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.