DECONSTRUCTING THE MARKIS/LIEN HEARING WHAT HAPPENED, WHAT DOES IT MEAN, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Our Mission
McMansions is dedicated to protecting the beauty and the serenity of the American River Parkway by encouraging the County's enforcement of the Parkway Plan and its zoning ordinance, the Parkway Corridor Combining Zone
In the Media:
Arden Rapids
Heartfelt thanks to the Sacramento Bee for its ongoing support of the Parkway. In the last few years, the Bee has written six editorials opposing visually intrusive houses in the Parkway. In the days preceding the February 13 Markis/Lien Supervisorial hearing, the Bee covered the issue with an editorial on February 12, a front-page article on February 13, and followed up with an article on the front page of the Metro section on February 14. You can email your thanks for the Bee's editorial support to SLeavenworth@SacBee.com
MARKIS/LIEN HEARING OF FEBRUARY 13, 2007 WHAT HAPPENED?
On the afternoon of February 13, 2007, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved a 35-foot setback for two large houses in the Parkway Corridor Combining Zone, on the bluff in Carmichael. The hearing occurred because Save the American River Association (SARA) filed an appeal (at a cost of $5,000 to SARA) of the decision by the Planning Commission regarding the setback for the houses on this property.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Though Parkway supporters are disappointed in this decision, the Parkway gained in the following ways:
** The Supervisors are now fully aware of the proliferation of offensive, non-compliant houses that litter the banks and the bluffs of the Parkway. They saw the houses in the PowerPoint images presented to them on February 13 by SARA.
** The Supervisors indicated they are interested in becoming involved in attempting to reduce the visual pollution in the Parkway (by working directly with existing house owners, it is hoped).
** The Markis/Lien houses, though much closer to the viewshed than any Parkway user would want, will be less intrusive than the original project proposed in 2003. The developer has committed to proper house materials and color and to adequate landscaping with appropriate materials, irrigated in a responsible way.
** The Parkway has a friend in Supervisor Don Nottoli.
Send in your pictures of big houses in the Parkway: visually-instrusive houses with no screening, with non-native, non-compliant landscaping, with patios, stairs, other accessory structures cascading down the bluff/riverbank, houses of non-earthtone colors, houses that visually invade the serene aesthetics of the Parkway. Your pictures will be posted on the website, along with what is there now(see the "McMansions" page of www.McMansions.org). Perhaps a rogues' gallery of offending houses readily available to everyone will keep the Supervisors conscious of their obligation to the intent and the spirit of the Parkway's Zoning Code.
Write to your Supervisor and tell him/her of your support for the Parkway and its aesthetic values. Write to Don Nottoli and thank him for voting to support the 50-foot setback recommended by the County Planning Staff: nottolid@saccounty.net
Continue to look towww.McMansions.organdwww.SARARiverwatch.orgfor information on the movement to preserve and protect our heritage of a pristine, beautiful Parkway.
ASSIST SAVE THE AMERICAN RIVER ASSOCIATION (SARA) ON BEHALF OF THE PARKWAY: All donations to SARA are now tax-deductible. In celebration of its new 501c3 tax-exempt status, SARA has been issued a matching challenge grant by its Citizen Advisory Board. The challenge grant will match all donations to SARAup to a total of $50,000 until the end of October. This is a great way to double your support of SARA's education and outreach efforts on behalf of the Parkway. Go to http://www.sarariverwatch.org/newsissues/501c3information.html for information on this amazing opportunity to support the Parkway. PARKWAY DEFENSE FUND: The tax-deductible Parkway Defense Fund works for the Parkway! You can participate in preventing future non-compliant Parkway development threats. Make tax-deductible contributions to (Fed. ID #680143852): Friends of ECOS - Parkway Defense Fund c/o Betsy Weiland 4950 Keane Drive Carmichael, CA95608 More information can be found at the Save the American River Association website: www.sarariverwatch.org/parkwaydefensefund.html
Your Voice Counts! "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." G.B. Shaw
The Parkway belongs to the public: nine million visits annually – more than the number of visitors to Yosemite Park. Those who love and care about the Parkway can and should bring their collective voices to the County approval authorities when there are threats to the beauty and the natural serenity of the Parkway. The creators of the Parkway envisioned a natural sanctuary within a metropolitan area for passive recreation – not an “urban park,” not an exclusive housing enclave. To ensure this goal, city and county leaders and citizen activists created the Parkway Plan and its zoning ordinance, The Parkway Corridor Combining Zone.
For information: Parkway Info To view McMansions in the Parkway: McMansions Learn what else you can do for your Parkway: Your Choice
What's a McMansion? According to the Word Spy, the word McMansion has evolved from meaning "a large cookie-cutter house" to "a large opulent house, especially a new house that has a size and style that doesn’t fit in with the surrounding houses." McMansions.org was chosen because it symbolizes inappropriate and intrusive development along the American River Parkway.
Mansionization: The Word Spy defines "mansionization" as the act of tearing down an existing house and replacing it with one that is bigger, especially one that is much larger than the surrounding houses. A "Trophy House" is a house used to enhance status and impress other people. Newsweek magazine recently noted that the average single-family dwelling has almost doubled in size over the last thirty years, although family size has gotten smaller. The American River Parkway deserves to be protected from inappropriate and intrusive mansionization.
