Residents, on the other hand, are fighting the ordinance and are holding a hearing on October 6 to address changes for non-compliant carports. Although more than 100 residents have complaints, Leon Dean appears to be the leader after dealing with the city’s requests for the past three years. An owner of attached and detached carports who modified one of his shelters over this time, Dean said:

“I’ve spent around $650 to get to this point for them to deny me. They say it doesn’t meet the zoning codes. Why have me spend the money when you’re going to tell me to tear it down anyway? It was a Catch-22.”

We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Nevertheless, this issue is fairly common for carport owners and can be nipped in the bud from the early stages of purchasing a shelter. Although some towns or cities may change ordinances, which happened last year in Austin, Texas, most have consistent codes for portable shelters. While a carport – enclosed or valance, is a significant benefit for sheltering a vehicle, the structure needs to be compliant. Otherwise, as you can see from this case in Kansas City, Kan., modifications may need to be made.

First, before you even purchase a carport, check with your town or city about ordinances for portable shelters. Inquire about size and location restrictions (these are common) and about permits. Frequently enough, a permit is not needed for installing a carport, but your area may be an exception. Once you’re aware of the codes for your area, you can use them as parameters for seeking out the ideal carport.

As reported in the Herald-Tribune, carports are being seen on historic and “elegant” homes, properties that ordinarily wouldn’t have them, and while these portable structures are often seen as throwbacks to the 1950s and ‘60s, they’re environmentally friendly, don’t take up as much space, and can be constructed in the backs of houses.

Aesthetically, garages take up a large portion of a home’s appearance and give a property greater mass. Environmentally, additionally, a garage can be a place for chemical gases, such as volatile organic compounds, to accumulate, and the brick-and-mortar structures are rarely equipped with ventilation.

So, how are carports making a comeback? Design-wise, properties are being constructed with them. But, unlike the dated four-post look of the ‘50s and ’60s, modern constructed carports have peaked or sloped roofs and, depending upon the needs of a homeowner, may come equipped with chargers for hybrid vehicles.

Constructing a brick-and-mortar carport is expensive, and portable structures have the same benefits. A portable carport can be placed just about anywhere within zoning regulations or building codes, including in the back of a house, and holds up to heavy snow loads, rain, and winds. Depending upon your needs, as well, carports come in valance and enclosed varieties. If you see the structure solely for protecting your car, consider a valance carport; if, on the other hand, the shelter is needed for storing items, consider an enclosed model. Additionally, depending upon the strength you need and the amount of usage for the shelter, carports are available with powder-coated or galvanized steel frames.

If these shelters were on display, there’s a great likelihood that they were not anchored into the ground. Aside from showing what can happen to a portable shelter in a storm, this news story sends a clear message to carport owners: make sure your shelter is properly anchored during the storm. Although these durable metal structures can handle various conditions, not anchoring them makes them more vulnerable in any weather condition: hurricanes, tornadoes, or snow.

If you want to make sure your shelter ends up in better shape after the storm, what are the options for anchoring it? The most reliable is concrete. The metal poles are set in concrete in the ground; once the concrete hardens, the rest of the shelter can be put together.

While concrete is ideal for those planning to keep a carport outdoors all year long, what about when you only use the shelter seasonally? Anchor kits are an option, allowing you to ground your shelter for part of the year and to take it down when not in use.

Even when anchored, shelters can still be damaged by a storm. If this happens, assess the damage done to your carport during the storm and find the right replacement parts or canopy.

Illegal converted garages have become an issue in Costa Mesa, Calif., according an article in The Orange County Register. As the result of a recent fire inside an illegally-converted garage, the city may make all garages illegal.

As the Register piece explains, garages can pose fire risks to apartment buildings, and if the space is converted into a living area, not enough exits are present. At the same time, carports cannot be turned into garages. At the same time, however, carports are not illegal in the city – assuming they are not converted into garages – while garages in apartment buildings may be.

Seen as a trend last summer, converted garages give a home an additional living area. A carport or portable shed, then, is added to protect any investments that ordinarily would have been kept in the brick-and-mortar structure. Converting your garage into a living area, however, is not as simple as moving the cars out and putting in furniture. Rather, the space needs to be compliant with local building codes. Before you decide to convert your garage into a living area, research your local building codes and obtain a permit.

As far as carports are concerned, a valance or enclosed structure is sufficient enough for sheltering one or more vehicles. Similarly, however, a permit may also be needed to install a carport or portable shelter. Before you begin looking at carports, look up any ordinances in your area and then search for code- and zoning-compliant shelters.

A carport blowing over is the most notable fact of this news story, and for most people, this is insignificant: Carports blow over; repair the one you have or buy a new one.

Yet, for carport owners, this news item about a storm in Quinlan, Tex., indicates the times when carports just are not strong enough to hold up to weather. As the piece explains, winds up to 100 miles per hour hit east Texas, blowing roofs off homes – and inevitably off carports.

You may think to yourself, “Aren’t carports, once properly installed, supposed to hold up to all types of weather, even extreme storms?” Durability for all products – even portable storage shelters – is not absolute. At some point, a natural disaster, such as a hurricane or earthquake, may hit your town and your carport is just not strong enough.

As you recall, most carports are strong enough to handle winds up to 95 miles per hour, assuming the shelter is anchored into the ground. The structure is also capable of supporting at least 40 pounds of snow per foot; some designs handle up to 53 pounds per foot. Yet, instances like the storm in Quinlan come along and may damage your carport.

