Group: Building laws need overhaul

Legislation expected from Berliner in spring will be based on task force recommendations

An ambitious project that quietly ended in mid-December may redefine how houses are built in Montgomery County.

The 19-person task force chosen by County Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Potomac began meeting in downtown Bethesda last spring.

Their task was to address the so-called ‘‘mansionization” trend — tearing down small old houses to build bigger new ones — that has turned affluent Beltway suburbs into crucibles for disputes.

If the group’s recommendations carry forward into County Council legislation this spring, as expected, new rules would limit building size and give neighborhoods a stronger legal role in guiding residential development.

The task force was made up of six downcounty residents; five building industry professionals; and eight county government representatives to give planning and legal perspectives.

Six conflict resolution specialists were brought in to cool tempers and lead the group to consensus.

The task force ended its final meeting Dec. 10 with a set of recommendations that may become the future of homebuilding in Montgomery County.

Berliner will translate the task force recommendations into a legislation package to be introduced to the council this spring.

‘‘Everything that we reached consensus on will be included in the legislation,” Berliner said.

Berliner’s package would apply countywide, although changes would mostly impact areas that Berliner represents.

The package will include legislation that:

*sets most of the county’s lot-coverage limits based on the lot’s total size, in increments of 1,000 square feet, instead of on zoning designations;

*decreases the height limit to 35 to 50 feet for single-family detached homes on lots larger than 20,000 square feet, like those found in Bethesda’s Bannockburn neighborhood;

*excludes smaller porches from being factored into how large a house can be;

*allows neighborhoods to set voluntary building guidelines, created with help from county building experts;

*requires builders to obtain neighborhood guidelines before construction begins;

*requires the Department of Permitting Services to print its definition of the ‘‘sloping lot” measurement that lets some homeowners build taller homes because of the tricky topography.

The county has legal standards for residential building height, setback, lot area and width, and lot coverage. Rules are enforced by regulatory agencies like the Board of Appeals and Department of Permitting Services. But critics say the rules are confusing and antiquated — ordinances date back to the 1920s.

According to a report issued in mid-February by the county’s Office of Legislative Oversight, zoning ordinances are muddled by ‘‘varying uses and interpretations over time by government authorities.”

‘‘The challenge is that, by waiting as long as we did, by the fact that so little had been done over the years, it becomes more important to act now,” Berliner said. ‘‘It’s unfortunate that we’re acting at a time when the [housing] industry is not in its strongest position by any stretch of the imagination.”

Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac and Kensington had 77 percent of the county’s home teardowns and rebuilds in the last five years, according to the oversight report. Homeowners in those areas also made about 4,750 additions and renovations during that time — or 950 per year on average. With those projects have come disputes about development.

‘‘Builders don’t want to incur the wrath of the community, and community members don’t want to be fighting their neighbors,” Berliner said.

The task force failed to agree on everything. For those mainly esoteric, technical homebuilding rules, Berliner said he will make the call in his legislation.

‘‘Neighborhood compatibility is what I was looking for,” said Len Simon, an urban affairs advisor and task force member representing the Edgemoor neighborhood in downtown Bethesda. ‘‘You are not always going to find precise common ground [between industry and community interests]. But I do think we found consensus on a number of areas.”