HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981 11-12 Smaller homes plan draws mixed reactions DISPATCH Thursday, Nov. 12, 1981 /5E
Smaller homes plan
draws mixed reactions
Maplewood officials differ on Bastian said, "If you put small
a proposal to reduce minimum homes in, the next step is small
size requirements for new lots and I don't think that's what
homes. the city wants."
Q.' According to At the same time, Councilman
Geoffrey 01- Norman Anderson warned, "If
son, communi- we open this thing up (the rules),
ty development they'll go anywhere."
director, the
proposal would In the audience, one man said
• allow contrac- it's difficult to raise a family in a
'•‘•r`:,` : tors to build small house. Smaller houses
fsmaller homes mean youngsters would spend
{ 5} even though more time on the streets.
04. ;` ; construction
casts are at Lorraine Fischer, chairwoman
Nelson record highs. of the city Housing and Rede-
velopment Authority and a
At last week's City Council member of the city Planning
meeting, Maria Larsen, chair- Commission, outlined the pro-
woman of the city Human Rela- posal details.
tions Commission, spoke for the The plan would drop the pre-
proposal. sent method of calculating only
- "The working man cannot af- the first floor area to establish
ford to buy and live in Maple- minimum dwelling size and in-
wood," declared Larsen. "We stead include total floor area.
don't think that type of person
should be kept out if he wants to Under the plan, one-story
live in Maplewood." building requirements would be
Councilman Earl Nelson reduced from 1,040 square feet
to R64.
agreed and called the proposal a
step in the right direction. Furthermore, one and one-
"Our lots are 1 xrge," said Nel- half-story or bi-level buildings
son. "Assessments are horren- vecoulds total 1rren square feet
dous. It makes it impossible for square the current rule of 950
a young couple to get started square feet for only the.first
(with a home)."
But Councilwoman Fran In addition, two-story build-
Joker had reservations about the ings could total 1,056 square feet
lan: •
as opposed to the present re-
p quirement of 720 square feet for
Said Juker: "The problem I the first floor.
have is a developer will come in Lastly, another category
and want to put up every home would be established for three-
that looks alike." story buildings allowing a mini-
Countered Nelson: "Some do mum of 975 square feet.
like I did. I started with a crack-
er box over 40 years ago and
worked my way up to an orange
crate."
Meanwhile, Councilman Gary ,‘ 4.00001emoro,