Alexandria City Council last week approved legislation aimed at limiting the construction of large homes on small lots.
The council approved an emergency amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance limiting the height of homes and how a lot can be subdivided.
“This legislation addresses the ‘mansionization’ that threatens to undermine the harmony of several Alexandria neighborhoods,” Alexandria Mayor William Euille said in a statement. “It gives us some needed relief while we seek to find a workable permanent solution to this problem.”
Unless the council extends the legislation, however, it will expire at the end of the year.
Rich Josephson, deputy director of planning in Alexandria, said the emergency amendment was needed because of the tight real estate market.
“It’s an issue because of the market we’re in now,” he told The Examiner.
People are buying 2000-square-foot homes, tearing them down, then building much larger homes on the lots, Josephson explained. He said until the amendment, building large houses on lots that once had much smaller homes was permitted.
“Older homes are being torn down and replaced with newer homes,” he said. “It causes kind of a disparity in the neighborhood.”
Josephson said these problems do not exist in Alexandria’s historic districts, which are protected by historic preservation regulations. Instead, up and coming neighborhoods like Del Ray, Northridge and Rosemont are experiencing the phenomenon.
Josephson said the planning department would watch to see if the interim regulation has the intended affect, and would continue to meet with community groups throughout the fall to get their feedback on how the rule is working.
“It’s an interim regulation that we think will help,” he said.
