Decatur GA
--During construction at 713 S. McDonough St. ------FOR SALE INFO
HERE
Before construction at 713 S. McDonough St. Decatur GA
photo from google maps.
Comments:
Wylie Roberts said...I personally am thrilled as every bigger, nicer, new, two-story house goes up in my neighborhood.
However,
some have NOT wanted or liked these changes, and pushed for a new rule
to be implemented in 2008. It is called the “Floor Area Ratio” (FAR)
rule (not to be confused with the Lot Coverage Ratio rule).
Here is
a summary of the rule: It governs how much you can add to or renovate
your home. At first glance, it appears to be a reasonable rule that
prevents “over building”, but in reality, there are already other rules
that prevent this (such as the Lot Coverage Ratio, set backs, story
limits, and height limits) and instead all it does is prevent reasonable
and full use of all of your home, without any benefit to the “public
good”. Total Lot coverage has always been limited to 40%. But the new
FAR rule added in 2008 mandates that “total floor area” also be no more
than this same number of square feet, and garage space and accessory
buildings must be counted. This means that a building footprint that
covers 30% of a lot (very typical for existing one-story homes) would
hit 60% if a full second floor were added, which exceeds the 40% FAR
limit. In order to add a full second story, your building footprint
would have to be no more than 20% of your lot square footage, which very
few homes are. A family should be able to not only add a full second
story, but use the attic space under the roof over the second floor as
well. Doing so has no detrimental impact to the environment and does
not increase “impervious surface” on the property or contribute to
run-off issues. To allow these reasonable things, the floor area ratio
limit would need to be around 80%, not the absurdly restrictive 40%.
Here is the effect of this new rule:
•
It prevents many from being able to add a full second story
•
It hurts property values. One real estate agent estimated that the
average home in Decatur would immediately be worth anywhere from $50,000
to $150,000 MORE if this rule were repealed.
•
A large number of
existing homes already exceed the FAR limit. So this rule is arbitrary
and capricious, and prevents families from improving their homes as
much as many of their neighbors already have.
I have started an online petition at Change.Org to repeal or amend the rule.
Will you take 30 seconds to sign this petition right now?
Here's the link:
http://www.change.org/petitions/city-council-of-decatur-ga-eliminate-the-floor-area-ratio-far-rule-in-the-udo
Here is more from: Wylie Roberts:
Lot Coverage Ratio = amount of square ft. covered by house or
driveway as a % of total lot square footage. It is set at 40% max, and
always has been. This prevents excessive water runoff during rain and
allows water to be absorbed by soil.
Floor Area Ratio = Total Square Footage of all enclosed space, on all
floors, including an enclosed garage (except for basement space) as a %
of total lot square footage.
Most homes are between 20% and 35 % lot coverage with the foot print of the main structure. Very few if any are under 20%.
So here is the problem:
Very common in Decatur is a 30% footprint two story home with a basement and partial use of attic space with a dormer or two.
This gives a floor square footage of 80% ( 30 for basement, 30 for first floor, and 20 for 2nd floor).
But a home right next door with the same size foot print (30%) and no
basement can't even add a full second level or use any of the floor
space under the attic.
So the rule creates special classes of homeowners with different
rights as far as size of home they can have. Which is inherently
unfair, and why I am seeking for the FAR rule to either be eliminated or
modified to give 80% to EVERYONE, inclusive of basement and garage.
The irony is, that if square footage is so evil, without regard to lot coverage, why do we allow an exception for basements?
If home A can have a basement, why can't home B ,without a basement,
have a comparable amount of space by adding a FULL second floor and/or
using the space in their attic?
If you want to know why so many of the beautiful old bungalows are
being torn down and replaced by new construction (with a basement), it
is because that is the only way to get a reasonable amount of home
square footage, which the FAR rule otherwise prevents.
A jury will select six pieces that best represent Decatur for a set
of 6 x 4 postcards, which will go on sale in May. The cards will be
available at the Decatur Visitors Center and local retailers.
