Roof Houses, Pent Houses and Bulkheads

Roof houses, pent houses, bulkheads and skylights above the roof line used to enclose elevator machinery or shafts may be more than twelve feet square, but shall not exceed in area the size of the shaft served thereby, except in the case of elevator shafts, which may be allowed an additional space of four feet on all sides. They shall not exceed twelve feet in height and shall not be used for any purpose except the storage of tools and appliances used for the maintenance of the elevators.

Roof houses, pent houses and bulkheads in first class buildings may be constructed of angle iron and four-inch blocks, plastered on the inside and outside, or covered inside and outside with metal covering or angle iron, and two-inch solid metal lath and plaster walls may be used, the door to be of metal frame covered with metal. For second and third class buildings, roof houses, pent houses, and bulkheads may be of wood frame covered with metal on the outside and plastered on metal lathing on the inside;

provided, that the door is covered with metal on both sides.

[1919, c. 156, Special Act, to take effect April 24, 1919.]

Sect. 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

[Approved May 8, 1905.]

[Order of July 21, 1905.]

Height Limit - Street Exceeding Sixty-jour Feet in Width

Buildings may be erected on streets exceeding sixty-four (64) feet in width, to a height equal to one and one quarter times the width of the street upon which the building stands; and, if situated on more than one street, the widest street is to be taken, the height to be measured from the mean grade of the curbs of all the streets upon which the building is situated, and not exceeding one hundred (100) feet in any event.

Width of Streets

If the street is of uneven width, its width will be considered as the average width opposite the building to be erected.

The width of a street shall be held to include the width of any space on the same side of the street upon which a building stands, upon or within which space no building can be lawfully erected by virtue of any building line established by the Board of Street Commissioners or the Board of Park Commissioners acting under general or special laws.

All streets or portions of streets upon which buildings may be erected on one side only shall be considered as of a width of eighty (SO) feet as to that portion upon which buildings may be erected on one side only.

In the case of irregular or triangular open spaces formed by the intersection of streets, the width of the street shall be taken as the width of the widest street entering said space at the point of entrance.

Parkway Restrictions

No building shall, however, be erected on a parkway, boulevard or public way on which a building line has been established by either of said Boards acting under general or special laws to a height greater than that allowed by said general or special laws, nor otherwise in violation of Section 3 of said Chap. 383, Acts of 1905.

Height Limit - Eighty Feet Exceptions

No building shall be erected to a height greater than eighty (80) feet unless its width on each and every public street upon which it stands will be at least one half its height.

Nothing in this order shall be construed as affecting any condition or restriction imposed by deed, agreement or by operation of law on any property in said Districts B.

Height Limit - One Hundred Twenty-five Feet -

District B.

The said Commissioner further provide that buildings may be erected to a height not exceeding one hundred and twenty-five (125) feet in that portion of the District B as established by the Commission on Height of Buildings in its order dated December 3, 1904, recorded with Suffolk Deeds, Book 3008, page 129, which lies fifty (50) feet westerly from the boundary line running from Columbus avenue to the centre of Boylston street, separating said District B from District A, as established by said order; provided, however, that said portion of District B is owned by the same person or persons who own the adjoining premises in District A.

[Revised Order of November 20, 1905.] Mechanic Arts High School.

1.    So long as the property owned by i he city of Boston on Dalton, Belvidere and Scotia streets, bounded 205.5 feet on Dalton street, 250 feet on Belvidere street, and 184 feet on Scotia street, be said measurements more or less, shall be used for a Mechanic Arts High School, any building or buildings thereon may be erected to a height of one hundred (100) feet.

2.    Add at the end of the third paragraph the words: "or by the Commonwealth or City," so that the concluding part of said paragraph shall read, "established by the Board of Street Commissioners or the Board of Park Commissioners acting under general or special laws or by the Commonwealth or City."

3.    After the tenth word in the fourth paragraph insert the word "lawfully" so that said paragraph shall read: "All streets or portions of streets upon which buildings may lawfully be erected, etc."

Note. - See chapter 333, Acts of 1915, Special Acts and Order following.

Chapter 416, Acts of 1907. An Act Relative to the Height of Buildings on Rutherford Avenue in the City of Boston

Height Limit One Hundred Feet

Section 1. The width of Rutherford avenue in the Charlestown district of the city of Boston, between Chapman street and the Mystic river tracks of the Boston and Maine Railroad crossing the northerly part of said avenue, shall be considered as eighty feet in respect to the height of buildings that may be erected on the southwesterly and westerly side of said avenue, between the points mentioned, so as to permit the erection of buildings to the height of one hundred feet, as provided for buildings erected on streets of the width aforesaid in district B by the commission appointed on height of buildings in the city of Boston, under chapter three hundred and eighty-three of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and five.