In our recent community discussions there are two issues being placed in the same tub that shouldn’t be. The two unique and unrelated issues are (1) the zoning ordinance’s allowable scale and size of homes and (2) style control.
The Zoning Ordinance
The zoning ordinance addresses the scale and size of homes with three main measurements – lot coverage, floor area ratio, and setbacks. Together these measurements define the allowable home scale, size, and placement for each specific lot – how much of the lot can be developed, how many square feet can be built, and where a house can be sited in relation to the lot lines. How homes “fit” on their lots and are sized to their neighborhoods are proven components of city planning and land-use principles.
In the last decade, there have been size and scale issues in many urban communities, including here in Virginia-Highland, around "McMansions". These homes drastically exceed the size and scale of the surrounding neighborhood, and have few supporters outside their owners. These McMansions of all styles are the result of permissive variance processes from the local, planning unit, and city zoning departments. Protecting the scale and size of homes in urban neighborhoods means reducing the number of granted variances that exceed the spirit of the ordinance’s three main measurements.
Style Control
We don’t need style control to limit size and scale. Controlling style adds no protection from oversized McMansions that stricter enforcement of the existing zoning ordinance can’t accomplish. Enforcing current zoning ordinances allows all styles to exist and allows the neighborhood to grow and change without mandating specific style constraints. Unlike the zoning ordinance, Historic District Overlays include restrictions on the physical and visible design of all homes based upon the styles of select homes greater than 50 years old. In Virginia-Highland - where owners have chosen to renovate or build new homes rather than maintain older and often spatially obsolete homes – there are home styles reflecting each decade since the neighborhood was built. The rich and varied styles of these renovations and new homes reflect the private and personal style preferences of the owners, an individualism that is cherished and part of our community’s cultural DNA.
Preservationists want to tie these unique issues together and pose one solution – a Historic District Overlay – that is over-reaching and unnecessary to address oversized McMansions. Scale and size issues are best addressed independent of style, by our Virginia-Highland community communicating to the local, planning unit, and city zoning leaders that our community rejects variances that greatly exceed the three valued measurements of our zoning ordinance. Our community celebrates individuality and expressions of personal style – has thrived because of these - and is not interested in stunting the evolution of our neighborhood through style control.
Don’t Throw out Our Baby with the Bath Water!
Do not surrender our stylistic individualism when the issue at hand is size and scale. We don’t have to. Size and scale can be addressed through other means WITHOUT style constraints. If you agree with this, please consider supporting PRO VAHI. PRO VAHI is sending a message to the VHCA and other governing bodies that we reject style restrictions in Virginia-Highland and do not want Historic District Overlays that we believe are counter to our community’s cultural DNA. PRO VAHI supports addressing scale and size through the appropriate channels, not by adding an unnecessary style overlay on top of the issue. Please visit PRO VAHI at www.facebook.com/PROVAHI and sign and share the petition at www.change.org/petitions/residents-of-virginia-highland-support-the-property-rights-of-owners-in-virginia-highland with other Virginia-Highland residents who don’t want to lose property rights and individualism to style restrictions. Finally, please consider attending one of the planned meetings to learn more about the Historic District Overlay being proposed and to share your opinion.