Wave Maker: More Hot Air

THIS IS MY VIRTUAL LIVING ROOM. COME ON IN AND SAY HELLO. THE BAR IS OVER IN THE CORNER -- HELP YOURSELF, BUT MIND YOUR MANNERS.

Monday, June 13, 2005

More Hot Air

I had just gotten myself calmed down following the authoring of the previous post when Carpundit led me to this story, wherein one Peter Watts, member of the Welfleet Zoning Board of Appeals, frets about the growing trend of people tearing down existing houses to replace them with bigger houses:

Peter Watts, member of the Wellfleet Zoning Board of Appeals, said he's concerned that with the current three-acre zoning rule in the Seashore, "someone can buy a preexisting house, tear it down and build a bigger house than we can have in Wellfleet, without having to go to the ZBA. If we don't do something about that, it would be ideal for wealthy people to buy real estate and build mansions."

Some people, Watts said, "think 'if it's out of sight, it's out of mind, but I don't agree. I think we have to do something about this."

The horrors!

For anyone unfamiliar with Cape Cod, Welfleet is a small town on the outer cape, where most of the land is comprised of the Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS). It is one of the most pristine and environmentally protected areas in America (in my humble opinion). Welfleet is one huge sand dune, stretching from outer Nauset beach to Cape Cod Bay. The CCNS is home of some of the most stunning beaches you can imagine. [here's a picture of The Beachcomber, one of the greatest drinking spots on earth -- heh heh].

Under the Welfleet zoning by-law, the minimum lot size for a residence in the CCNS is THREE ACRES. Care to guess how much three acres of residential land in the Cape Cod National Seashore is worth (if you can find one)? Uhhhh, welcome to the hotel Costa Plente.

Under the Welfleet Zoning By-law, the maximum lot coverage ratio (square footage of lot divided by square footage of house) is FIVE PERCENT. For a full three-acre lot, the maximum size residence would be 6,384 feet -- a palace, for sure, but what do you expect when you create such a prohibitively expensive price of entry? (In the remainder of the town, where the residntial lot size is 30,000 or 40,000 s/f, the maximum lot coverage is 15%.)

The stunning thing about Watts' comment is that he doesn't care if you can't see the new house. The fact that someone wants to build a big house is, in itself, the evil to be abated! He ought to be relieved that a wealthy person is willing to pay a huge property tax for the privilege of occupying his mansion for a fraction of the calendar, and not be bringing a family of school-aged children with him.

I'll just bet that Mr. Watts is one of those anti-windfarm environmentalists too.

(H/T Carpundit)

Posted by: Wave Maker / 4:05 PM/ |