Reply to Massive home addition causes confusion in Fairfax County neighborhood

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Nuisance could be more cars on the street parked as well. We have a neighbor who couldn't get his truck out of the driveway because another neighbor kept his car parked in exactly the wrong spot on the street. These streets are not that wide. County was called on that one. [/quote]

You seem confused by the situation. This will still house a single (multigenerational) family.

Regardless, no, you don't have a reasonable expectation to easy street parking. Nor is there a reasonable expectation to a certain amount of sunlight.

If this meets zoning requirements, there's no lawsuit.[/quote]

It sounds like there will be many more people living there than there are now. There are four adults and two children living there now. How many more family members will be moving in when they have all the added bedrooms and bathrooms? How many of them will have cars, which will have to be parked somewhere? 
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It literally doesn't matter because there aren't off-street parking space requirements for SFHs, and you have no private right to street parking. You can feel annoyed about there being extra cars, but it's not legally actionable. [/quote]

You seem very positive about this addition, and that’s nice for you, but you should understand that there are many aspects of this design that, if the homeowner is allowed to proceed, will lower the value of every house on that street.

When buyers look at houses, they consider how the neighborhood looks. This house looks out of proportion to the other houses there. The quality of the construction appears to be very poor according to images that are available on line. If the building quality looks poor now, how will it hold up over time? What will it look like in five or ten years? Add in multiple extra cars parked out on the street, possibly making it difficult for neighbors or their visitors to park.

A buyer sees all this and will not want to buy near there. The selling prices will go down when the only way to get someone to buy your house is to offer a bargain. The house with the addition will have an even lower value. Everyone is hurt by this construction, even the family building it. 
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The issue isn't whether your neighbor's behavior is annoying, rude, or will harm neighboring property values. The issue is whether there is a private right of action. Standing by itself, your neighbors building an ugly, unattractive home that meets county requirements does not create a private right of action. There is no common law right to sunlight and views. And your neighbors owe you no duty to preserve your property values. Do the neighbors have the right to be annoyed? Sure. But that's as far as their rights go absent some cognizable legal claim that shows legally recognized harm to neighboring property owners. [/quote]

The issue is that property values will go down for all, even the person building this addition- possibly [b]especially[/b] the person building this addition. They’re not taking the long view of what is « penny wise and pound foolish. »
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We're talking about whether the neighbors have a real basis to sue (and win). They don't. I'm sorry you don't like the addition. I hate how it looks too. But I really believe people should be able to do mostly whatever they want with their properties. It's why I deliberately chose NOT to live in an HOA. I'd be sad the addition would hurt my property values, but I'd understand I have no rights to control other's lawful choices for their own property. [/quote]

It really doesn’t matter whether they can sue or not, the more important issue is that property values will go down. Time, money, and effort that people have put into their houses will be lost because of the choices of one homeowner. Yes, a property owner can do what they want, but most people feel at least some responsibility to be a good neighbor and not do things that reduce the value of what their neighbors and they themselves own.

Yes, it’s sad. For a lot of us our house is a big part of our retirement planning. Losing a percentage of that value can be a blow to future planning. Sure, you can lose money in the stock market, but this would really sting to know that this situation didn’t have to happen. 
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as a second generation immigrant who only conforms to a certain amount (I wear a hijab), this sort of thinking of "well people can do what they want- shrug" is why people want to live in homogenous societies and leads to xenophobia and all the blame is based on the xenophobes but they are being provoked.  
If you want to live in a harmonious multiethnic society with all sorts of differences you have to have some consideration for your neighbors and the unwritten rules of engagement in a community as long as they dont break your moral or ethical standards.  there are larger repercussions to this sort of obnoxious behavior - of course no-one should blame all Vietnamese people (I believe the home owner is named Nguyen) but he is so upset that his neighbors are upset with him when he was only trying to be nice to his family- im sorry I dont buy that at all.  this is a decision that isn't just slightly annoying, it actually impacts peoples wallets and all the hard work they have done and their ability to age with dignity themselves so yes every time someone asian moves in- ppl will side eye and be afraid and just would rather they didn't have to deal with this.. ultimately preferring  neighbors who looked like them and thus might be more willing to conform to social norms even though this is no guarentee. [/quote]

Thank you for this. This neighborhood is wonderfully diverse and I really hope this doesn’t make us all suspicious because of one ridiculous homeowner. [/quote]

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