Posted on 02/14/2007 12:00:50 PM PST by Lorianne
South Miami commissioners issued a temporary moratorium on new, two-story home construction. Commissioners say they need time to draft a new land-use code to prevent oversized homes known as McMansions. ___ Some South Miami residents Tuesday applauded the City Commission when it voted to ban new construction of two-story homes for three months.
Others called the decision an example of government trumping property owners' rights.
City commissioners unanimously approved the measure, which leaders hope will stave off new, large construction while they take the time to tweak the land use code. Homeowners who have already submitted plans to the city won't be affected, said Julian Perez, director of Planning and Zoning.
Vice Mayor Randy Wiscombe, who sponsored the measure, said it was about preserving a quality of life.
''We are being priced out of our own homes,'' Wiscombe told the crowd. ``I am for development, but we should do it responsibly and preserve the integrity of our neighborhoods.''
During the three-month period, commissioners will schedule workshops with the planning and zoning board members, environmental review and preservation board and developers and residents to draft a provision limiting large homes on small lots known as McMansions.
The current land-use plan allows developers to build on 40 percent of the lot for the first floor with a second-story not to exceed 60 percent of the first floor.
Mayor Horace Feliu said the moratorium could be extended to four or five months if more time is needed to draft the new law.
More than a dozen residents spoke on the issue.
Architect Hector Fernandez, who told commissioners he recently moved to the city of Pleasant Living from Coral Gables, said the city was tampering with his development rights.
''Private property owners should not have their rights taken away just because,'' Fernandez said.
Wiscombe replied: ``It's my intention to find a solution to the problem, not to take away people's rights.''
City Attorney Luis Figueredo told the crowd that developers could apply for a waiver if a city board and commissioners approved it.
At the end of the meeting, resident-activist Bob Welsh applauded the move and handed each commissioner a five-pound bag of potatoes to illustrate the often used McMansion analogy: ``You can't put 10 pounds of potatoes in a five-pound sac.''
Commissioners, with the exception of Jay Beckman, accepted the potatoes.
Most people would gladly give up their freedom in exchange for the right to tell their neighbors what to do.
And of course, the water table is so high that basements are out of the question.
This bans construction of lots of relatively small houses, going all the way down to 1,500 square feet.
I wonder if the contractors have to put their work on hold, or if this just halts new building permits issued.
Also,
''We are being priced out of our own homes,'' Wiscombe told the crowd.
How 'bout consider addressing that problem instead?
Noooooooo... Vice Mayor Randy Wiscombe, who sponsored the measure, said it was about preserving a quality of life.
"A" quality of life??? As in limiting it at a certain point?
"How 'bout consider addressing that problem instead? "
By what? Putting a cap on the asking price for you house?
Property rights need to be reduced to make room for the new soviet man.
That seems like relatively strict zoning requirements already. They could go to a 33% first floor, or even the much more severe 25% first floor zoning now in place in some townships in northern NJ. The other trick is to include all covered surfaces, such as driveways and walkways, as part of the house foundation. Impervious cover zoning has also restricted McMansions in NJ pretty well. A 2800 ft^2 house on a 0.10 acre lot isn't that out of place in a area with unlimited in migration and ever increasing population densities, is it?
Not at all, not a price cap on sales.
The mayor said ''We are being priced out of our own homes,''
I meant that if higher demand for land in that area is HURTING the existing homeowners, the city planners aren't doing their job. It up to them to strike a right balance between attracting new building without going crazy. I was thinking along the lines of lowering taxes for the folks if they're victims of poor local govt and being "priced out of our own homes" . Not more regulations or tinkering.
I just think government is the problem, not solution.
Such things are usually a case of the first residents clamping down on newcomers on the theory that when they bought their lots they were acquiring rights to further unchangeability of neighborhoods. All development after I moved in is evil.
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