That said, the space is genuinely useful for a lot of things that look, from the outside, like living: working on cars into the evening, hosting friends in the second floor during a race weekend, using the full bathroom, keeping a fridge stocked.
The difference between using a unit and living in it
Using the unit during the day, detailing a car, running an engine, having a few people over to watch a race from the second floor, working late into the evening on a project, is exactly what these units are for.
What you can build up there instead
The second floor is plumbed for a wet bar and sits above the storage bay looking down over the cars, boat, or coach below, most owners fit it out as a lounge, an office, or a viewing space. The full bathroom supports a full day of work on a project or a full afternoon hosting people without anyone needing to leave the building.
That combination, a full bathroom, a wet bar, a lounge overlooking the vehicles, covers essentially everything people actually want out of the space.
If someone tells you otherwise
If a developer or a broker tells you, even quietly, that you can live in one of these units without anyone noticing or that the rule is not really enforced, they are selling you a problem, not a feature.
