A recent trend in Seattle and other parts of the country is the advent of Townhouses. Builders are able to get more units installed on a property that might have originally only had one home. The four unit Townhouse set-up is very common. The City of Seattle has recently come under considerable pressure to review its policies regarding Townhouses due to some people's belief that the structures are a form of urban blight. The Seattle PI did an article recently about the problem.
As an inspector I would say that some are and some aren't. As a way to achieve density while maintaining a sense of privacy and a sense of actually owning something, it seems like a stage somewhere between the single detached structure and the condo.
On a recent inspection of a new Townhouse, I noted that the access to the back units was less than desirable. To achieve greater coverage, often times, the driveway to the back units goes under the second floor of the front units. These driveways are often very narrow with low clearances. The front units are often damaged or subject to damage from automobiles.
There is absolutely no way to get large vehicles, like moving vans into the back units, and all large belongings and appliances would have to be moved by hand to the back units (anything that is, that would not fit in a small pick-up truck lying down). This picture was taken from under the front unit while walking up the driveway to the back units.
The headroom clearance at the end of the beam is 81-3/4" (Translated for those of you in the trades-----6 feet, 9-3/4 inches). The ladder on my Jeep Cherokee cleared by 8 inches.
While these conditions most likely meet jurisdictional requirements, they may represent restrictions to desired use by the buyer.
My buddy Steve's rig with the pop-up camper 
would definitely not fit under this beam.
Charles Buell
PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Click on the Rose 
to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group
PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
My WORDLESS WEDNESDAY pictures and some selected POEMS & STORIES.
Yikes Charles... They really built these. What were they thinking. Once you moved in, you would want to sell it in the future with furniture included and cut your losses.
The headroom clearance at the end of the beam is 81-3/4" (Translated for those of you in the trades-----6 feet, 9-3/4 inches).
BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Kim, lots of them----although this is the lowest clearance I have found.
Alison---no idea what "BWHAHAHAHAHA" means----but I accept:)
It means that was funny (having to translate inches to feet)!
If we just had those little smiley icons, that would help a lot! (Hint,Hint)
Alison, just being goofy here----I agree though---a nice list of "emoticons" to use would be fun!
A note: If I am slow to reply it is because for some reason I am no longer getting email notification of comments----anyone else having this problem?
I guess we won't see any basketball players moving in anytime soon!
Pat----good thing the Sonics are leaving down:(
Charlie B,
As a general means of self-preservation, I disagree with everything you say.....at least at first. However, in this case I make an exception. There are a number of new units built here where I think the planning department tossed out any logical requirement for parking. On weekends, Railroad will be full of friends of those living in the condos. They do not have to feed meters so they clog the streets. The merchants think it is really a swell arrangement. I sometimes wonder if the formula is one parking space is mandatory for every three people. Many of these folks could never have a friend spend the night. As a dad, then again, maybe that is not such a bad thing.
So did Son buy one of these or not? Did the inspector kill the deal???? : )
Steve, I think that in terms of some of these townhouses "planning department"
would have to be an oxymoron
Barbara, no deal killer here. My son used to own one of those old "sleds"---built like a tank.
Charles, you definitely need to know the vehicle heights to apply against these low clearances. I think, what was it, the original Cadillac Escalade was too "long" to fit in any standard garage.
That's crazy. Did the architect have a liquid lunch the day this was designed?
Gary, there are a lot of vehicles that would have issues in these places----better be thinking "cooper-mini"
Carol, most likely a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is up to:)
HHHHmmmm, Those do not look like anything I would want to own.
Sean Allen
As "the son" of this most recent blog I could think of several solutions to this problem that would allow for the clearance of vehicles deemed to tall. One could first take a sawzall and proceed to "trim" the above beams until clearance is provided. If this is not sufficient I would personally rent a jackhammer and just chisel my way to the right clearance. Worry not the Granada was a tough car and it could handle the "off roading". Unfortunately, width and length rather than hight is the problem with the 1976 Ford Granada in this situation. The best way to deal with width is to get a good and long starting distance to get your speed up (my Grenada had a top speed of about 65mps, 75 with a good tailwind) and force your way through the clearly too narrow opening (Rest assured the car will be fine, my dad was not exaggerating when describing the late great Granada as "built like a tank"). If I had to "make a hole" in this situation, I would veer to the right as it has been my experiance that thoes concreate retaining walls don't have a whole lot of give to them. Once you get the beast of a car in and you find that it might be too long to fit in the garage you might need to get some new blades for that sawzall and take about a foot and a half of the back end. With the car safely in the garage at this point you might want to pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Come to think of it... Perhaps it would be easier to live elsewhere!!!
Sean, probably not if that is a picture of your house on your home page:)
Klee, awesome reply----you had both Julie and me howling----that was an awesome car though wasn't it? You probably would have had to cut a foot and a half off of both ends to get it in one of those garages. Is there a term for the opposite of a "stretch"?
Charlie,
You have a lot of nerve getting your son on here. Aren't you afraid I will spill the beans on his old man?
Doesn't look like a place for hummers or large SUV's... I wonder what they were thinking... I guess that they weren't...
Steve----???????
Michael, definately no hummers going to be getting in there---but then again who wants a vehicle that costs more than their house:)