RESIDENTS SEEK MCMANSION LIMITS

The anti-McMansion effort is gaining steam.

Some residents consider the new "McMansions" coming out of the ground in neighborhoods across Fort Lauderdale to be so big, boxy and boring that they have done something about it.

A committee of residents, developers and others who care about home building in Fort Lauderdale spent 500 hours throughout seven months analyzing the city's land development rules and recommending changes. The product of that work - a packet of proposed changes to the city's Unified Land Development Regulations - was given to the city earlier this month, with a request that elected officials act quickly.

The committee touts the proposed changes as ways to protect neighborhoods from losing green space, trees and architectural variety, as lots are redeveloped. Some neighborhoods are full of single-family homes, for example, but homeowners didn't realize the zoning allows townhouses and duplexes, and that's what developers are building now.

"There are ways to integrate new construction with a little more style, a little more architecture, with a little more respect," civic volunteer Genia Ellis told the City Commission.

Ellis is president of The Council of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations, which set up the ad hoc committee that analyzed the development rules.

"If we tarry very long we will have lost the character of these neighborhoods," she said. "What we're asking you to do is to make this priority this year."

City commissioners were supportive and asked city planning staff to report back in September about the committee's recommendations and how they could be implemented.

Some of the changes requested include limiting the "floor-area-ratio," a measurement of the home's bulk or mass, to prevent giant three-story homes from popping up on small lots; and requiring larger homes to be built farther from side property lines.

Committee member Gus Carbonell, a local architect, said the changes have been needed for a long time.

"We see too many of these mega-mansions being built with these uninteresting, straight wall boxes," he said.

Former City Commissioner Tim Smith said the effort was "truly rare" in that all sides of the development issue got involved. "This was really citizen-driven," he said.

Commissioner Cindi Hutchinson said the group did a "tremendous job" and noted that with the city's installation of modern sewers in many neighborhoods, redevelopment is taking off. The land once needed on a property for a septic system can now be devoted to a larger home.

"If we don't jump on this train today, it's gonna be over," she said.

Planning Director Marc LaFerrier said his staff will review the report during the City Commission's break in August, and report back at the first meeting in September. Commissioners asked him to identify changes that could be made quickly, and to bring those forward for votes.

Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4541.

More coverage

Details of the changes proposed by a committee of Fort Lauderdale residents. Page 2

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

PROPOSED CHANGES

Some of the changes requested:

Allow free-standing garages, workshops, cabanas, etc., on a property, and encourage garage placement somewhere other than the front

Allow builders to place the home closer to one side property line than another, for a varied visual effect, as long as the average setback from the property line is met

Limit the "floor-area-ratio," a measurement of the home's bulk or mass, to prevent giant three-story homes from popping up on small lots

Set a maximum lot coverage, or building "footprint," to result in more green space

Reduce the amount of front yard or swale that can be paved for vehicles

Require larger, more mature trees for larger homes, and increase fines for tree removal

Require on-site guest parking for multifamily developments