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Knock. Knock. Homeowners with unpermitted garage conversions will soon be contacted by the City of Farmers Branch Community Services Department.
Most likely, residents will receive a letter or door hanger, rather than a visitor to their front door, to let them know the city has implemented a new amnesty program so those homeowners can receive permits for repairs and remodels without having to build or re-convert their garages.
“We’re going to do our best to notify the community at large as well as specifically these 1,000 people,” said Sarah Bergman, deputy director of planning. “The city cannot require them to apply for the amnesty permit, but we want to advertise the benefit.”
Farmers Branch City Council wants all homes in the city to be meet standards set in the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, which requires all single-family homes to have a garage. According to city surveys, more than 1,000 garages have been converted to living space without a permit.
“The reason for the amnesty conversation is because there’s so many, so the question is how do we fix this moving forward?” City Manager Ben Williamson said. “After the amnesty program, we would treat it just like any other code violation or zoning violation.”
In some cases, a homeowner wants to repair or remodel their house, but cannot because the lack of additional garage makes them ineligible for a building permit, said Danielle Summers, director of community services. Their options are to either re-covert the garage for automobile storage or build a new garage, which are often not feasible for homeowners.
The council unanimously approved the amnesty program at the July council meeting, which will give homeowners 18 months to apply for amnesty.
The process requires an application, a $100 fee and an inspection for life and safety issues, such as hot water heaters in bedrooms. Re-application and extensions will align with the city’s standard building permit process.
“Our hope is to capture all of these we can from today going back into the past so homeowners don’t have that problem,” Danielle Summers said.
The city’s communication program will likely include English and Spanish information in social media, city email newsletter Branch Bulletin, website updates, the water bill insert, which goes to all homeowners, and door hangers and mailed letters to properties with known garage conversions.
