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glatt · 03-28-2013, 07:44 AM

Two different examples here in Arlington.

My friend lives in an old farmhouse in Arlington. It's been modernized and is a very nice house. About a decade ago, the county widened the cul de sac in front of his house, bringing it close to his front porch steps. Years later, his front porch steps were crumbling. They needed to be replaced. He wanted to replace them with a covered front porch that would have steps that would come down to within a foot or so of the curb. The county forbid it. Too close to the road. But his house predated the road. He's an attorney, and he was motivated, so he fought them and won. He built his new front porch, and it fits perfectly with the house and the neighborhood and looks very tasteful, and the front steps work fine. The government was a hindrance in his example. They did absolutely no good.

Second example is that a developer came in to the street one block from me and tore down 3 old small adjacent houses and built 4 giant McMansions in their place. The old houses were 1.5 stories. The new houses were 4 stories. He did this at a time when it was in the news a lot that McMansions were being crammed in to neighborhoods and really ruining the character of them. And he built them taller than the land was zoned for. He had to know what he was doing. After they had been framed, everyone in the neighborhood was like WTF? Complaints were made. The county came out and measured them and informed him that they were too high, and he chopped off parts of the roofs to make them come into some semblance of compliance. They look like hell. The roof lines are all wrong, and of course they are too big for the land they are sitting on. The developer didn't give a shit. He was in compliance now. The thing that amazed me is that people bought them. And they weren't cheap. So the County in this example tried to fix the problem, but they were not effective. They were a nuisance to the developer, which pleases me, but that was about it.

03-28-2013, 07:44 AM	#11
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Two different examples here in Arlington. My friend lives in an old farmhouse in Arlington. It's been modernized and is a very nice house. About a decade ago, the county widened the cul de sac in front of his house, bringing it close to his front porch steps. Years later, his front porch steps were crumbling. They needed to be replaced. He wanted to replace them with a covered front porch that would have steps that would come down to within a foot or so of the curb. The county forbid it. Too close to the road. But his house predated the road. He's an attorney, and he was motivated, so he fought them and won. He built his new front porch, and it fits perfectly with the house and the neighborhood and looks very tasteful, and the front steps work fine. The government was a hindrance in his example. They did absolutely no good. Second example is that a developer came in to the street one block from me and tore down 3 old small adjacent houses and built 4 giant McMansions in their place. The old houses were 1.5 stories. The new houses were 4 stories. He did this at a time when it was in the news a lot that McMansions were being crammed in to neighborhoods and really ruining the character of them. And he built them taller than the land was zoned for. He had to know what he was doing. After they had been framed, everyone in the neighborhood was like WTF? Complaints were made. The county came out and measured them and informed him that they were too high, and he chopped off parts of the roofs to make them come into some semblance of compliance. They look like hell. The roof lines are all wrong, and of course they are too big for the land they are sitting on. The developer didn't give a shit. He was in compliance now. The thing that amazed me is that people bought them. And they weren't cheap. So the County in this example tried to fix the problem, but they were not effective. They were a nuisance to the developer, which pleases me, but that was about it.