Posted on 02/28/2007 8:36:38 AM PST by Cat loving Texan
Republican lawmaker's bill could gut Austin's home-size ordinance Seguin representative wants to limit cities' zoning restrictions
By Laylan Copelin AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Wednesday, February 28, 2007
A state lawmaker wants to rehab Austin's so-called 'McMansion' ordinance outlawing larger homes in central neighborhoods.
Rep. Edmund Kuempel, R-Seguin, said he filed the legislation at the behest of builders to get city officials negotiating on how the ordinance might be changed to better protect homeowners and landowners.
"It's certainly not Austin-bashing in any way, shape or form," Kuempel said. "We just wanted to let everyone know we're still interested in private property rights."
It's not unusual for lawmakers to second-guess Austin's decisions. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Legislature often rolled back or forced changes in ordinances or regulations it considered too punitive or out-of-step with the rest of the state.
House Bill 1736, city officials said, would effectively gut the ordinance.
In February 2006, the Austin City Council imposed a 30-day moratorium on construction of new houses or additions that neighborhood activists deemed too large and out-of-character with the bungalows and cottages of so many of Austin's older neighborhoods.
A month later, an interim ordinance was in place while a task force of homeowners and builders worked on final regulations that, in some neighborhoods, eventually limited the size of new homes or additions. Austin's home-size ordinance limits the size, shape and location of dwellings on urban lots in certain near-in neighborhoods.
The legislation would restrict cities to enforcing only one of three zoning standards: the percentage of a lot that may be occupied, the amount of impervious cover allowed on a lot or limits on the floor-to-area ratio.
"It guts the ordinance," said Laura Huffman, assistant city manager. "There is no middle ground in the legislation as proposed."
The desire to regulate the sizes of houses on smaller lots is an issue outside Austin too. These type of ordinances have been debated in other Texas cities as well as around the country.
Scott Norman Jr., a lobbyist with the Texas Association of Builders, said the way Austin approached the ordinance is much of the problem.
He said builders and some homeowners felt the City Council sprang the moratorium and interim ordinance on them, then stacked a task force developing the final ordinance to favor homeowners who wanted the size limits.
On the other hand, Norman said, the City of Dallas had a task force studying the issue for more than a year before it passed its ordinance.
Huffman said the moratorium was necessary because the city had so many applications for building permits for the larger homes. She denied the task force was stacked to favor either side.
Norman said the builders believe they can show that some homeowners saw their property values fall because of the ordinance. He also said the ordinance affects property owners in East Austin more severely because the lots are narrower there.
Huffman noted that the task force is supposed to report back to the City Council this fall on the impact of the ordinance. In the meantime, she said, officials are meeting with state officials and builders.
"We're asking, 'What is the underlying interest?' and 'How do we address that?' "
lcopoelin@statesman.com
Gee, I wonder how many of AlGore's environmental whackos, treehugging, salamander loving nutcases think those older homes are energy efficient? I bet those homes use much more energy than a larger and newer home.
I've seen some of them off of Exposition.
There is a couple living near me in Lago Vista who sold their - less than 1,000 SQFT - home in Kal-ee-forn-ee-ah for over $500,000. They paid cash for their 2,200 SQFT home just up the street. Imagine no mortgage payments and living in a new home.
Zoning laws are a violation of property rights. The only thing that can be done is a home owner be sued is if a home owner by doing something on his/her property harms his/her neighbor.
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