Regulations in the City of Bellevue will take action as early as fall protecting older and smaller houses now being overshadowed by new monstrous housing being built by the flourishing economy in Bellevue.
Monday night the Planning Commission was told by the City Counsel to begin planning for the 15 regulations which deal with smaller homes being taken advantage of, particularly by the height of these new developments.
The Seattle Times reported the following restrictions could be approved as early as this fall:
- Measure the height of new homes by the grade before construction instead of after. Some builders get around height restrictions — and create homes that tower over neighbors — by adding several feet of dirt under the new foundation.
- Require a certain percentage of trees on the lot to be preserved, perhaps 15 percent or more. Under current city law, an entire lot can be cleared of vegetation.
- Four requirements for residential construction sites: weekly removal of debris, a sign posted in advance of construction, building guidelines distributed to developers and cleanup of abandoned work sites.
Likely not all of the regulations will be made into law. Growth is good, but some neighborhoods are growing awkwardly and have these, “Megahomes” mixed in with older bungalows which makes for quite an interesting looking site.
