Architect Warns Large House Review Regulations Could Backfire

Wellesley's Large House Review process, introduced in 2007, is meant to address residents' concerns about new homes and additions that "are out of context with surrounding houses and are having detrimental impacts on neighborhood character," according to the town's official website.

Ironically, LHR may in fact inspire further deviations from neighborhoods' existing styles.

That was the argument of local architect Patrick Ahearn to the Planning Board Monday night at Town Hall during the last public hearing before recently-adopted LHR changes take effect Thursday. The partner in Ahearn Schopfer Associates suggested some builders might design houses with eccentric features - flat roofs, for instance - in an effort to avoid crossing the square footage thresholds at which their homes would be subject to Large House Reviews.

On May 4, Town Meeting approved a change to the official measure of a home's square footage, its total living area plus garage (TLAG). That measure will now include all attic space - finished and unfinished - in which the height from floor to ceiling is at least seven feet, or at least five feet for a sloped interior roof. Previously, a home's TLAG did not include unfinished attic space or attic space accessible only by ladders or pull-down stairways. Only 25 percent of the floor area of finished attic space counted toward TLAG.

Beginning Thursday, an architect must count the floor area of a new home's attic, according to the new definition of TLAG, even if he has no intention of making the attic a habitable space. One way to prevent such a home's uninhabitable attic space from counting toward the house's official square footage would be to flatten the roof, keeping the distance from the attic's floor to its ceiling under five feet.

"I applaud the general direction (of LHR) sincerely," Ahearn said, "but I think there are ways other builders will say, 'Well if I flatten out the roof just enough, I can avoid the Large House issue,' and you'll end up with houses that look even worse than the ones you're trying to guard against."

"I don't buy that," Planning Board member Neal Glick countered, "based on the home values in Wellesley. Do you really think architects are going to build less-attractive homes for the sole value of avoiding Large House Reviews?"

Ahearn replied that he does, based on conversations he's had with other builders. Board Chair Don McCauley conceded loopholes always exist within zoning bylaws, but his committee, overall, seemed unconcerned by Ahearn's warning.

Two more builders presented their own LHR ponderings. Michael Tartamella, an architect with Ahearn Schopfer Associates, wondered whether the new TLAG definition governing attic space might be subject to exceptions, at the discretion of Planning Director Meghan Jop. If an attic included some feature that made it entirely unusable - a central air system, perhaps - could it be exempt from the home's official measure of square footage?

Board Vice Chair Stephanie Wasser reminded the score of attendees that a proposed home which exceeds an LHR threshold can still be built. It just has to endure the Large House Review process.

"People think (LHR) is to prevent them from doing something, and that's not it," Wasser said. "It's to trigger an examination, the review."

Architect Vincent Trubiani re-iterated the sentiment expressed by Ahearn, which is that builders would prefer to skip the LHR process altogether.

"You're going to put every house over 16 percent lot coverage into Large House Review," Trubiani said.

"Can I turn that around into a question?" board member Jeanne Conroy replied. "Why are you trying to avoid Large House Review?"

"Because it's very expensive," Trubiani answered.

The Large House Review fee for a new home is $2,500.

The board planned to finalize and vote on the language of modified LHR rules and regulations Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Wellesley College's Wang Center.