Seattle Megahouses on the Chopping Block

08/14/2008

Earlier this summer, the city of Seattle took aim at unsightly townhouses. Now, the city council wants to reign in the size of so–called mega–houses. KUOW's Liz Jones reports.

IN SOME SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOODS, RESIDENTS HAVE COMPLAINED THAT NEW HOUSES ARE TOO TALL, TOO WIDE AND TOO DIFFERENT. NEIGHBORHOOD TENSIONS CAN ARISE WHEN THE NEW STRUCTURES REPLACE OLDER HOMES, AND TOWER OVER ADJACENT PROPERTIES. THE CITY COUNCIL IS GRAPPLING WITH NEW REGULATIONS TO ADDRESS THOSE CONCERNS.

COUNCIL MEMBER SALLY CLARK SAYS A HOME'S EXTRA–LARGE SIZE SOMETIMES SPURS OTHER ISSUES.

CLARK: "And size then leads to people saying 'and they're taking out all the trees. And it's just got a great big garage on the front of it. And there isn't any more sunlight for my house. And it's completely out of character. The rest of the houses are all different from what this one house will be."

CLARK ADMITS THE PROPOSAL DOESN'T ADDRESS ALL THOSE COMPLAINTS. BUT THE IDEA IS TO MAKE SURE NEW HOMES FIT THE SCALE AND CHARACTER OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD. UNDER THE PROPOSAL, THE SIZE FOR MOST HOUSES WOULD BE LIMITED TO A SMALLER RATIO OF THE OVERALL LOT SIZE.

ACROSS THE LAKE, BELLEVUE HAS ALSO DEALT WITH SIMILAR CONCERNS. THE CITY INTRODUCED NEW REGULATIONS LAST YEAR THAT REQUIRED HOUSES TO PRESERVE MORE YARD SPACE AND TREES.

CHERYL KUHN IS THE CITY OF BELLEVUE'S NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH MANAGER. SHE SAYS CITY IS NOW CONSIDERING ANOTHER SET OF REGULATIONS THAT COULD LIMIT THE SIZE OF NEW HOMES.

KUHN: "People will still be able to build very large houses. But if it's close to your neighbor's house, you're going to have to do something to make sure you're not casting a shadow over their house."

KUHN SAYS CITY PLANNERS ARE WORKING OUT THE SPECIFICS ABOUT POSSIBLE SIZE RESTRICTIONS. BUT LIKE SEATTLE'S PROPOSAL, KUHN SAY'S BELLEVUE'S GOAL IS TO KEEP NEW HOMES WITHIN THE SCALE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD. BOTH CITY COUNCILS IN SEATTLE AND BELLEVUE EXPECT TO VOTE ON NEW MEGA–HOME REGULATIONS THIS FALL. LIZ JONES, KUOW NEWS.

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