The "McMansion" has fallen on hard times recently, as
property values fall, the economy stalls, and jumbo mortgages
get scarce. But some coastal towns in New England and New York
still see large homes as a potential threat to their
communities, and they're looking at ways to stop super-size
homes from being built.
In the coastal Massachusetts town of Truro, reports the Cape
Cod Times, "the Planning Board is considering a new zoning
bylaw that sets specific, townwide limits on the size of new
one- and two-family homes and renovations to existing homes."
("
Truro sizes up problem of trophy houses", by Mary Ann
Bragg). The proposal would limit new houses to no more than
4,000 square feet of living area. Depending on neighborhood
characteristics, the limit could be lower. (Of Truro's 2,006
existing single-family homes, reports the Times, only 63, or
about 3%, currently exceed the proposed 4,000-square-foot
cap.)
In Guilford, Connecticut, on the shore of the Long Island
Sound, efforts to cap house size are proving controversial, the
New York Times reports
("
When Is a Big House Too Big?", by Lisa Prevost). Writes the
Times: "Perplexed officials say they’re coming to the
conclusion that while property owners typically like the idea
of restricting the size of neighbors’ houses, they
often balk when it comes down to adopting zoning changes that
might limit their own options as well."
Economic forces and fashion trends, however, may end up
making the whole issue moot. As Avon, Conn., consultant Glenn
Chalder told the Times: "living large may go the way of big
hair — we just don’t
know.”