Reply to Why do they allow all the tear downs in Bethesda?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The county LOVES these hideous monstrosities as the county does get more in taxes. Bethesda gets nothing but reduced quality of life.

Also benefitting - local realtors and builders getting rich off of these high priced sales and pocketing it all. Other Nethesda residents , again, get nothing but a reduced quality of life.

Now when people, especially older residents,  are looking for a small house there aren’t any because the builders have bought them all. [/quote]

Please explain how a larger house on your street gives you a "reduced quality of life."  [/quote]

Well, if you have a house that's built almost entirely over the lot (which many of these McMansions do), it reduces privacy for all involved because your neighbor is literally on top of you.  Plus it looks ugly.  McMansions are often taller which changes the character of the neighborhood.  McMansions shouldn't be on 5.5K lots.  It's just disproportionate and ugly.  [/quote]

Lobby the county to change the yard setbacks. New houses have to have permits.  If construction is permitted, then yard setbacks are as required.  [/quote]

Yard setbacks, at least in Montgomery County, are averages.  That is, you can have a porch jutting out into the border of your property and if the rest of the house is further back, MoCo DPS considers that fine.  But the end result is that the new McMansion is now right on top of your backyard, fishbowl style.  It's easy to say "lobby the county" but these things are not easy to change and are not likely to change given the influence of developers and their campaign contribution.   [/quote]

Then live with it. The agency that governs the setbacks is the county's permitting office, not any one person's individual taste. [/quote]

There are few homeowners who would be happy about having a neighboring home of 1500 square feet on a 6000 square foot lot torn down to be replaced with a 5000 square foot home.  It's bad for the environment, green space is lost because the new McMansion covers practically the whole lot and neighbors are unhappy to have a new house on top of them.[/quote]

The county is elated to be getting more tax dollars from the huge teardowns. The county council could not care less about the quality of life in Bethesda - they just want more money to improve things in Takoma Park, Silver Spring & Wheaton and tear downs help with that. 
Bethesda needs to fight back by incorporating, having some rules and collecting some funds to benefit their own town (like Chevy Chase and Rockville) but that hasn’t happened yet. [/quote]

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