Massive home addition causes confusion in Fairfax County neighborhood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think he’s allowed to put full kitchens in this thing. So the illegal apartments will likely have hot plates.

You just install the stove after inspection. You think he’s been following all the zoning so far, why stop now.

[Anonymous]

I also imagine there is going to be significant runoff into the neighbors property. The addition is built with a slope into the neighbors yard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want fancy houses and cultured neighbors then move out of the low income neighborhood.

Genuine question as someone who doesn't spend much time in the DC burbs: Is the neighborhood "low income"? NOT by DCUM standards but by any normal DC/NOVA/Marylander's standards.

I ask because no one interviewed in the news piece about it looked or sounded "low income" by any stretch. I get that it is not McLean or Vienna but it did not appear to be the type of neighborhood where one expects their immigrant neighbor to build what another poster here accurately described as a "three story rabbit hutch."

Additionally the houses on the street seem to be selling for $700-800K. That's not much by this area's standards, but it is often "starter home" territory for most 30-somethings. Are you suggesting that millennial home buyers deserve to live in a reboot of a third world country simply because they can't afford $1.5M houses like their parents?

[Anonymous]

There was a time that people wouldn’t do this to their neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Which is why my old NON-HOA over years had to regulate common sense.

1. No kitchens or full baths in basements.
2. Parking on property on new builds equal to at least number of bedrooms.
3. Any addition 50 percent or more causes house to be taxed as a new build
4. set back requirements at front of house, sides of house and back.
5. NO ATTACHED GARAGEs and MUST HAVE a grage. I like this one. It requires at least a one car garage on back of house, with a driveway on left side of house. Meaning each house has a buffer on one side without a house on top of them. Mandating a driveway to back of house with garage is kept hours from being on top of each other on both sides
6. two story max height.
7. NO MOTHER Daughters with out permits. It is zone single family only. Single family is single family not you, your parents, your husband parents and uncle and aunts.
8. Percentage of lot you can build on requirements.
9. no Airbnbs
10. Town garage collection pick up paid in taxes. The garbage men will report excess trash cans etc as evidence of illegal rental apts. We had one neighbor with 8 trash cans every day which was a 75 year old couple. Turned place into rooming house.
11 strict parking rules. My town most streets were no overnight parking. So hard to rent out if tenants have no place to park but on your property and if they do you stick out as an illegal rental.

This is all without an HOA. Just have good zoning laws and enforce them.

Or even better just do what Hamton Bays Island did years ago. They had a huge problem grouper houses, kids renting house for summer and jamming 30 people in, resturants and bars renting or buying houses to cram with staff for summer.
Landscapers and construction companies doing same in the summer

Was a huge quality of life issue for normal residents and they would hit them with fines and penalties but they would just pay tickets as way cheaper.

Well Hampton Bays sent out a notice to all rental units and group houses that starting January 1st the following year they will be 100 percent strick enforcement on all grouper homes. All will lose their COs, their will be a 1,000 a day fine and town will go after all owners personally for tax fraud for operating a hotel with our a license and not paying hotel tax. But they will grandfather all existing homeowners who are renting if they sign this form and get it nortorized and return to town and make the property a legal rental.

The following year they tripled the property tax on these homes as now labeled commmercial properties and cut the property taxes 60 percent on the owner occupied houses.

One clean shot over next few years one by one the investors slowly disapeared and ones remaning paying high taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m 100% FOR this kind of addition. They did nothin wrong and is allowed by the zoning in place. We need to eliminate zoning and let people do what they want with their land. Don’t like it? Buy your own land and don’t develop it

So many cities in the world are living hells... thank the lack of zoning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also imagine there is going to be significant runoff into the neighbors property. The addition is built with a slope into the neighbors yard.

This is a myth. A grading runoff plan is required and must be approved by the county. We had an approved plan, and although the neighbors complained that water was getting into their yard, it was confirmed that our plan was valid. The natural flow of water went toward their property, and the real issue was their own poor grading, which they needed to fix. They were trying to use our new home as leverage to make us pay for their existing drainage problem.

