Opinion ID: 2361512
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Floor Area Ratio

Text: The floor area ratio (FAR) permitted by the Code for this building is 1.0, meaning that the gross floor area of the building must not exceed the area of the lot upon which it is built. In its application for a building permit, Permanent calculated the gross floor area as 18,700 square feet, which produced an acceptable FAR of .99. This calculation was apparently correct if the area of the penthouse was not included in the computation. In its revised plans submitted six months later, Permanent expanded the area of the first floor. The County now contends that it erroneously failed to include the area of the penthouse when it initially made the computation of gross floor area, and that the inclusion of the penthouse as well as the enlarged portion of the first floor now produces an unacceptable FAR of 1.26. Permanent does not contest the accuracy of the figures, but contends the penthouse need not be included in the computation of gross floor area for purposes of determining the FAR. Section 59-A-2.1 defines gross floor area as follows: The sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of all buildings on the lot, measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls and from the center line of walls separating two buildings. The term gross floor area shall include basements, elevator shafts and stairwells at each story, floor space used for mechanical equipment (with structural headroom of six feet, six inches or more) penthouses, attic space (whether or not a floor has actually been laid, providing structural headroom of six feet, six inches or more), interior balconies and mezzanines. The term gross floor area shall not include cellars, outside balconies which do not exceed a projection of six feet beyond the exterior walls of the building, parking or rooftop mechanical structures. We find no ambiguity in this definition, at least as applied to the penthouse that is currently constructed on Permanent's building. While rooftop mechanical structures are excluded from the computation, this exclusion obviously does not apply to rooftop mechanical structures enclosed within a penthouse or other enclosure having a structural headroom of six feet, six inches or more. The building exceeds the prescribed FAR, and the County is not estopped to require correction of that deficiency.