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Committee adopts amendment clarifying how to measure building heights, including gambrel roofs
Summary
The committee recommended Council Bill 260153 (with an amendment) to clarify height measurements for flat, pitched and gambrel roofs and to define the 'highest wall plate' as the baseline for pitched-roof measurements; sponsors said the changes close a loophole used to evade local height limits.
Council Bill 260153, which clarifies how Baltimore measures building heights for different roof types and adjusts the measurement for gambrel roofs, won committee approval with an amendment on July 2.
Councilman Parker, the bill sponsor, said the measure responds to an instance in his district where a gambrel roof was used to attempt to evade height limits. The bill preserves the current approach for flat roofs but changes how pitched and gambrel roofs are measured: the amendment replaces the ambiguous eave measurement with the "highest wall plate" as the baseline for determining mean roof height, and for gambrel roofs the mean height will be calculated using only the top-pitch section (ignoring the lower steep pitch that can create usable interior space while appearing lower from the exterior).
The Planning Commission and BMZA reviewed and recommended amendments and approval; the Law Department and DHCD offered favorable reports. The committee adopted the proposed amendment clarifying the measurement language and recommended the bill favorable with the amendment to the full council.
