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Definitions City Code 78-1 <br /> Basement means that portion of a building that is partly or completely below the existing ground level. A basement <br /> shall be considered as a story for purposes of determining the number of stories in a building, when the finished <br /> surface of the floor above the basement is more than six feet above the existing ground level for more than 50 <br /> percent of the basement's perimeter. The perimeter of the basement does not include portions of the house or <br /> garage that do not have a lower level but are merely"unexcavated". Artificially raising the grade adjacent to the <br /> foundation of a structure (by filling or by a combination of filling and retaining walls) above the surrounding natural <br /> terrain shall not be allowed as a method for converting a defined story to a defined basement, regardless of any <br /> other benefits to the property of such action. Finished grade that increases more than one foot from existing ground <br /> level shall be considered as artificially raising the grade. However, artificially raising the grade when such action <br /> merely restores a previously excavated site to its original natural grade may used as a method for converting a <br /> defined story to a defined basement. <br /> Building height means the vertical distance between the highest adjoining ground level at the building or ten feet <br /> above the lowest ground level, whichever is lower, and the top of the cornice of a flat roof, or the deck line of a <br /> mansard roof, or the uppermost point on a round or other arch-type roof, or the median height of the highest gable <br /> of a pitched or hipped roof. Topographic changes which elevate the adjoining ground level above the existing terrain <br /> shall not be considered in determining building height. For a pitched or hipped roof situation, regardless whether the <br /> highest living space in a building is a half-story or full story, if the highest living space contains windows (excluding <br /> skylights)the upper measuring point for defining building height shall be the median height of the top of the highest <br /> window and the highest peak of the roof. <br /> Half story means the uppermost floor of a building in which (i)the intersection of the exterior wall and the roof is not <br /> more than three feet above the floor elevation, and (ii) not more than 60 percent of the floor area within the exterior <br /> walls of the uppermost floor exceeds five feet in height as measured from the floor to the rafters. Floors exceeding <br /> these parameters shall be deemed a full story. <br /> 4 <br />