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developer bought several single.family homes that were about.,1,200 sf. each and replaced them with.two-family homes. Since this was aMulti"Residence I'District, the construction was allowed by right. The houses being torn down were modest.single family homes, the homes people buy to get in to the community. The "affordable housing" stock was.being threatened..In other cases, owners were adding a second unit to. their existing single family homes. For example, 63-65 Highland Avenue is a 7,622 s£ two-family home on a. 16,128 sf. lot. The existing'home was 3,094 sf.The overriding . issue, however, was,the,size and,scale of these new homes that changed,the character of the neighborhood. The Planning Department consulted with'a number of neighboring communities that were experiencing the same issue. There were a number of common aspects to our problem: • The developers believed that it is cheaper to tear down a small home•rather than remodel it. • The new larger housing reflected a desire for larger rooms and features that older . homes-did not have. • ' Initially, very large expensive homes were custom.built,.rather than built on speculation. However, more of the large homes selling at over$1 million are now . built on'speculation. • Large homes were being built without variances indicating that in the past developers were not building to the full buildout potential. In.Newton,,many of the homes were built before zoning (1922)., Some people were reluctant to change the zoning for fear.'of creating non. conformities. Since the;aldermen were sure of the best solution to the problem at that point., the Planning Department put forward an array of ideas to focus the discussion: •. Change the allowed height in feet and in number of stories and redefine ",height". • Limit the amount of construction allowed by right. • Require.a special permit to demolish a home that is 50 years old or older. • Create.a limit on the mass of the structure. 3.1-Revise The Definition Of"Height" Heightmas one of the obvious things to look at. The Zoning Ordinance definition of building.height at that time was the measurement from the mean.grade around the structure to the top of the ceiling rafters of the uppermost floor(eave line). The height restriction at that time:was three stories and thirty-six feet. The proposed changedn.the definition of height changed the measuring points. Instead of measuring to the top of the uppermost habitable floor(the eave line);the proposal changed the measurement to the mid-point of the highest roof surface. This change:encouraged the use of sloped roofs. 3.2 Reduce The Height 3n Feet That Could Be Built Not only was the definition of height changed, but the maximum height in feet was reduced from 36 feet to 30 feet. Here is an example of a larger home that is 2