow for a modification or waiver of such constraining, waterfront-directed building height limits, provided that the proposed apartment tower project satisfies four findings, essentially that: (a) The site has unique natural features or an irregular shoreline or shape, or is occupied by existing buildings (presumably to remain on the site;); (b) The proposed development reflects superior building placement, building articulation, and open space arrangement; (c) The proposed development reflects superior physical or visual public access to the waterfront; and (d) The proposed bulk modification would "significantly enhance the relationship between the proposed development and the surrounding area."
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The guidance, which will apply from October 1, will also lower the minimum building height at which non-combustible wall cladding is provided.
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It said: "The proposal for the site is to increase the existing building height from single storey to three storey's and also extend the building to the north.
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Along with rezoning the property from business to residential, the developer is seeking the OK for a building height of a little more than 53 feet.
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'However, the developer who owns the land, applied to amend the plot ratio to 1:6.0 and building height to 14 stories, in order to build a 14-storey hotel with an underground basement on the plot,' she told a press conference held at the heritage gallery here.
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It adds: "Given the site's proximity to Old Trafford cricket ground and other residential areas, these designs have been carefully considered to be complementary to the local area, both in terms of the building height and the overall design." The plan is for six storeys, rising to 12 storeys.
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Conservative peer Baroness Neville-Rolfe also said building height restrictions should be looked at "creatively", with a view to provide more accommodation.
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The building's total built-up area is 24,375 square metres and the total building height above ground level is 72.5 metres.
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