My cow orker‘s IM just reminded me to crackplog in short about this quote in this puff piece about the McMansion ordinance:
People, like Karen McGraw, who live in smaller homes, say bigger homes mean more residents — and more cars. They also worry about drainage and trees. McGraw is also a member of the Hyde Park Planning Association.
MCGRAW LIVES IN 3600 SQUARE FEET IN HYDE PARK, DAMMIT. That’s HUGE compared to her neighbors. In the meantime, my neighbor will likely face the ‘choice’ between demolishing the garage apartment in his backyard or foregoing the second floor on his house (current size: 1010 square feet; family about to grow to 5).
Also, this, again from McGraw:
“Trees are actually retention devices and help to retain a lot of water that otherwise might run off. So, we’re very concerned with losing tree cover,” said McGraw.
The most likely effect of FAR regulations on my family’s eventual expansion plans is that we will build back rather than up. Hence, MORE IMPERVIOUS COVER. LESS TREES.
Worse still, I can guaran-damn-tee you that once this stuff passes, it will only embolden these people. Next up they *will* be trying to snoop in your yard for various non-conforming installations, lifestyle choices, etc. They’ve already started the drumbeat of “the city doesn’t have enough inspectors, we should allow the use of volunteers to help them”
Hello. That’s my house and my wife on the news8austin site. I’ve been ranting a bit about this issue over here:
http://www.thismetalife.com/erwinhouse/archives/2006/05/under_the_big_t_1.html#comments
When I was living in Orange County, I was an intern and very broke. I was renting a single room from a family that lived in a HUGE home where there was a very strict neighborhood association. They made my life very difficult, and did their best to humiliate me due to the fact that my car had to park on the street, and it was an older vehicle. (the nicest one I’d ever owned I should add.) At one point I discovered that I couldn’t even buy a car I was considering because it had a dent in it, and that was not allowed to be parked in that neighborhood. I also recieved notes on my windshield requesting that I moved my Blazer a few feet to the left or right so they “couldn’t see it out their front window.” Jerks! It wasn’t even a bad looking Blazer! No rust, no leaking, no nothing! They just wanted power over every little detail.