Access to rear yard from second floor balcony?

Since steps from the 2nd story are not permitted obstructions into a rear yard as per Zoning, I was wondering if anyone has seen or heard of any creative solutions for someone on the second floor of a townhouse to directly access the backyard from their balcony. One option is to have a fire escape-esque stair going down to the first floor tenant’s deck, but that is obviously not ideal because the stair would be in front of their window and you’d have to have a good relationship with that tenant. There are no solutions from the interior without walking through the lower apartment’s bedrooms. Has anyone seen or heard of a solution for this?

jleogra

in Exteriors 3 years and 4 months ago

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chemosphere | 3 years and 4 months ago

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This law should be changed. Chicago and San Francisco have thousands of houses with stairs down the back from upper floors.

dorkofwindsor | 3 years and 4 months ago

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…thanks jim

jimhillra | 3 years and 4 months ago

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In our experience it’s not about required egress. It’s because of the difference between an open porch (a.k.a. deck) and a balcony. An open porch is allowed on the first story above grade. Above that, it’s a balcony. Porches are allowed to have steps to the rear yard. Balconies are not. Note the difference between steps and stairs. Steps are less than a story. Stairs are a story or more.

So if you have a garden floor that is partially below grade/curb/sidewalk, then it’s a basement, and the first floor/parlor is above grade, so you can have a porch/deck. If the lowest level is not below grade, then that is the first floor, even if it’s just an inch above grade, and a deck above that would be a balcony, so no rear yard access there.

It’s been explained to me as a measure to prevent people from renting out apartments that are only accessible from rear stairs.

So, according to this, spiral stairs would be allowed from a first floor deck/porch, but not from a second floor balcony.

dorkofwindsor | 3 years and 4 months ago

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iirc i think you still need to conform to fire code with the spiral stair despite it not being a required egress. worth asking the architect.

hasibur.rahman07 | 3 years and 4 months ago

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I see so you could probably get away with the spiral staircase (which fire code may not allow). But where does one situate that out of view.

jleogra | 3 years and 4 months ago

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It’s a 2-family so it only has the one means of egress via the main stair. There is no fire escape.

hasibur.rahman07 | 3 years and 4 months ago

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What is the second means of egress from the second floor currently, a fire escape?

dorkofwindsor | 3 years and 4 months ago

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spiral staircase

jleogra | 3 years and 4 months ago

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@resident2, the tenants downstairs are actually co-owners of the building. We have an Architect who is preparing plans to file, but I was wondering if anyone had any other creative solutions.

resident2 | 3 years and 4 months ago

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Consult an Architect. It will need to be filed & permitted.
Secondly: what current tenants may accept is short sighted. What future tenants may be accept that do not know you may be difficult.

hasibur.rahman07 | 3 years and 4 months ago

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That’s good. Other ideas (may or may not be feasible)
– A drop down ladder off to the side
– A stair that goes down perpendicular to the rear facade

Hard to say more without seeing what’s going .

jleogra | 3 years and 4 months ago

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We do, and they are open to us having a stair down to their rear deck, but I was wondering if there were any other options that didn’t block their view out of their window pr take up as much space on their deck.

hasibur.rahman07 | 3 years and 4 months ago

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I understand it could be problematic to walk past their window to access the yard. However, don’t you need a good relationship with tenants to use the back yard as well?