Questão jurídica principal
Whether an exception permit could be granted for the planned attic conversion under the local building regulations.
Decisão extraída
The permit could be refused despite the regulation allowing exceptions, because the authority had discretion and must follow general exception-permit principles, especially equal treatment and zone planning integrity.
Fundamentação extraída
The court held that the wording 'may grant' created a discretionary power. Even if the textual prerequisites were met, an exception may not be used to override the basic idea of zoning. Granting the requested permit would have required similar permits in many comparable cases and would have undermined the zoning scheme.