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Actually, the shed, the shop, and the garage are “he” stuff with the rest of the house being U.W.’s domain.  We decided that we should add a small utility shed to the back yard.  Having the yard equipment out of the garage is very nice.  We asked KM Designs to add a 10’ x 16’ shed to the plan.  We had also been reviewing the plans with some friends and family and found some places where we needed to add electric outlets (can’t have enough of them).  KM completed these revisions on November 23, 2021.

Next step is to get approval from the Property Owner Association’s Architectural Control Committee (ACC).  This involves sending drawings and pictures of planned exterior materials and colors to the ACC.  We submitted everything on December 10, 2021.  On December 21 we received notice that the ACC denied our application stating that the overhang on the left side (garage side) of the house infringes on the required set back and the shed did not meet the masonry requirements.

While our foundation is within the required setbacks, the eaves go over the setback lines.  To fix this we had to change the garage design a bit.  The plans called for the garage bay nearest the street to be offset to the left by two feet.  This added more architectural interest to the front and the left side.  Eliminating this offset gave us enough room so that the eaves are within the setbacks.  Doing this required revising the floor plans and elevations.  We still like the looks of the house, and it makes the garage floor plan cleaner with fewer interior corners.

This two-foot offset was really a form over function thing.  A plain 4-sided box would work well, but it’s not “pretty”.   With this large garage structure, we needed to avoid having the view from the street looking like a big blank wall.  We improved the aesthetic by including large bay type window section at the front of the garage.

We thought we were complying with the exterior material requirements for the backyard shed.  It had the same roof, same stucco siding pattern and color.  However, the ACC says that like the main house, the shed must have at least 55% masonry on the exterior.  So, we made that change to the plans. 

We also decided to add the backyard fence to the plans so that we would not have to go back to the ACC for that.  Our neighbors on the right side already have fencing.  They graciously agreed to let us add our fence onto theirs.  We will only need new fencing on the front, the back, and the left side.

KM finished these revisions on January 7, 2022.  We resubmitted the plans to the ACC the same day. On January 14, 2022, we received their response.  Their only comments were to submit the location of the propane tank or verify that no tank is needed and that the fence must meet ACC requirements.  Our house will be all electric with only small propane tanks for the grille and the fencing design is not an issue.  So, we are good to go!

While all the redesign and ACC approvals were pending, the Turnkey Builders said we need to get water and electric utilities set up at the lot.  The subdivision developer had electric and water up to the property, but there was no water or electric meter or electric transformer.   I contacted the utility companies to get this going.  Our water connection was pretty much standard, but we need a 320 amp electric service based on the house being all electric and that I want several 220 volt outlets in the garage and shop.   I completed the electric service application on November 22, 2021 and the water on November 23, 2021.  Both said it would be several weeks before installation.  These were both costly to get set up, particularly the electric.  We visited the lot on December 23 and to our surprise electric and water had been installed!  The downside is now we must pay the monthly utility bills.

With the ACC approval complete, we had to get the foundation drawings revised to reflect the floor plan modification.  This took a few weeks, but now we have all the drawings ready.  More garage details in the next post.