Sunday, November 9, 2008

Oyster Bay trying to zone out McMansions

The economic downturn may have slowed the number of applicants picking up building permits in this Nassau County enclave, but it hasn’t done much to ease discontent with what the town has already allowed in the way of construction: an impressive number of neoclassical trophy homes and supersized colonials on relatively small lots.

With longtime residents increasingly complaining that new two-story homes loom over their older houses and change the character of their streets, a proposal to limit the floor area ratio of one-family homes is now pending before the Oyster Bay Town Board.

According to Jack Libert, Oyster Bay’s commissioner of planning and development, officials have traditionally regulated home size by setting a maximum percentage of each lot that could be covered by a structure. If 20 percent coverage was allowed on a 10,000-square-foot lot, for instance, the “footprint” of a dwelling could be 2,000 square feet.


Un-Supersizing for Tomorrow

The new proposal goes a step further. The town is looking beyond the house’s basic footprint on the lot, to rein in the square footage in its upper floors.

Again taking the example of the 10,000-square-foot lot, Mr. Libert explained, the new rules would still dictate that the house’s footprint — its ground floor — be 2,000 square feet, but the developer “could only build 1,300 square feet above that.”

“By using floor area as well as the ground coverage” in the calculation, he added, officials can effectively respond to “what most people might feel is overbuilding.”

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's so frustrating how in Long Island, complaining will actually get you some results.

Anonymous said...

Not frustrating if you live on Long Island.

Anonymous said...

looks like the kind of place wade would live in.

Anonymous said...

This is remnants of when Souzzi was town supervisor up there. (Souzzi doesn’t believe in zoning or neiborhoods)
If left up to him Long Island would one big Roosevelt Island

All it took was a taste of a couple Bukharin's and Asians living 25 per UGKY house (all named Lee and Putsky) .

All hells breaking loose up these, poititions have litarally be chased out of town meetings by angry mobs and have reversed decisions.

Jon Kaiman suffered the wrath recently. The people almost killed him in the room. (he tried to allow renting McMansion basements placing a one liner in public notice in August when everbody was on vacation)
It was on News 12 I will look for a link (Newsday refused to report it)

Tom Souzzi got kicked out only to make County Executive on the tweed vote

Anonymous said...

Here is the story, he called it opening up "accessary space"
There is video out there someplace and the mob of 1000 people about to lynch him is pretty funny. He craps his pants and says "Ok Ok we will recind this ...calm down everbody"

www.antonnews.com/illustratednews/2008/09/26/news/

Anonymous said...

i think long island needs a little taste of what's been going on here in queens. those prisses need a good dose of reality.

pricks