It is easy to see the controversy here as residential areas try to protect their feel, but at the same time new and more expensive building can also be a sign of an area improving.
However, it does appear that in this case, the appropriate community process was gone through and the restrictions might actually work…until someone makes a good enough case to lift them.
An excerpt.
'McMansions' yanked from Village menu
Residents in Fair Oaks' old town win restrictions on home sizes
By Lakiesha McGhee - Bee Staff Writer Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, October 19, 2006
A 13-year battle to restrict residential building height and lot sizes in Fair Oaks Village has ended with a new ordinance -- popularly referred to as a "McMansions" law -- that takes effect next month.
"Now when people develop in Fair Oaks Village it will be more in keeping of what we already have here, which is quite eclectic," said Mary Klass Schultz, an 18-year resident of the Village area who has pushed for the ordinance from the beginning.
The issue is controversial in older neighborhoods with distinct features, where some new homes and other development is seen as inappropriate because of size or other features.
McMansion has become a popular but pejorative term to describe homes considered too large or too showy for a neighborhood.
Neighborhood preservation area ordinances already are in effect for Arden Oaks, Carmichael Colony and Carmichael Creek, among other areas, a county official said.
