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Staff proposes measuring building height from finished grade to simplify story rules; commission seeks guardrails
Summary
Staff recommended measuring building height from finished construction grade rather than preconstruction grade to simplify story counts and align with common construction practice.
South Burlington planning staff proposed changing how the city measures building height: instead of using preconstruction grade (existing ground elevation before site work), staff recommended using finished construction grade as the baseline and simplifying story definitions.
Nick (staff member) explained the change aims to reduce design complexity for builders and align the city with common practice used by peer municipalities. Staff said the current reliance on preconstruction grade creates repeated recalculations during design and review and complicates how many “stories” a building is counted as under existing Land Development Regulations (LDRs).
Commissioners asked…
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