Will city settle or scuffle to defend its building ordinance?
“There is a law named for him: the Bert J. Harris Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act. According to the Coalition for Property Rights, “The Bert Harris Act was created to restore balance to the regulatory process by providing citizens with a mechanism for seeking compensation when government regulations or policy actions inordinately burdened their property rights.”
The city of Anna Maria passed new provisions to their codes and ordinances a couple of years ago. The City Commission, seeing behemoth structures constructed on small building lots, and hearing the complaints of residents, passed an ordinance saying that square footage of a new air-conditioned structure could not exceed 40 percent of the land area.
If you had a 5,000-square-foot lot, you could have 2,000 square feet of living space under air; a 7,000-square-foot site could contain 2,800 square feet under air. Elevated floors to meet flood zone requirements and large exterior decks and porches are permitted in addition to space under air. You get the picture.”
Aposporos, Tom. Herald-Tribune 14 September 2014.