Your Advice: My neighbors might have a kitchen in their garage

OK This is an odd one, I'm just looking for advice on how to handle this situation (if at all).

I live in a townhouse in the SouthernWalk area and I'm 99.9% positive my neighbor (end unit TH that Im connected to) built a kitchen in their garage.

Why do I know this? a few reasons:

1. There is a couple living in their basement
2. When that couple moved in there was a ton of construction going on in the garage, of which a large floor to ceiling wall was created sectioning off the back part of the garage
3. there was an oven delivered and stored in the garage during that construction
4. recently in the mornings I can smell food when I walk into MY garage and the smell gets stronger when I stand in front of my garage or walk in front of their home -- our kitchens are on the back of our THs so it isn't the upstairs kitchen.

Now, my only concern is that this is against code or possibly a fire hazard.

Any advice or insight?

 

Is it possible the kitchen is in the basement?

I would get in touch with the county and see if this is upto county codes.

here is a link to home occ - permits http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=685
and this is the building/zoning main page: http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=633&zoom_highlight=department+of+building

 

Cool I'll check that out.

It is highly unlikely that the kitchen is actually in the basement unless they did MAJOR renovations in the basement. Because our TH models are the same and the basement is one big square rec room with an adjoining bedroom.

The other thing that tips me off is that their garage light is on everytime I smell the food.

 

ah - that makes sense - heck I would knock on the door w/ a fork in hand and ask what's for dinner - b/c it smells yummy. LOL

 

I can not tell you with full legal certainty, but putting in an oven and what would reasonably be called a kitchen does require specific permits. I also believe in changes certain parameters of your house, like multi-family or something. It has implications for county taxes, rental insurance, homeowners insurance etc.

I lived in an apartment in a house with multiple units on there was only one "official" kitchen because of this issue. I had a kitchenette where my part was, but no oven was allowed, just a small fridge, sink and cabinets. I used a plug-in cook top and electric pans.

 

We run into this all the time and you have to check with Loudoun zoning and I doubt they would approve something like this. We have a hard to time getting any kind of approvals for guest homes and mother-inlaw-suites etc. And you can not rent rooms out to strangers etc. It is hard enough when they are your realatives. And I am sure the HOA has rules pertaining all this.

But it is a zoning issue with Loudoun County!! I would check there first. They got really tough on this since someone bought a home many years out in western loudoun and used it to rent out for parties and the neighbors began to complain. Then of course the illegals made this even worse.

 

Lee - I dont "think" the our HOA can enforce - so you're right this is 100% a county thing.

As for the illegals...dude

 

Well that, if anybody, is your fault. YOU designed all the buildings and homes people wanted and your developers hired them to build it for YOUR cusotmers. Illegals don't make it worse BTW.

 

Not my fault it is the people that keep coming to buy homes out here for the schools And actually we need a simple work program for the illegals to become legal. Further with the huge slowdown in construction mANY HAVE MOVED ON. And with the high price of gas Loudoun has not seen the worst in home prices.

thepea2001; many times HOA's have rules about what kind of people can have live in their homes outside their immediate families. I know my HOA does.

 

Be glad that it isn't a meth kitchen. One of those goes up and you can say goodbye to your whole block.

 

That happened to one of my officemates 2 years ago. Her next door neighbor's loser adult son was killed in his own meth lab fire and destroyed I think it was three townhomes.

 

you are a one trick pony.