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(Cross-posted from my crackplog with some new introductory text)
The McMansion ordinance specifies a limit of 0.4 FAR (floor to area ratio) for single-family-zoned property in Austin. This means if you have a 6000 square foot lot, like I do, your total living space must be 2400 square feet or less, with a few exemptions (this is a big change from the prior rules which allowed an unlimited FAR; 2.5 to 3 stories; but 40% maximum impervious cover). A few exemptions apply, such as habitable attic space and basements (both too expensive or too impractical for most folks) and for detached garage space (but not garage apartments - and I'd like to have one of those on top of my detached garage someday too). I worked hard against this ordinance in 2006 and 2007; even partially succeeded in getting the Planning Commission to approve a 0.5 FAR where garage apartments and duplexes were present to mitigate the drastic impact this would have on affordable housing; but in the end the City Council passed the ordinance as-is (0.4 FAR).
My next-door neighbors (family of 5 in about 1100 square feet with a garage apartment which is currently being used by the kids' aunt) were left with about 300 square feet with which to expand, thanks to this ordinance. They've decided to build back rather than up, so they can fully utilize that 300 square feet rather than having any of it obstructed/unusable due to stairs; so despite being rammed through in response to a "drainage emergency", there's pretty strong anectdotal evidence that the ordinance will actually increase impervious cover!
FAR isn't the only thing in the ordinance, but it's the one that hurts the most. Laura Morrison was the chairwoman of the task force that wrote the ordinance.
Now on to the crackplog:
In the past, you've seen me point out the hypocrisy of two or three folks heavily involved in the McMansion Task Force for living in homes which violated the expressed spirit, if not technically the letter, of the ordinance. The spirit being "out-of-scale houses (McGraw) and/or homes which 'tower over the backyards of their neighbors' (Maxwell)".
Somehow, I missed this.
Laura Morrison chaired this task force - and lives in a home which, according to TravisCAD, is worth $1.4 million and has 8,537 square feet. Pretty big, but I had previously assumed it fit well within the 0.4 FAR required by McMansion. Yes, this is a big old historic house, but that's not the metric of the ordinance (it doesn't say "big houses are OK if they are stunners", after all).
A few days ago, though, I was alerted by a reader that Morrison's lot is actually too small -- but she's not subject to the ordinance anyways, because according to said reader, her lot is zoned MF-4 (the McMansion ordinance only applies to single-family zoning). A little history here: the Old West Austin neighborhood plan (which I worked on in a transportation capacity) allowed landowners to choose to downzone their lots from multi-family (most of the area was zoned that way after WWII even though existing uses were houses) to single-family (SF-3) if the property was still being used that way. Apparently Morrison passed on this opportunity (many others took it up; I remember seeing dozens of zoning cases come up before City Council on the matter).
So let's check it out. Unfortunately, TravisCAD doesn't have the lot size, but Zillow does.
Home size: 8537 square feet
Lot size: 20,305 square feet
FAR (before loopholes): 0.42
Caveats: I do not know if Morrison is using the property in ways which would be comforming with SF-3, but I found it very interesting that her ads are attacking Galindo for building duplexes which actually comply with her ordinance yet the home she herself lives in would be non-compliant in a similar scenario, or require loopholes to comply. It's often referred to as a "converted four-plex", and the owners' address is "Apt 9", which may suggest continuing multi-family use, which would also be evidence of hypocrisy given her stand against any and all multi-family development in the area except for a few cases where that plan mentioned above quite effectively tied her hands. Either way, Morrison clearly broke the spirit of her own ordinance and her own activism against multi-family housing, and anyways when you write the ordinance, as she did, it's really easy to make sure your own property is just barely compliant. You notice that you're right over the edge; so you exempt attached carports, for instance, which, oops, you just happen to have!
Again, I can't believe I missed her the first time around - her hypocrisy on this ordinance is more odious than that of McGraw and Maxwell combined. I apologize for my lack of diligence on this matter.
(Hey, BATPAC: yes, your latest cowardly anonymous attack on me did indeed motivate me to finally take the time to write this! Good show!)
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