Charlotte Observer | 08/06/2007 | 'McMansions' bring tensions to old neighborhoods
Interesting story from the Charlotte area about how long-time residents organize using historic district designations to oppose "McMansions" in new development.

Today Americans seek more space than their parents. In new developments bigger homes can be built without hindrances. But the desire for more space creates a tension in some older neighborhoods, built for the needs of the past. Neighbors there find themselves walking a line between preserving the past and maintaining property rights, promoting growth yet controlling how it takes shape. Big renovations or teardowns can remove trees as homes take up bigger footprints on their lots. Taller houses can block sunshine or change the streetscape as they supersize.But homeowners have rights, too. And renovations can help boost a community's property values and may get rid of dilapidated buildings retrofitted with nonhistoric touches such as aluminum siding. And some additional development in existing neighborhoods increases density, reducing the need for more new, sprawling subdivisions that claim undeveloped land on the edge of the city. On both side of the issue, it creates strains on neighborhood relationships.But some older areas, without homeowner's associations that dictate the extent of renovations, have sought protection with a historic designation.