McMansion Ordinance Tweaks Possible
Monday, July 16th, 2007 at 8:00 pm 
By Ryan BrownAn article in today’s Statesman reports that there may be changes in store for the recently enacted ‘McMansion Ordinance’. Here’s a link and an excerpt:
Home-size rules in line for a fix-up
By Sarah Coppola
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, July 16, 2007
The City of Austin might soon tweak rules passed last year to limit the size of new homes.
The 16-member citizens task force that wrote the rules has begun meeting again to review the rules and decide whether they should be revised.
Task force members say the changes, which the City Council would have to OK, probably won’t be dramatic but should help simplify an ordinance that builders say is too costly and complicated.
The ‘McMansion’ Ordinance was passed with much public input/outcry last October in an effort to protect central Austin neighborhoods from ‘McMansions’.
What is a McMansion? Here is Wikipedia’s Definition. Reading the ordinance, one understands that the intent of the law is to force the shape, size, and siting of a home to be compatible with surrounding homes in older Austin neighborhoods.
These development rule changes apply to properties in Greater Central Austin. See the City of Austin webpage for details on the new rules.
What’s the downside? As the above diagram shows, these rules can be fairly complicated, causing an increase in building costs. They can also artificially limit the options for a homeowner, who otherwise could have more flexibility for improving his property in a compatible manner.
The ordinance was written and passed fairly quickly. As the Statesman article suggests, many of its regulations have been overly complex and/or overly restrictive. Hopefully the revision process will achieve the proper level of regulation so as to contain the problem while not limiting creativity, nor adversly affecting property owners (to the extent that this is possible).
If you are seeking a home in Central Austin it’s a good idea to have a basic understanding of the McMansion Ordinance.
What do you think about the McMansion Ordinance?
Share your opinion here, and with the committee, their next meeting is at 3:00 PM, July 20, 2007, at City Hall.
