McMansions have been a hot buzz word around the Atlanta real estate market for years. However, recently the debate has elevated to the local government level. The City of Atlanta recently considered a moratortium on these types of houses. However, the ban was never imposed.
Now the debate has begun here in Cobb County. The East Cobb Civic Association leader Martha Adams is running for re-election and is proposing an Infill Ordinance to stop McMansion construction. She has been quoted as saying…”The attempt of the infill ordinance is to give the same scale, look, and feel to neighborhoods” and referring to the new McMansions, she says, “there are inconsistencies with styles, size, and views.” These quotes scare me!
It sounds as if we don’t live in homes that Mrs. Adams approves the scale, look, feel, and size of, then we should not live in East Cobb County at all. I have a problem with small community groups trying to impose ordinances or bans on specific types of development. We should always question their true motiviations, the long term affects of such ordinances, and remember the freedoms that this country was founded on.
Should I not have the right to sell my property to a developer who is willing to pay the highest price? If laws prevent certain development, then I may be forced to take less money from a different developer. Should governments dictate the values of individual property? Speaking of property values…doesn’t an increase in land prices benefit all the surrounding neighbors? If we impose a ban on “McMansions”, then property appreciation will slow down and perhaps stop altogether.
America was founded on the principles of a free market economy. The best evaluation of property values is based on supply and demand. If there was no demand for these McMansions, then you can bet your arse there would be no developers building them. If they don’t allow them in Cobb County, then they will go somewhere else to build them.
Cobb County should not tell people where they can and can’t live and what their house must look like. Leave those decisions to the free market. We do still believe in supply and demand, right?. We are still living in a free country, right?
