Attic Projects That Don't Expand Homes Exempt from LHR, Planning Board Says

Monday's public hearing about recently-adopted amendments to the Large House Review bylaw proved more of a public talking by the Planning Board, as only three residents dotted the 32 chairs set out in the Town Hall Great Room. And as board members talked, it was clear they are uncertain of what, exactly, is the intent of an LHR change approved at Town Meeting May 4.

Prior to the public's passage of Article 31 last month, a home's total living area plus garage--the town's official measure of its square footage--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.

But beginning July 1, a home's TLAG will 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.

The new definition applies not only to constructions of new houses but also to additions to existing ones. In question, however, is whether it should apply to an existing house in which the owner is modifying the attic without actually enlarging it.

For example: A couple owns a home with a sizeable but unfinished attic. With two children and a third on the way, they want to finish the attic and use it as a playroom. The project would add enough habitable space to their home to push it over the LHR threshold, but would not expand the house's structure--and impact on the neighborhood--at all. Should it be subject to a Large House Review?

Or, more broadly, is the purpose of LHR to regulate the amount of livable space in a house or is it to regulate the size of a house?

After some discussion, the Planning Board's answer seems to be the latter, though as expected, it continued Tuesday's hearing to June 28, giving the public one more chance to speak before the amendment takes effect.

The current draft of LHR rules and regulations includes the following exemption to the new TLAG definition: "The completion or finishing of attics in existing structures where there are no exterior alterations or changes." Board members believe such an exemption is in-line with LHR's original goal.

The Large House Review process originated in 2007 as an answer to residents' concerns that some expansive single-family homes "are out of context with surrounding houses and are having detrimental impacts on neighborhood character," according to a brief LHR history published on the town Web site. "The intent of this review process is not to mandate certain designs or restrict house size, but to ensure that a new large house or addition will be compatible with the scale and character of nearby properties," the document continues.

The TLAG at which a house is subject to a Large House Review depends on its lot's property regulation district. The thresholds are 3,600 square feet in a 10,000-square-foot property regulation district, 4,300 in a 15,000 district, 5,900 in a 20,000 district, and 7,200 in a 30,000 and 40,000 district. It is part of a 20,000-square-foot property regulation district, in which the LHR threshold is 5,900 square feet.