GUEST EDITORIAL
by Daniel Paquette
Beyond the Two-Acre
Backyard: Planning for
Affordable Housing
For many small to medium-size
builders, the issues surrounding land
use and development seem quite
distant.
Many builders simply build new
homes for clients who already own
their lot, or they remodel existing
homes. Others buy existing platted
lots, or buy directly from a developer
whose job is to professionally acquire,
seek approvals for, and create
subdivisions of house lots for the retail
market. Builders typically become
concerned only when high prices or
scarcity of land creates a problem.
But behind the "pipeline" of
buildable lot production is a network
of complex and critical issues. These
issues will have a dramatic impact on
all builders and the products they will
be able