Comments
Unfortunately, this process can be a slippery slope for a neighborhood. Consider the house on Labyrinth between Gist and Reisterstown Road. This single family dwelling was expanded and the neighborhood agreed to zoning changes based on certain presumptions. The house grew to the point where it was no longer really usable as a private dwelling and it now has substantially altered that neighborhood with parking and traffic issues. The house at the corner of Park Heights and Strathmore that is under renovation right now has expanded to mega-levels. One wonders if this is going to be one of those fait accompli things that is going to be presented for a variance after the fact for a use as something other than a residence. Even when variances are uncontested, there are few, if any mechanisms for enforcement that will not destroy relationships and escalate into enmity. Yes, we need safe, legal, monitored day care and those home-based businesses are a means of paying the mortgage, particularly in these hard times. But when we allow renovation of a house into a barn and then retroactively allow for barnyard zoning because that is the only fit use, we are destroying neighborhoods.
Posted by Cronshi Englander on 10/07/09 at 04:52 PM
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