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CNN Live Saturday

Size Matters to Homeowners in Suburban New York Community

Aired April 07, 2001 - 17:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: A turf war has erupted in suburban New York. At issue in this one, newly-built homes bulging from small plots of land and dwarfing older, smaller homes. Critics call them McMansions, neighbors say they are eyesores, but developers build them, they say, because buyers want them.

Here's more on this from CNN's Brian Palmer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eastchester, a quiet suburb in New York's Westchester County with tree-lined streets and modest homes. On weekends, its parks hum with the activity of youth soccer leagues. Just a few months ago, some members of this community were at war over what some call McMansions; big, new homes built on small plots of land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They guzzle energy just like SUV's. They tend to displace other houses from the road, just like SUV's do from the road. They tend to gobble up open space.

PALMER: Residents in older homes complained.

LORETTA DALTON, TWIN LAKES CIVIC ASSOCIATION: I'm concerned because they're offensive and unpleasing. I think the builders have or should have a larger responsibility in the architectural design.

PALMER: The town slapped a moratorium on new building for nearly a year, then passed a law lowering the upper limit on the size of new homes.

JAMES CAVANAUGH, SUPERINTENDENT, EASTCHESTER, N.Y.: Our law is based upon the idea that a neighborhood should have some level of conformity. You don't want something that is huge next to a lot of things that are half the size.

PALMER (on camera): How would things be different if the houses were built today? What things would they have to change?

CAVANAUGH: They might be a little smaller on the size of lots that they are. They might be 400 or 500 square feet smaller.

PALMER (voice-over): Developer Robert Debendictis built these homes. He lives in one of them. ROBERT DEBENEDICTIS, DEVELOPER: My feeling is this is the United States of America, and each man should have the opportunity, if he can afford, to buy a piece of land, and if he is within the laws and within his rights to build a certain size home, he should be able to build the home.

PALMER: Another Westchester County builder agrees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If a builder builds the wrong thing, it can bury them. They build for the market, and the market looks for McMansions these days, and they also build according to the zoning regulations.

PALMER: But in Eastchester and across the country, zoning regulations are getting more and more restrictive. So, while long- term residents will have to accept lawfully built homes they might not like looking at, builders will have to focus more on fitting their homes into established communities.

Brian Palmer, CNN, New York

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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