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City kills change in 'McMansion' proposal
January 23, 2008
Columbia City Council on Wednesday unanimously turned back a push by home builders and real estate agents to weaken the city's proposed "neighborhood character protection" ordinance.The ordinance is intended to prevent developers from tearing down historic homes, radically subdividing lots or building "McMansions" - houses that are out of scale with the lot they sit on and the homes around them.
The vote came in the face of an unprecedented mail and phone campaign funded by the local home builders and Realtors associations. The fliers touted an amendment that would have made it harder for neighborhood groups to adopt the rules.
"This is most intense zoning issue I've seen since I've been mayor," Mayor Bob Coble said after the vote. "I've never seen one with mail and phone banks before. And I've never had as strong and forceful a reaction from neighborhoods before."
An amendment backed by developers - and narrowly approved by the planning commission - had called for a majority of all property owners to sign a petition asking for the protections.
The council's original proposal required only a vote of those attending neighborhood association meetings. The council will take the first of two votes on that ordinance Feb. 20.
Requiring a majority of all property owners - including absentee landlords - to adopt the protections was unrealistic and unworkable, council member Tameika Isaac Devine said.
"For us to allow an absentee landlord who lives in New York to decide what is (built) next door instead of someone who has lived there for 50 years is not fair," she said during Wednesday's meeting. "We don't need to add another barrier."
The rules, called "interim measures," would be in place for two years while the city revamps its zoning laws for older, in-town neighborhoods. They require posted notice if a developer or landowner is going to subdivide or raze a home in neighborhoods that opt for the protections. New homes would have to be deemed compatible with their neighbors' by the city's Design Development Review Commission.
Ten neighborhoods already have a level of protection because they have been granted status as historic areas. Seven other neighborhoods - most recently Brandon Acres - are seeking the interim protections.
Many developers, home builders and real estate agents oppose the protections, because they believe it infringes on landowners' property rights. In addition to hurting developers, they said, it could prevent landowners from subdividing a valuable piece of property and using the money for their child's education or retirement.
One of those people is Tony Brown, 63, who bought a half-acre lot in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood. He lives on part of the lot but planned to subdivide and sell the rest it for income.
"I bought it under the current conditions," he said. "This (ordinance) might eliminate that option."
Council member Anne Sinclair said the DDRC would judge cases such as Brown's individually; so, his investment could still pay off. "It doesn't say that you can't subdivide or you can't build," she said.
The State
By JEFF WILKINSON
jwilkinson@thestate.com