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Posted on 06/14/2005 12:07:53 PM PDT by Stew Padasso
Neighbors dictate 'nice' home
New houses in Monroe neighborhood forced to measure up
MICHELLE CROUCH
Staff Writer
Bettye Howard's house in Monroe's Winchester community is your typical Charlotte area starter home: tall and narrow on a corner lot, three bedrooms, vinyl siding and a tiny front porch.
Her neighbors hated it.
They said it didn't fit in their community of ranch homes about 30 miles from uptown Charlotte. Monroe leaders agreed, and created a neighborhood program that is apparently the first of its kind in the region.
Now, every new home in Winchester must have at least a 12-foot front porch, a two-car garage or carport, a brick exterior, two trees in the front yard and more.
Town planners say such rules protect the character of older communities, a common concern in Monroe and across the region. Thirteen other neighborhoods have signed up since the program launched in 2003.
But the neighborhood zoning districts frustrate builders, who say they force up housing prices. And Howard wonders why the city is dictating good taste.
"I actually think my house is one of the nicer ones in the neighborhood," said Howard, who lived in a trailer park before paying $82,000 for her home.
Similar debates have erupted elsewhere as governments have increasingly become involved in how new development should look. Huntersville, for example, requires front porches on new homes, while Davidson has banned vinyl siding. Raleigh allows neighborhoods to adopt general standards, such as how tall homes can be and how far they must be from the lot line.
But local planners and developers say they know of no other government near Charlotte that has adopted such specific rules for single neighborhoods.
In Monroe, any neighborhood can ask for any type of rule as long as the majority of homeowners want the change. Some dictate the size of homes; others focus on how the buildings look.
"We had some contractors looking to build the smallest thing they could, make their money and get out," said Wayne Herron, Monroe's planning director. "The council wanted to protect the neighborhoods and their property values."
Because many newer neighborhoods already have legally enforceable deed restrictions, most requests have come from older neighborhoods worried about the use of vacant lots for new construction, or the redevelopment of existing property.
Similar concerns have arisen in Charlotte's close-in neighborhoods, especially as more developers tear down older homes to make way for larger ones.
But the Charlotte City Council has shied from dictating the size or architectural details of homes except in the city's four historic districts, where any change to a home's exterior and all new construction must be approved by a city panel.
"It would be a very expensive, bureaucratic step for the government to get involved in the design of the specific building or home on a lot," said Mayor Pat McCrory.
Winchester, one of Monroe's oldest neighborhoods, was built in the early 1900s to serve the workers of a nearby cotton mill. It quickly became the center of the area's African American community; Union County's first black school was built there in 1922.
The neighborhood today consists of about 1,000 homes. Most are old mill houses, bungalows and brick ranches built in the first half of the 20th century. There is also some public housing and a few newer homes.
Annie Allen, a lifelong resident, said the community has always been organized, but neighbors rallied after Howard's house was built two years ago.
"I just knew if we didn't do something they were going to put those straight-up houses like that all over the neighborhood," she said.
The new rules had one of their toughest tests last year when Habitat for Humanity wanted to build a home in Winchester on donated land. The nonprofit haggled with the city over the rules for months.
Ultimately, the group got an exception from the garage requirement, but met all other conditions. The result, neighbors say, is one of the best-looking Habitat houses in the region, with a crawl space, brick exterior and an adorable front porch.
Contractor Cindy Hahn, who has built in Winchester before, estimated the new rules add at least $20,000 to the price of a new home, prompting many builders to go elsewhere.
"I just don't understand how a government body can tell you what size and type of home to build," she said. "I think that is a property owner's right, not government's right."
Bettye Howard, meanwhile, said she doesn't need frills like a garage, brick walls or an extra storage building.
If those things had been included in her home, she said, she probably couldn't have afforded it.
Where have we heard similar words before????????
This kind of crap is what happens when you let uptight busybodies establish a nanny state mentality over the past few decades.
Try living in a "Historic District" if you think HOA's are bad.
The "liberal", "tolerant" "Democratic" fascist taste police are everywhere.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Ve are heer vrom de gofernment. Ve are heer to help you.
I know I've heard something like this before. I just can't put my, nicotine stained, finger on it.
Litchfield, CT. I lived in the County, but not the town. Hear lotsa stories, though.
LOL!!!!
Stage one thinking that will drive everyone's housing prices up. For an example of what this can lead to, take a look at the bay area in Kookifornia.
HOA's are a lawsuit waiting to happen. I say this as president of my HOA. We moved into a new community 8 years ago knowing that an HOA was part of the deal. The HOA would not become active 'til 75% of the lots sold. Well, it became active last fall. The developer put out a notice calling for folks to get on the ballot. We (group of friends) heard some of the names and some of the plans to be the HOA Nazi's working to get rid of cars parked in driveways, sheds, fences, boats, etc. and decided to run. We got 3 of 4 slots with the 4th going to a very reasonable guy. We don't dictate anything and try to be fair. We collect enough to pay for insurance and common area maintenance. Our view is what you do on your property is your business, not ours. That will last only as long as we are on the board. Frankly, its so much work that none of us intends to run fro re-election (which won't happen until the remaining 25% are sold (which could take 2 years).
"Try living in a "Historic District" if you think HOA's are bad."
Had a family here in Boulder county, Colorado that wanted to tear down the old family home. This place was literally falling down but the County wouldn't let them demolish it because it was "historic". They finally won in court.
Did you highlight the entire post?
OMG....................you are so BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!
What about the folks that had 200,000 bees taking up residence inside the house (under the floors) in a historic district. They had to spend thousands more than necessary to eradicate the bees because it was a historic property...
Exactly. To combat this, you have to run for a seat on the committe and encourage others to do so. Throw the current officeholders out and tell the busybodies to go back to peaking out of their windows and evesdropping on the neighbors.
Law of unintended consequences
Saw something similar happen here at Boulder. The city planners put in restrictive rules and then after a couple of years, they could not afford to hire any police / fire / EMTs. This was because of "home rule" which required city employees to live within the city. Since the price of housing when up, no one could afford to live within the city.
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