Councilman proposes changes to building codes

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005

Kensington Town Councilman, Al Carr, proposed two changes to the town’s building code that would loosen restrictions on building home additions during a Sept. 12 work session.

Carr introduced the amendments in response to the Council’s 3-1 vote on March 21 in which the Town Council passed an ordinance with stricter limits for the size of housing additions and more flexibility on how close renovations can run to property lines. At the time, Carr was the lone dissenting vote.

Last week, he tried to amend the law by proposing two amendments. One would allow homeowners to build an addition that equals half the size of the existing home or that is 750 square feet. Homeowners would also still have to follow rules set in the law on March 21 to maintain at least 20 feet from the side of the house and the property lines.

The second would allow homeowners to request an exception for a property that sits on a lot smaller than 9,000 square feet, as well as narrower than 50 feet wide and where the front of the house is less than 50 feet from the property line. The addition also cannot take up more than 15 percent of the total lot size.

‘‘My proposal would restore flexibility for additions and for small homes while still preserving open space and it would do a better job of discouraging mansionization,” Carr said in a telephone interview after the meeting. ‘‘That means different things to different people. For me, it’s when you build a home or addition that is too large and does not fit in with the existing community.”

The council did not vote on the proposed changes. Instead it has decided to walk around parts of the town on Saturday and see what types of homes might be affected by the proposed changes.