Thousands of Homes May Be Too Tall

Phong Mai and Anh Trinh-Mai can't move into their 7,200-square-foot Oakton house because the roof is too tall. (By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post)

In Fairfax, the excessive heights came to county planners' attention this year when a homeowner complained that the roof of his neighbor's house appeared too tall, said Jenkins, who oversees building permits. A sample inspection of homes under construction found multiple violations, he said, leading him to conclude that the problem is widespread. But he said it would be too expensive to measure the height of every mansion built in the county in recent years.

"We did enough sampling to understand there is a problem," he said, citing "million-plus dollar homes with towering roofs."

"The plans went through showing heights in excess of 35 feet, and they weren't caught," Jenkins added.

He and other officials said there is no way to know precisely how many homes are too tall, but some builders and county supervisors estimated that the figure is in the thousands because of the popularity in recent years of homes with multiple rooflines.

Fines such as those against the Clarksburg builders are not under consideration in Fairfax, several officials said, largely because the violations resulted from a difference of opinion between the county and builders on how to measure the height of a house.

"Nobody was doing anything here with any malice," said Tom Donaldson, a custom builder who is president of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association. "Our industry does not have an issue with the 35-foot height limit. The difference is the interpretation of how it's calculated."

According to the county's zoning ordinance, height is measured from the curb or ground to the midpoint between the eave and the peak of the roof of a house built with gable, hip and gambrel roofs -- the pitched styles on many area estate homes.

The county says the midpoint must be taken from the highest roofline, although the ordinance does not specify what to do when a house has multiple rooflines.

That's where the industry's interpretation differs. Builders say that for years they have averaged the midpoints of homes with several rooflines that reach different heights. The result is that many houses are higher than 35 feet, in some cases almost a story higher. Additional corners and peaks are aesthetically appealing and add to the cost of labor and materials, which is why they're largely limited to high-end homes.

"Twenty years ago, everybody's dream was brick colonial," said Deborah Brehony of Commonwealth Housing, which built the Mais' manse in Oakton. "Now the pitch of the roof is the aesthetic. If we go back to flat roofs, that's going to stifle the creativity of our homes."

That's true, said county planning and zoning officials, acknowledging that they have not closely monitored compliance with their zoning rules.

For example, Jenkins said that when a house is completed, inspectors check for compliance with fire, electrical and plumbing codes but don't measure its height. "Honestly, I think there was some miscommunication about who was supposed to be doing what," he said.

On July 1, the county issued a directive to local builders to clarify how heights of single-family homes and townhouses should be measured. The notice said that until now, approved permits for new homes and additions have stated only the maximum permitted height, not the actual height, of the planned house. Also, the county has not required architectural drawings to indicate heights, either. Arlington and Loudoun counties require both. Like Arlington, Fairfax is now requiring that a certified surveyor measure the height of a house before an occupancy permit is issued.

The county's problem now is what to do with homes that were built too tall but have been occupied for years, those under construction and those awaiting occupancy permits.

The building industry sent representatives last week to lobby each Fairfax supervisor to plead for leniency on existing homes, asking that they be given an exception from the new rules of measurement. Several members said that the board is divided on whether to do nothing, to require that roofs be lowered or to fill soil in around houses to raise the grade so they conform to zoning law.

"We've not paid attention to it all of these years, and all of these homes are in noncompliance," said Supervisor Elaine N. McConnell (R-Springfield). "But this would be a terrible thing to confront people with at this point."

Kauffman, however, said he's furious at the idea that the mistakes could be allowed to stand.

"I don't have a problem with the height of a home if it's 15 BMW lengths to the next neighbor," he said. "I have a concern when it's a one-third acre lot and it's totally out of keeping with the neighborhood."