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There are structures like this that use metal or fiberglass panels as well. You can build these on 4x 6 skids. When moving, nail diagonal 2x at the corners and one across the front and move it on the lot with your car/truck. They don't weight but about 7-800 lbs. You will need wind anchors, at least three each side.
Thank you all for your responses, especially Barking Spider, who makes the most sense to us...build it on a slab and brace it like crazy if it ever needs to be moved. We just have to get the DEQ to accept this as "moveable".
The code/requirement applies to "High Risk Erosion Areas" along shorelines, where the structure will be within 70 ft of the high water mark.
The house will be 50ft away from the HWM--the only way to fit it on the lot, and therefore must meet the "moveable" criteria to be granted the variance.
The crazy thing is, is that this property should not be in the "High Risk Erosion Area", which is defined as shoreline which has lost on average, 1 ft every year over 15 years, and the DEQ knows it. It is really intended for areas like sand dunes and high bluffs along Lake Michigan. We have a bolder retaining wall along the beach which has been there for 18 years with no erosion of the bank, which is heavily vegetated.
The house/garage will never actually have to be moved but we still have to comply with the law to be granted a variance and thus our permit.
Of all the questions that were asked I've seen one answered(?)- Lake Michigan.
Still haven't seen the actual code/recommendation. But from what I've read so far I think there's two answers-
No garage
Build the foundation
Putting up the money now will surely be cheaper than trying to move (conforming to AHJ's) that monstrously a decade from now.
The crazy thing is, is that this property should not be in the "High Risk Erosion Area", which is defined as shoreline which has lost on average, 1 ft every year over 15 years, and the DEQ knows it. It is really intended for areas like sand dunes and high bluffs along Lake Michigan. We have a bolder retaining wall along the beach which has been there for 18 years with no erosion of the bank, which is heavily vegetated.
The house/garage will never actually have to be moved but we still have to comply with the law to be granted a variance and thus our permit.
You may need to think out of the box here. Just because it has not eroded yet doesn't mean it is no longer a high risk area. Retaining walls are not permanent nor are they fail safe. You are implying that if the retaining wall were not there, you would have be no erosion for 18 years.
Look at any city mapping plan of erosion areas for the entire city, and you will see one recurring theme. Everything along a shoreline is mapped as an erosion or slope issue/area. You have got a body of water up against a hill side, which spells erosion.
I can only tell you one thing. You will not get any reliable advice if you do not provide some type of background information, which several knowledgeable people on this site have been asking for. This whole 'movable' structure statement does not even make sense at this point without any background info. Also, you should have an architect or engineer for this project, especially if your dealing with shoreline stuff, are you saying they do not know how to handle it?
People here discussing the garage as being built on a slab are not taking into account that most garages are built on a foundation, particularly one that will also be supporting a second floor, with the slab poured in afterwards. To meet the portability requirement may be as simple as raising the foundation a foot or less and providing open spaces or knockouts that would allow a few beams to be slid beneath the sill to raise it if moving ever was required. Building a more robust sill may also contribute to movability as would prepared locations for cross bracing.
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