At this point, what do you do? Once you have assessed the damage done to your home, examine the carport. How did the frame hold up? Was the roof the only portion damaged? If the frame is still usable, only the roof may need to be repaired. For typical polyethylene and steel carports, replacement tarps and other replacement parts can be found at many canopy dealers.

The Bristol Press reported last week that a carport attached to the Bristol Emergency Shelter collapsed, and the repercussions were more than a caved-in structure. Instead, the carport also snapped a gas line and the building’s electrical system. The carport, as the article mentions, is not the only one in Bristol, Connecticut, to cave in, and snow accumulation on carport roofs all over the city is causing these portable structures to cave in.

The Bristol Press piece also includes statements from the city’s Chief Building Official regarding the collapse of building and carport roofs. In all cases, roofs that are rotting or are not properly put together have a greater chance of collapse. State building codes, as mentioned, require a roof to support 40 pounds of snow and ice per square foot.

If you own a carport in Connecticut or another state, what does this mean for you? Take these three factors into consideration:
• Always anchor your structure. A carport, portable garage, or similar portable storage building cannot support as much snow or hold up to high winds if not anchored into the ground. In many cases, the structure will blow over or collapse.
• Clean off your carport. You likely own a carport so you don’t have to clean off your vehicle every morning. This doesn’t mean, however, that you should let snow accumulate on the roof. No matter if you own a fully steel or metal and polyethylene carport, regularly clean off any snow and ice. If your areas regularly experiences heavy snow, consider a rounded roof carport.
• Check the stability of the structure. Metal rusts and polyethylene becomes worn. As winter approaches, check your shelter’s construction for any rusted or worn parts. If any exist, find the appropriate replacement canopy parts or replacement tarps and fix your shelter ahead of time.

As explained in the Gazette piece, Giangi has had contractors remove snow from his sloped driveway, but their work was mediocre; he has also been unable to get students to remove snow for him. Tempo structures, it appears, would benefit him and other independently-living seniors in the area who have difficulty removing snow.

Although Kirkland will not overturn its carport ban, in what ways are these structures beneficial to seniors and anyone else? The metal and polyethylene structure, when anchored into the ground, is strong enough to hold up to snow and high winds. When a large storm hits, such as the one the Northeast experienced recently, a carport conveniences the homeowner. He or she does not need to dig out the vehicle from several feet of snow. Instead, a path just needs to be created from the vehicle to the street.

If you consider appearance a downside of carports and similar portable storage buildings, various local ordinances specify that the shelters be placed in the rear or toward the side of a home or building only. This way, the homeowner is able to protect his or her vehicle or other investment, and the shelter is not visible from the front of the house. Should Kirkland consider such a compromise?

If you live in Salem, Oregon, this space becomes part of your yard, according to the Statesman Journal. As detailed in the article, a resident of Salem converted her garage into a bedroom and parked her car in the driveway in front. Not too long after, she was ticketed for leaving the vehicle in her yard.

As explained in the article, Salem considers a car not parked in a carport or in a traditional garage to be on a yard. A local code specifies against parking a vehicle in such a location. But what isn’t mentioned in the article is, if she had put a carport over the driveway, would keeping her car in the same area be legal?

As we’ve seen in various instances, making any modifications to your home or property should be consulted with your town first before any changes or construction is made. Much like this instance in Salem, carports and other portable garages have their own set of local concerns. Aside from outright bans against the structures, towns often restrict them to certain locations, and a structure that is set in concrete in the ground may have a different set of local codes than one that is simply anchored. Like we’ve seen in many instances, doing your research before purchasing a shelter is necessary, as is before making modifications to your garage.

It’s not blight, but it doesn’t have the same cleanliness of a white picket fence and perfectly mowed lawn. While we’ve seen carports restricted or banned on several occasions because of a local ordinance, they’re now a concern in Mount Airy, North Carolina. As a story from the Mount Airy News mentions, residents of the town object to their placement in “highly visible” areas and are concerned about the structures devaluing homes and neighborhoods.

As the Mount Airy News story mentions, the town proposed a ban on carports in 2008, but several board members thought this violated their private property rights.

Although this issue still seems to be up in the air, it brings up a few points regarding carports and similar portable shelters. First, always consult any local laws or ordinances before purchasing a shelter. Although outright bans are rare, many areas have restrictions on the size and location of a carport.

Second, understand that these ordinances may change. Property values go up, and residents see this correlate to the visual appearance of the neighborhood. As we saw two weeks ago, a revised carport ordinance in Austin, Texas was costing some residents thousands of dollars to remove their shelters or in fines. While a carport or similar portable building is designed to last for many years, realize that you may need to make modifications on it at some point.

But when an ordinance is changed or is reinforced after several years, the effects can be costly for those who have these portable shelters in undesirable locations on their properties. In the case of a recent news story from Statesman.com, homeowners in an Austin, Texas, neighborhood are still feeling the results of a changed carport ordinance from a year before. In 2009, all carports and portable garages were declared illegal in the Fairview neighborhood of Austin, according to the article, but those in the neighborhood have yet to remove their structures.

For some, as the article explains, the carports were part of the house and were there before the current residents arrived. In fact, these structures may have been in place for decades and, particularly if the carport is attached to the home, the removal process would be costly. Nevertheless, the city charges up to $2,000 per day for shelters not removed and will disconnect utilities.

Some exceptions can be made to local ordinances, and carport structures are no exception. As the Statesman.com article explains, some in Fairview can be granted floodplain variances, which, as the writer goes into, are a time-consuming process.

In instances like this, you can never be sure if the carport or portable garage on your property is acceptable today and illegal tomorrow. But, as portable garages and carports have shown, portable structures are easier to move and remove than those attached to a home.