Some neighbors in older tear down homes, including elderly people (Gen X, boomers) or people scraping by who want to minimize their own expenses, sometimes try to shift responsibility for their problems onto anyone they think has more resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also imagine there is going to be significant runoff into the neighbors property. The addition is built with a slope into the neighbors yard.

This is a myth. A grading runoff plan is required and must be approved by the county. We had an approved plan, and although the neighbors complained that water was getting into their yard, it was confirmed that our plan was valid. The natural flow of water went toward their property, and the real issue was their own poor grading, which they needed to fix. They were trying to use our new home as leverage to make us pay for their existing drainage problem.

Some neighbors in older tear down homes, including elderly people (Gen X, boomers) or people scraping by who want to minimize their own expenses, sometimes try to shift responsibility for their problems onto anyone they think has more resources.

So only after your mcmansion build did problems start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also imagine there is going to be significant runoff into the neighbors property. The addition is built with a slope into the neighbors yard.

This is a myth. A grading runoff plan is required and must be approved by the county. We had an approved plan, and although the neighbors complained that water was getting into their yard, it was confirmed that our plan was valid. The natural flow of water went toward their property, and the real issue was their own poor grading, which they needed to fix. They were trying to use our new home as leverage to make us pay for their existing drainage problem.

Some neighbors in older tear down homes, including elderly people (Gen X, boomers) or people scraping by who want to minimize their own expenses, sometimes try to shift responsibility for their problems onto anyone they think has more resources.

And yet, your ugly, out of scale house, ruined their yard.

[Anonymous]

What’s the latest on Fairfax County’s decision about this addition? With the Thanksgiving holiday will it likely take a few weeks for the county to issue a decision?

I imagine at the very least they’ll make the homeowner shave 6 inches off the side since it is that much beyond the required space from the property line, which would be a complex and expensive task (especially for a homeowner serving as their own general contractor).

[Anonymous]

This is the latest I know on the property. It came from Herrity’s office on Nov 20:

Update on the Greenbriar addition. When the building permits for this addition were approved by Land Development Services (LDS), they showed that the addition complied with our current zoning ordinance and would be 8.5 feet away from the adjacent property line. This conforms with the 8-foot minimum and LDS determined that there was nothing that they could do to stop the addition from being built. At my urging, the County’s Zoning Administration Division performed a check of the property and found that the side of the addition was actually being constructed too close to the adjacent property by about 5-inches (before the addition of siding or any shutters or gutters that would move it closer). As a result, there is currently a stop-work order. At this time, the property owner has been encouraged to hire an independent contractor to resurvey the property and confirm or dispute County staff’s findings. If the addition is too close, it will need to be corrected or the homeowner will need to apply for a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals.

[Anonymous]

IIUC, to get a variance, he has to get neighbors to sign, correct?

Far chance.

[Anonymous]

Oops, fat, not far

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the latest I know on the property. It came from Herrity’s office on Nov 20:

Update on the Greenbriar addition. When the building permits for this addition were approved by Land Development Services (LDS), they showed that the addition complied with our current zoning ordinance and would be 8.5 feet away from the adjacent property line. This conforms with the 8-foot minimum and LDS determined that there was nothing that they could do to stop the addition from being built. At my urging, the County’s Zoning Administration Division performed a check of the property and found that the side of the addition was actually being constructed too close to the adjacent property by about 5-inches (before the addition of siding or any shutters or gutters that would move it closer). As a result, there is currently a stop-work order. At this time, the property owner has been encouraged to hire an independent contractor to resurvey the property and confirm or dispute County staff’s findings. If the addition is too close, it will need to be corrected or the homeowner will need to apply for a variance from the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Wait so this is saying that the addition is legal, i.e. totally within zoning ordinance - except that it was built 5 inches over the property line? So if this addition was built 5 inches over, but still 3 stories high etc. there's nothing anyone could do? This is what our zoning laws say?

[Anonymous]

I don't see the issue in this. They basically took the house and added two stories onto the side part of the house. If you look at the drone images they all have that long side, including the complaining neighbor. Our neighbors did horrible remodels that impacted us but their property and their right to do it.