OCEAN CITY – When does an attic or a loft officially become a bedroom or living space was a question raised during last month’s joint meeting between the Mayor and Council and the Planning Commission.
During the joint session, the issue of building height for new residential projects arose. Years ago, resort officials passed an ordinance that changed the design standards for the downtown area encouraging pitched roofs, dormers and other aesthetically pleasing features as opposed to flat roofs.
The concept was to replicate historic features in keeping with traditional Ocean City architecture, particularly in the downtown area. However, the result in many cases has been the empty open space under the pitched roofs, such as attics or even lofts, has been converted to an extra bedroom or bonus room, for example.
A developer or homeowner wants to maximize the square footage of a unit, but there are parking and density requirements to consider. There are strict code requirements for building height and the number of on-site parking spaces required per unit based on the number of rooms, and site plans are approved based on those calculations.
The issue now has become an open space unintended for habitation is often being converted to an extra bedroom or bonus room. Complicating the building height issue are changing regulations regarding flood plain elevation and freeboard requirements. It’s not an entirely new issue, but it was revived during the joint session between the Mayor and Council and the planning commission. Planning and Community Development Director Bill Neville asked if the Mayor and Council desired the planning commission to pursue the issue and come back with a recommendation.
“The issue is how we measure building height,” he said. “Sometimes, there is a loft space under the roof and dormers. What if a developer wanted to utilize that space? The larger issue is should the planning commission proceed with a process, or does the Mayor and Council want to take a look at it conceptually?”
Mayor Rick Meehan said changes in the design standards were borne out of a desire to encourage aesthetically-pleasing pitched roofs and dormers on new residential projects in keeping with traditional downtown architecture.
“Peaked roofs were part of the design concept,” he said. “That was the original intent. Now, it often becomes living space.”
However, Planning Commission Chair Pam Buckley said developers and homeowners converting what was otherwise an attic, loft or open space with maybe a small set of steps into a legitimate bedroom with perhaps a bathroom changes the code requirements. Once an open space is enclosed with a door, it technically becomes a bedroom and changes the calculations regarding parking, density and height requirements.
“It doesn’t meet the zoning code,” she said. “Developers are building it out as an extra room. A four-bedroom, three-bath turns into a five-bedroom, four-bath. It’s up to you to tell us if you want to pursue this.”
Councilman Peter Buas said the design standards encouraging pitched roofs and dormers, for example, created the issue for many.
“The bonus room is an unintended consequence of the pitched roof and design ordinance,” he said. “Pitched roofs and dormers are encouraged with development incentives.”
Planning Commissioner Palmer Gillis said it’s not an entirely new issue.
“Back in the 1970s when the parking standards changed, developers would come in with plans for a one-bedroom and a den, and the den then quickly became an extra bedroom,” he said.
Meehan said with the town’s parking issues, and the problem of added bedrooms causing the need for more on-street parking in the neighborhoods, the issue should be explored further.
“You shouldn’t get a free pass from the parking requirements because you enclosed an attic or an open space into an extra bedroom,” he said.
The council directed the planning commission to take a deeper dive and come back with a recommendation.
