Nov. 4--Town's character altered for worse by huge homes on tiny shoreline lots.
A revision in Guilford's zoning regulations should put a damper on builders putting grotesquely oversized homes on small lots near the water.
The out-of-place behemoths overshadow existing, smaller homes. If their construction continues, they will transform neighborhoods, as they have in Fairfield County. In many shore neighborhoods there, entire streets of more modest homes have been torn down for structures that cram the highest possible square footage onto small, pricey lots.
The zoning proposal in Guilford would change the rules for home construction along the coast. The percentage of land that could be covered by a building would be reduced. The ratio of the building's floor area to the lot size would be reduced as well. Finally, the maximum height of buildings would be cut from 35 to 30 feet.
There are already a number of homes that would be in violation of these proposed zoning rules. They would be grandfathered in, but the new rules would bar further expansion of these homes. The smaller the lot, the more the impact of the proposed rules. There would be no more huge homes on tiny lots.
The Planning and Zoning Commission is still developing the proposal, its definitions and the areas that would be affected. It should include not just areas where there have been complaints about outsized homes, but other neighborhoods where more modest homes could become future teardowns. Restricting the changes to just four coastal neighborhoods, as is being considered, amounts to discriminatory spot zoning and would fail to preserve the remainder of the coast.
There has been some concern that the proposed coastal zoning changes would hurt future tax revenue. But, protecting the existing nature of Guilford's waterfront communities will do more to enhance land values. A 5,000-squarefoot house on a sliver lot, plopped down in a neighborhood of homes barely one fifth the size, is not only out of place, but a detriment to the neighborhood's character and value.
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