I get by with a little help...

I really don't want to turn this blog into a running diary about my home improvement projects, but I don't know where else to turn with this quandary other than the collective intelligence of my readers. Yes, you're a smart bunch. So here's the situation.

We're building a deck. Well, we're not yet building anything – we're just being told how big a bite out of our meager net worth will be required to have someone install a flat wooden platform. As part of this process, we're discussing details of the design with the experts, and this is where the problem comes in.

First, our house:


Thankfully, this depiction is pretty accurate (though the deck is actually flush with the rear line of the kitchen). What we want to do is basically cover the whole side yard (which is actually kind of the front yard because of the door's location) with a deck, from the carport to the existing deck's rear line and from the house to an existing privacy wall that stands approximately one foot from our property line (the "top" edge of our carport [according to the picture] is approximately three feet from the same property line).

Does that make sense?

Yesterday, a contractor brought up the setback issue (he was the first one to do this). He didn't know what the rules are for HoCo, and since I didn't either, I decided to call today to see if our dream deck will remain as such.

Here's what I was told by a somewhat helpful bureaucrat: The setback for side yard property lines in Columbia is 7.5 feet.

But, I said, our carport is only three feet from the side property line, well within the setback zone. He had no response to this.

Also, though I didn't bring it up to him, there are many house additions and decks in my neighborhood that are clearly less than seven feet from property lines.

What gives?