Two Misunderstood Realities
Two common issues that keep coming up are the idea that boathouses are prohibited and confusion as to the roof snow-load design requirements. Boathouses are regulated by local Town law and by the Adirondack Park Agency [APA].
Roof snow-load design requirements are regulated under the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code [The Uniform Code].
First, boathouses are NOT prohibited either by the Town of Webb or the APA.
Although over the past few years the APA has amended the regulatory requirements of size, height, use and design, they are not prohibited.
The definition of a boathouse, as taken directly off the APA website, is:
BOATHOUSE means a covered structure with direct access to a navigable body of water which:
(1) is used only for the storage of boats and associated equipment; (2) does not contain bathroom facilities, sanitary plumbing, or sanitary drains of any kind; (3) does not contain kitchen facilities of any kind; (4) does not contain a heating system of any kind; (5) does not contain beds or sleeping quarters of any kind; (6) does not exceed a single story in that the roof rafters rest on the top plate of the first floor wall, and all rigid roof surfaces have a minimum pitch of four on twelve, or, alternatively, one flat roof covers the entire structure; and (7) has a footprint of 1,200 square feet or less measured at the exterior walls (or in the absence of exterior walls, at the perimeter of the roof), and a height of fifteen feet or less. For the purpose of this definition, the height of a boathouse shall be measured from the surface of the floor serving the boat berths to the highest point of the structure.
The dimensional requirements specified herein do not apply to a covered structure for berthing boats located within the Lake George Park, provided the structure is built or modified in accordance with a permit from the Lake George Park Commission and is located fully lakeward of the mean high-water mark of Lake George.
—
The Town of Webb has not altered or amended the definition of a boathouse since back into at least the 1970’s, which reads as follows:
BOATHOUSE: A structure with direct access to a navigable body of water used for the storage of one or more boats and associated equipment and which is not used as a dwelling.
—
Because both definitions apply (neither one trumps the other), the most restrictive would apply.
Although the Code Office is not an enforcement arm for the APA, a building permit for a boathouse will not be issued unless the proposed design meets the minimum standards of both definitions.
In other words, the Code Office will not intentionally issue a permit knowing the APA definition will not be met.
Our job here is to help the applicant through the process, not throw them under the bus.
As for roof snow-load design, regulated by the Uniform Code, there have been changes over the past ten years.
It’s amazing that design professionals, architects and engineers, will submit plans not even indicating what the design rating for a roof system is, or they have the wrong design criteria.
When looking in the Uniform Code books, there is a snow zone map of the state.
This map indicates the minimum pounds-per-square-foot design criteria required depending on the location in the state.
For this area, the map shows that 80 pounds per square foot is the minimum.
Many plans come in with that number used for roof design. At least the designer found the chart in the code.
But what they did not do was read the fine print.
As copied from the Residential Code of New York:
TABLE R301.2(1) CLIMATIC
AND GEOGRAPHIC DESIGN
CRITERIA – [sub-note i.] The ground snow loads to be used in determining the design snow loads for roofs are given in Figure R301.2(5) for sites at elevations up to 1000 feet.
Sites at elevations above 1,000 feet shall have their ground snow load increased from the mapped value by 2 psf for every 100 feet above 1,000 feet.
The elevation at the dam in Old Forge is 1,709 and Twitchell Lake is over 2,000.
Please read the fine print.
