Sunday, April 29, 2007
It Never Ends
Just when I thought we were in the clear with all of the government approvals I find that the man is threatening to place a Historic Zoning Overlay on properties within Germantown. So much for property rights. There is a public meeting coming up where we can provide input. I wonder if they would be at all responsive to my input to get the hell out of my way.
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3 comments:
If you would read the overlay, you would realize that the overlay doesn't prevent modern buildings. It just protects the historic homes within the core of the neighborhood.
Germantown is pretty receptive of modern design and actually, I LOVE modern homes (am a subscriber to Dwell) and am happy that your design was approved.
Germantown is a great neighborhood...wish you would give those that live there a chance!
I love Germantown, that is why I purchased a lot there and will be spending ferocious amounts of effort and cash in order to build a home there. I don't have any beef with anybody in Germantown, just with the general attitude that exists in much of the world that people are to stupid to do things properly without some nanny state to keep them in line.
Much of Germantown was built before there was such a thing as zoning laws, people just built whatever they though would be a good home for their needs and finances. The downhill slide for Germantown came when some city bureaucrats decided that it was no longer a nice neighborhood and they created zoning laws that encouraged industrial development in the area. At the same time the Federal Government funded the welfare housing projects but required that "blighted areas" be torn down to force people into the projects. With that kind of track record why would anybody want the government to tell us what we can do with our own property? Boggles the mind.
And the overlay will most definitely have an impact on me even after my home is built. The proposed rules are greatly expanded over the Phillips-Jackson design guidelines. Virtually any change I make to the exterior of the building or any appurtenace (fences, etc) wil now be subject to review by the Historic Zoning Commission. Then there is the whole issue of the arbitrary standard of classifying any building from before 1939 as "contributing" to the historic area regardless of how nasty the building may have been even when it was new. I could go on, but I am tired and this makes me even more tired because I am starting to get annoyed by thinking about all of the taxes I pay for the privilege of this abuse.
Great looking house! I followed the link to it on the ArchRecord WebInsider newsletter that came this afternoon.
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