Height is measured as the vertical distance between the highest part of a building/structure and the finished at the midpoint of the front facade of the principal building, excluding chimneys, mechanical equipment, church spires, belfries, towers, and other miscellaneous additions and exceptions as provided in the Code.
As shown in Figure 5: Height Compatibility, compatibility of building heights is addressed by comparing principal building proposed heights, in both new construction and alterations, with existing principal building heights within the development zone. Proposed accessory structure heights are compared with existing accessory structure heights.
Building height compatibility can be accomplished by comparing similar types and styles of buildings. For example, a new Territorial style house should not be built to the height of its Victorian neighbor. The mass, volume, and scale of the Territorial building is quite different from that created by a hipped roof bungalow or more steeply pitched Victorian. A Territorial house built up to the allowable height of a pitched roof Victorian would look massive and out of scale.