CLERMONT, FL-Talk about embarrassing situations. Clermont citycouncil members in this Orlando bedroom community of 8,600permanent residents know all about them. One, in particular, hasthem stymied–approval for a $4 million, estimated 40,000-sf,two-story new city hall building. The building is 45 feet high,three feet over the legal limit.

The project hasn't been approved. The city's legal staff iscombing the building code to find an exception to the 45-footheight limit. If it can't find a legal out, city council will haveno alternative but to grant the project a variance, legalese for atechnical green light.

The 45-limit height restriction was written into the buildingdepartment's books in the days when the city's fire truck ladderscouldn't reach higher than 45 feet. Today, however, the ladders canstretch to 60-foot levels, making the old regulation technically,but not legally, moot, real estate lawyers familiar with the city'spredicament tell GlobeSt.com.